I’ve seen it often in my work career of over 50 years: A new manager is hired. They are autocratic. My way or the highway, no chit-chat with employees, office door often closed, barely breaks a smile. Ownership is pleased with the numbers, and so they roll on, behaving as they always have, two years, four, five, and then, because excellence is difficult to maintain and troublesome things happen when human beings are involved, wheels start to wobble, mistakes are made, risks taken don’t pay off, and customers, employees, or shareholders complain. That manager is kicked to the curb, and during the replacement search, any attribute that has a hint of that scorned person is rejected. They were sour. We need happy. They were heavy-handed. We need a light hand, and so Chuckles the Clown is hired as a replacement. And the cycle starts again. They’re fun, their door is always open, can’t read a P&L, but who cares, because they host great events and parties, so caring, so empathetic, and then one day someone dares to whisper, “But maybe too empathetic, yes?” And so the beginning of the end begins again.
I call it The Big Pendulum.
It happens in life, too: Let’s try to lose twenty pounds and get in shape. Let’s go to the gym, eat right, avoid beer and bars, clean up our act. And it works for a quarter or so. And then the pendulum swings to the other side: Well, usually I have just one beer, but we were so good for the last couple months, why not two? And honestly, a few Tater Tots won’t kill me. And the gym will always be there, so I’ll go tomorrow. Or: I got that speeding ticket. Now I’m going to be the most careful driver in Washington state if not the Western Hemisphere, no going through yellow lights, no going a mile over the posted speed limit, check the rearview mirror constantly … until something in your brain switches off, and you forget you ever got a ticket at all.
We all love to get on a swing once in a while, but if you can manage it, the best place to reside is somewhere in between the highest and lowest points of the pendulum. Holding that spot long term can be difficult, but making the attempt can provide a sense of contentment that the highs and lows cannot.
If you think I had the mid-term elections in mind when I wrote this, you’d be right.
Cheers!
Pat Detmer
November 16, 2022