Employee Ranking Systems LO16692

Scott Simmerman (SquareWheels@compuserve.com)
Mon, 26 Jan 1998 15:19:39 -0500

Replying to LO16658 --

James Carrington said a few things about organizations, leadership and the
like and then closed with:

--Those who can, do. Those who can't, consult."

and Roxanne Abbas (LO16658) responded with some of her thinking and
experience.

she closed with:

>Independent consulting is a much better fit for me and it seems for many,
>many other people. In fact, most independent consultants that I talk to
>are emphatic that they would NEVER go back to corporate life. On first
>reading, James' statement "Those who can, do. Those who can't, consult.",
>sounded like an indictment of consultants as lesser beings, but I've come
>to believe that we're simply different. And if we were truly so inferior
>to those within the corporation, why do corporations pay us so much?

There are lots of reasons why people do things and don't do things. I
taught at a small college but didn't have the intellectual challenges I
wanted and WAY too much political muck. Consulting was fun and
challenging, but there wasn't any ownership of results (I like to be an
"equity" player in that I feel some ownership for what I do.).

As a consultant, my clients thought me pretty effective based on results
and reactions of the managers I was working with. I was offered a few
jobs by clients and took two of them (Director of Human Resources /
performance consulting) and Senior Vice President of Operations (for a big
retailer).

But the fits weren't good. Too many people locked into not being open to
change. Organizations going down paths that were futile. Politics.
Administration. Petty details and often petty problems that were
important to someone.

Being internal isn't necessarily best for people.
Being external isn't necessarily best for people.
Being accountable isn't necessarily best for people.
Having to be an expert isn't necessarily best for people.

Guess I really take affront at the "Those who can't, consult." framework
because it stereotypes and thus demeans.

I would wish that people could only find what they like that they can do.

I have - and I hope to do it until I'm 75 or so. Love it. Great fit in
all aspects of MY perception of how things could be.

The succcess of Dilbert would indicate that all's not rosy in the
corporate world.

And the surveys I've seen on reactions to performance appraisal systems
are always negative - I can't remember a single one and can certainly put
a lot of numbers into the list if one wants them since I've been
collecting stats for years (along with cartoons!).

I thank Roxanne for her continued good thinking and clear posts and Rick
for his continued good work as Moderator.

Keep up the good work, y'all.

-- 
For the Fun of It!

Scott J. Simmerman SquareWheels@compuserve.com Performance Management Company -- We support consultants and trainers worldwide with products like -- -- The Search for the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine -- www.clicknow.com/stagedright/dutchman/

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