Too Canny For Any Of That Nonsense

Last year, things were not too good at work. Morale was exceptionally low, staff shortages were chronic, the new pay deal was felt to be a slap in the face. And so the management paid for us all to go to a 'motivational day.' The speaker was a guy who'd worked in the same field we do, suffered burnout, then rose from the ashes, all phoenix-like. He ranted about the overwhelming negativity of our culture, the language we use that oppresses us, and the lifestyles that entrap us. He pointed out the harm we do to ourselves and each other by bending to those pressures, and then the shame that we all go on to re-inforce those pressures on others. He waxed lyrical about inspiration, creativity, vision, and dreams (loosely, very loosely, within a work context). And he worked the crowd big time - he had us all eating out of his hand, he had us excited, energised, enthused. It was a grand day out, and as we left the conference centre, I saw friends and colleagues with their eyes shining and their hopes and dreams re-ignited.

Next morning, at the water coolers, people talked over the day with delight. Mostly about the irony of our employer paying for us all to go see a speaker who urged us to follow our dreams! Mass resignation anyone?

But by a couple of mornings later, the talk had turned scornful and cynical. People sneered and dismissed. He'd played us with sales technique and charisma, but strip that away and it all boiled down to a load of unrealistic clap-trap. With a hint of smugness, it was agreed that we were all too canny for any of that nonsense. No half-arsed salesman would be putting one over on us. And that was the end of that.

Once again, everyone buckled back down to the graft, and lunchbreaks continued to be long drawn out grumbles about pay and conditions. I didn't buck the trend. But I did squirrel myself off onto a computer, and looked into company policy on Career Breaks...