Though I heartily oppose the idea of treating corporations as people under the law, I do have to admit that in someways a corporation can behave like a sentient life form. It can easily be selfish and self-serving, and has a much more difficult time being compassionate. Sounds sort of human, doesn’t it?
Back when I spent more time immersed in the ways of the corporate world, I got a kick out of the various slogans that would come and go to serve the needs of the corporation. “If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t matter” wins as my least favorite of all time, but there is so much to say about that one that it needs to be the subject of whole ‘nother blog post.
One of others I had the most argument with was about the very subject matter of z2. Change. A corporate reorganization was in the works, and the slogan “change is good” began to appear everywhere.
“No,” I said. “Change is different. Change, at least slow change, is inevitable. But whether the change is good or not depends entirely on what the change is.” Most of my co-workers looked at me and shook their heads. They realized, perhaps well before I did, that I wasn’t as good a fit for middle management as I ought to have been.
So I will state my case again. You and I may have very different views on life, but surely we could agree that a new law mandating the death penalty for going more than two miles an hour over the speed limit would not be a change for the better. In that vein, I do not doubt that you can come up with twenty or so clear changes for the worse in less than a minute. If anyone sends me such a list, I will happily include the most outrageous in a second post on this subject.
Meanwhile, here is a picture from last week on the left, where I was enjoying an amazing vacation. Here is a picture leaving work this week on the right. Ah, the parking garage after almost everyone else has gone home.
Is change good? Sometimes. Not this week. But the good news is that change keeps happening.
Treasure Hunting for a Good Time 
Orwell called it “doublespeak”. “Bullshit” covers a lot of ground too – especially when you’re waliking in the middle of the herd. “Reform” of Social Security to contract it out to insurance companies. The “surge” in Iraq and Afganistan. “De-regulation”.
Yes we do like to rename changes to suit our own agendas, don’t we? And at what point does it go from creative wording to an out right lie? Interesting point and thanks for commenting!