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Ken is a retired design manager from a large aircraft company. He has traveled the seven continents of the world and has experienced many cultures and is respected for his diverse and sometimes controversial opinions. He now resides in a serene location in the state of Montana with his wife, Shelley.
I am now back on the ground and no longer flying in the "Atmosphere". I am now a first line manager and my new, small crew and I are on "Ground Zero". I no longer look up, but sometimes I can hear the planes pass over. My new dream may be my last dream. I have now lost all ambition to succeed. I am looking for the "golden handshake". I am doing what I must just to complete the daily tasks. "I miss Bitterwater!"
To pass the time, I would sit in my office and think of my experiences of the corporate world. What makes a manager and how do they become space travelers? I suspect that all managers start out with the idea that they will be fair minded and provide a real service to mankind. All first line managers start at "Ground Zero" and work their way up. Only five percent of these managers even get to the next level, "Atmosphere". Of the five percent now in middle management, only one percent of those will ever make it to upper management, "Orbit". None of these orbiting managers will ever make it to the star, "Hub".
I remember back when I was promoted to the position of a first line manager. I would become an overseer of people and what they produced. I was given the tools necessary to motivate them and keep the wheels turning. I really cared about their security and happiness. I tried to encourage good effort and promote Company pride. From the first day as a manager, the Company provided me with a hat. This hat had a long stick protruding forward, just out of my reach. At the end of the stick was a string. At the end of the string was the ever elusive yellow carrot! When I would see a middle manager stroll down the hall, I would watch his carrot dangle to his lumbering stride. It seemed like almost everyone was wearing that hat!
When I was young I was always chasing that carrot. In fact, almost everyone did! I did, however, notice that some of the older employees showed little interest in the run. They wouldn't wear the hat!
The Company spent a lot of time and money trying to inspire productivity through motivation and carrot chasing. We would attend classes and dream of more money and bigger jobs. I saw many people wear that hat and chase that carrot for thirty unsuccessful years. What stamina! Most of our new engineers were recruited right out of school. We only hired from the top Abet Accredited Universities. I myself had been on numerous recruiting trips. All of these young kids were ambitious and very intelligent. They would wear the hat without question. They were the best! Kind of reminds me of the fake ball throw to a dog and watching him run to retrieve the invisible object. Unlike people, a dog will only be fooled a few times!
The entire game was to rocket up the ladder of success. At first, if you do not succeed keep on sucking and you will succeed. As the saying goes, "The only way to move up is to either marry the boss's daughter, or you could work very hard for twenty years and THEN marry the boss's daughter!" Most managers promoted others with the same criteria as they had been. Keep those that work hard working hard. Promote those that are loyal and agree with everything their boss might say! Even lie, if necessary, to protect the boss. Spying for the boss is also highly regarded. This system has been in place ever since the first cave man needed someone to do his bidding and is in full use today all the way to the star, "Hub". The only problem with this system is that many people get promoted to their height of incompetence. Kind of like "in-breeding". The more they multiplied, the worse it got! How the Company ever made any money is a mystery to me. Must have been those hard working, "Ground Zero" employees and first line managers!
