Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for March 04, 2020

White House?

He’s about to get the bird.

Sounds like several management meetings at Boeing that I attended! The corporate culture was stifling to say the least!

How is this cartoon not set in the White House??

The ideal is someone who can tell you you’re right in a way that doesn’t sound like “yes”. It’s not rocket science. I’ve often heard “That’s a GREAT idea, sir” as well as “I wish I had thought of that” and “Oh my. Am I allowed to buy more stock?”

The wise bosses will listen to sensible input.

Splunge?

I just love it when people say “You know what your problem is ….” I mean they love to hear it – it means they have your best interests at heart – they are really thinking about what’s best for you. Doesn’t it??

Were he to prove himself to actually be Sagacious Man: “…..it is unconscionable that your pension package isn’t quadrupled to begin to match your value to the firm.”

Ah… This is certainly a Kodak moment, isn’t it?

Just like the surveys that are “anonymous” but are mysteriously numbered. Strange they are always sooo positive.

I once had a co-worker who could change his mind in the middle of a sentence if the boss disagreed.

If you speak your mind in the work place they are likely to lose their minds at the workplace and you will soon be in need of a new work place to be at.

Believe me, the LAST thing the OWGs in charge EVER want is a different outlook or opinion. . .

This has the feel of a Trump cabinet meeting…..

My favorite riposte from a former boss to me, “I didn’t say it was your fault! I just said I was going to blame you!”

Fortunately my Mamma didn’t raise no fool so I sold off my shares, tidied up my business, got a job across the street and watched my old employer implode. You learn pretty quickly in any job who has an open mind to criticism and suggestions and who doesn’t.

At one point Saddam Hussein invited his top generals and advisors in for a little “let your hair down and tell it like it is” session. “Nobody here but the members of the inner circle,” he noted. “And we need the best advice we can get. Don’t hold back. Everything’s on the table. What are we doing wrong? Everything stays within this room.”

Thruout the ensuing discussion he stayed silent, just nodded and took notes. Then, after everyone had spoken his piece, he had his harshest critics taken out and shot.

The inference in today’s strip says all that needs to be said about corporate america today…..

If you hire a true expert, you should listen to what he has to say. THEN you do what will enrich your own pockets.

One of my dumbest open room comments when just out of college and hired as a junior exec at a Fortune 500 firm was to mean it when I said “I don’t do office politics or listen to office gossip”. And then at my next employer…

Hugo Matuschek: Don’t let me influence you. I want your opinion, your honest opinion. (Pirovitch disappears in a flash)

The “C” in “C-Suite” doesn’t stand for “cunning.”

The boss will fire you but then use your ideas as his own. It’s old trick but works every time.

And wen the business fails the boss will use his golden parachute.

This is why the New Hire always gets the office with the Trapdoor under his desk chair.

I want everyone to tell me the truth, even if it costs him his job. — Samuel Goldwyn