Busy, busy, busy - Our leaders diverting the public with ridiculous amounts of visible activity and chaos masking minimal movement forward. The three-ring model ensures that the show goes on, and exploited customers and investors are regularly distracted with fresh stimuli.
We spend our days in nonproductive overlapping meetings so department managers can tick the boxes on their performance reviews and project managers can rationalize their existence. Compliance is a series of mindless box-checking routines and grade-school level classes, while unethical behaviors run rampant in order to meet financial targets. So much effort, activity, stonewalling and money spent attempting to paint the illusion that Wells “is a very different company today”. Yeah, no.
The Ringmaster - His/her job is to ensure what happens in the ring is the very best, keeps the show running smoothly, inspires everyone in the tent and demonstrates leadership. Unfortunately, this circus doesn’t have a ringmaster - maybe that’s the problem.
Charlie - the Magician who, with a sleight of hand, can make anyone’s money quickly disappear.
C-Suite - the Yes-Men Clowns running the show. Contradictory in nature, frozen fake smiling faces who are paid to disrupt continuity and common sense.
Our Board - the Disappearing Act. They hired the magician and no one has seen or heard from them again.
Managers - the Tightrope Walkers, have the increasingly unstable role of getting work done properly while under constant pressure to cut costs, offshore, focus on random executive pet projects and keep employees working despite the toxic culture and zero job stability.
HR - the Tigers, the most vicious animals in the circus who would destroy any performer on order to defend the circus.
Technology - the Contortionists. Twisting and bending outdated systems, which don’t talk to each other, to remain functioning every day.
Compliance- Spinning Plates on the end of sticks. These employees have the precarious task of creating the illusion of oversight in a high-pressure environment which rewards compromising ethical standards.
Frontline employees - the Jugglers who must keep customers happy despite out- of-touch leaders cutting services, watering down products and incentivizing cheating them.
Back office employees - the brow-beaten animals. (Most animals are smarter than their trainers but have been forced to compete for their food.)
Wouldn’t it be easier and cheaper to just fix what’s wrong and run an honest business??