Musings On Work These Days

I rarely spend any time or energy on the blog talking about my work life. It’s not that I have a rule of the sort “let’s not talk about work on the blog” that keeps me from doing it. And up to now Julie has not ‘banned’ me from talking about it (haha). I think it’s just a reflection of a couple facts. First, I’m 49 years old and have arrived at a time and place in my life where friends, family and being in community dominate my brain-space and my communication. They are what I want to share with people. Secondly, I think it’s a reflection of the fact that I love what I do and where I do it. I must admit to being a content employee. That’s not to say there are not things that occur that rile me at times. But, by and large I am very happy with where God has placed me, I find my job intellectually stimulating, and I find many opportunities to love people in God’s name among my colleagues. I guess I just have very little to complain so I don’t say much about work – except how thankful I am for it.

Awhile back our company was purchased and became a part of ITT. At the beginning of the year ITT Defense, of which I am a part, announced a re-organization. Last Thursday afternoon we got a good taste of what that means. In an effort to increase our viability and profitability our new management team told an impromptu all-hands meeting audience that they were obliterating most of the support staff at our location and turning our facility into an ‘engineering center of excellence’. In simple terms, that means most of the engineering staff will be retained to develop and support our products. Most everyone else will be out of a job by the 3rd Quarter or so.

I’ve started a business. I’ve acted as a business consultant. I’ve written business plans. I’ve traipsed all over the world marketing products for businesses. I’ve stood in front of countless potential customers attempting to articulate a solid value proposition while asking for their business. I also am an avid student of economics. So, I can appreciate the business motivations behind these moves. They are solid in many cases; difficult to argue.

So why is my heart so incredibly heavy? Why is it that explaining the economic advantages of dispatching my colleagues so that I might endure and benefit doesn’t excite me? Why is it that because I was fortunate enough to earn an engineering degree I don’t now feel some satisfaction in my safety (I have been informed that I will be ‘ok’ for the foreseeable future) from this storm?

The book SuperFreakonics may expose the answer. The author explains in this book two ‘norms’ or ‘realms’ in which we, as humans operate. The first is within a ‘social norm’. It is within the social norm that I feel it is acceptable to ask my friends and colleagues to ‘do me a favor’. I can ask a neighbor to help me move some heavy objects, or to help me with a home project. It is within the social norm that my company can ask me to ‘work late in order to achieve an important goal’. Social norms allow us to ask each other for charity. The second ‘norm’ is a ‘market norm’. Within the market norm I pay people to serve me or provide me products. It is the market norm that allows me to insist that people do things the way I want them done. It is the market norm that allows me to complain about the help I am receiving. It is within the market norm that I can insist on being paid if I am going to stay late to help my employer achieve a business goal.

Great businesses operate, as much as possible, within a social norm. They expend a lot of management energy and corporate resources to maintain a corporate culture that emphasizes social norms (time off with pay, emergency leave, comp time, community involvement, etc.).

Interestingly, the author points out that once a relationship (personal or professional) transitions from operating within a social norm to operating within a market norm it is almost impossible to go back. In practical terms this means once you pay your electrician friend to help you do a project at home it is almost impossible to then ask him next time to just do it as a favor. The same applies at work. Once a company clearly starts operating strictly on a market norm (e.g., issuing furloughs to employees, having them pay for their employee benefits, etc.) it is nearly impossible to turn back.

Last Thursday ITT made it clear to its employees at my location that they are operating within a predominantly market norm. For a person that has consistently sought out employment at companies that foster a social norm culture that was quite a shock.

I’ll be okay. I remain extremely grateful to God for bringing me here and preserving me here – for whatever time remains in His plan. I will adapt to the new management approach. However, it will be with extreme sadness. While I may have intellectual respect for many of the business decisions that were made I have very little excitement about the new culture. And it will take some more time to grieve for those that were impacted.