Making money.

FY08 week 52

Quote of the week: Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty - his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure. – Aldous Huxley

Some people “get” these uncertain economic times, others don’t.

Of course, you might characterize the people who understand the dynamics of tough times as being wimps because they have empathy – they can imagine how other people feel.

This empathy seems very different from the people who don’t seem to get it. These tough guys flaunt their self-obsessions… the word bombastic comes to mind.

They are of the school that believes when the going gets tough, the tough kick the holy crap out of the sensitive types who’ve been weakened by worrying about the fate of their fellow man.

Of course, sometimes the tough guys misjudge their opponent – their solipsism blinds them to certain realities about power.

A pal of mine runs a comfortably successful niche advertising agency. In November, his clients’ belt tightening led him to furlough 14 of his 80 employees. It killed him to do it, because he’s certain that most in that group will get meaningful work before he can hire them back.

Last Monday, he also fired one of his top executives – but that was a different story.

You see, the executive staged a $220-a-head company Christmas party at a posh restaurant the prior weekend. Between employees, their spouses, his vendors and some local clients the shindig set my pal back nearly $27,000.

He told me that original plans were for a very low-key cocktail party… two hours of beer, wine, and appetizers. Instead, he showed up to what he called, “a tony, top-shelf wedding reception… the implication of survivors celebrating.”

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What was worse, to him, was that even though the party had been on the books for months, it only became a heavily upgraded, extravagant affair during the past month. “The restaurant’s general manager told me the thing exploded after Thanksgiving,” he said.

It seems that as the economy got worse it damaged the judgment of the executive who planned the party. He thought that tough times called for a special event… a treat… not a retreat.

In the end, my friend said he was embarrassed on two levels by the message his party sent his employees and their families:

• That in such an economy, when jobs hang in the balance, he would be so callous that he’d open his corporate wallet for a lavish three hours of open bar, expensive California wines, filet mignon and sushi.

• That the survivors would appear to flourish at the expense of those he furloughed… “a certain recipe for paranoia in the workplace,” he said.

So, he did something extraordinary.

Along with firing one of the agency’s top executives (at Christmas), he publicly furloughed himself… well, kinda. He’ll work for free until the costs of the party are recouped in his after-tax wages… about six weeks take home pay.

“I can’t imagine what the people I laid off felt when they found out that I sprung for Hendry wines and valet parking,” he said.

Publicly declaring his values… what a wimp, huh?

Hope this is a calm week for you.

Make money, not war.

Andy

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 12:40 am and is filed under Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.