[Industrialblog,
November 9, 2006]
'So he built his own tower'
About seven years ago, at an off-site editorial conference, our editorial department was divided up into about five teams of six or seven people each for the "Create a Tower" contest. To refresh your memory, each team has index cards and paper clips and half an hour to build the highest tower. The winning tower was six feet tall. An "observer" watched the teams and reported on what happened.
What happened on my team? We failed to build a tower at all. The observer said something to the effect that "This team was never able to come up with a plan, didn't work together, and ultimately failed to create a tower at all in half an hour. The only person trying to get people to work together and come up with a plan was Bill, but no one was listening to him and finally he just stopped talking and built his own tower." And it was true — I built a tower about three feet tall on my own, about half the six-foot tower that actually won. Perhaps with more time, I actually could've had a shot at winning ...
But anyway, I thought — whew! The observer was spot-on. Not that I'm right and everyone should listen to me. That's not what I'm saying. I mean, I think I'm slightly less accurate than a Magic Eight-Ball or a coin flip. Which is about average for someone with a graduate degree.
No, what I'm saying is the curious habit of other people NOT FRIGGIN' NOTICING THAT I'M THERE and NOT NOTICING I'M TALKING.
Hey, I'm talking here.
What happened on my team? We failed to build a tower at all. The observer said something to the effect that "This team was never able to come up with a plan, didn't work together, and ultimately failed to create a tower at all in half an hour. The only person trying to get people to work together and come up with a plan was Bill, but no one was listening to him and finally he just stopped talking and built his own tower." And it was true — I built a tower about three feet tall on my own, about half the six-foot tower that actually won. Perhaps with more time, I actually could've had a shot at winning ...
But anyway, I thought — whew! The observer was spot-on. Not that I'm right and everyone should listen to me. That's not what I'm saying. I mean, I think I'm slightly less accurate than a Magic Eight-Ball or a coin flip. Which is about average for someone with a graduate degree.
No, what I'm saying is the curious habit of other people NOT FRIGGIN' NOTICING THAT I'M THERE and NOT NOTICING I'M TALKING.
Hey, I'm talking here.
;)
Perhaps you should have used the cards and paper clips to spell out "Help Me." A display of sarcasm was called for ... but then you team might have started to ostracize you more actively rather than passively. Better yet you could have spelled out e-n-n-u-i.
You don't talk enough.
What do you think?
I thought I made my point when I built my own tower, but no one noticed I did that. I swear I was invisible.
There was an exercise where the five male contestants (I think there were five, maybe six) had to create a car commercial. One of them - the charismatic leader type - came up with an obviously dumb idea, which three others - the yes-men enthusiastic follower types - ran with. The other guy, a thoughtful, introspective type, knew that the idea was bad, explained why it was bad, and presented a much better alternative, which no one listened to.
In the end they did it the bad way. It was a disaster. The leader-type immediately blamed the three followers, but particularly the guy with the other idea. If only he had supported me, he said, we would have succeeded.
In the end, who did Trump fire?
He fired the bad leader. He had a bad idea, didn't think it through, refused to listen to good advice, and failed to take responsibility for his own failure. I was shocked: this would never happen in the real world.
Then Trump turned and ALSO fired the guy who couldn't convince anyone to listen to him. Good ideas don't mean crap unless you can persuade others that they are good ideas, and get them to follow them.
I think there's an allegory for American politics there.
Of course, in the end all that were left were the yes-men who followed the leader because of his force of personality, not because he had a good idea. I think that helps to clarify the whole concept of "The Apprentice."
Harry, good points. Trump has a good one, too, about the guy who couldn't get anyone to listen to him. Unfortunately, Trump screwed up by firing him. That guy just needed a talking to -- "you gotta get buy in" instead of a dismissal.
I liked The Apprentice a few times, but then got bored with the people. On the one season I watched, there was this obnoxious (but talented) asshole who seemed to do everything he could to screw things up for his team. He represented a classic management problem -- the toxic superstar. It was clear they kept him around for the ratings. Most managers, however, would've shitcanned him right away.
The next season something similar happened.
Whatever you think that the "next step" in the culture wars post is, it's your turn to say something.