Disassembling The Corporate Hierarchy
I have tried just about every iteration of work environment that there is out there. I have been a sole proprietor in a business. Just me, responsible for absolutely everything. I have worked in partnership with a good friend and employed five to ten people. I have worked in a family business, run by six egocentric sons and an autocratic father, where a decision made in the morning was changed again and again throughout the day, sometimes reverting to the original plan that was in place the day before.
Other times, I have worked in a corporate structure where I was well respected and well paid for the things I brought to the table. At the end of my working days, when I went back to the corporate structure, I was nothing more than a just another fart coming out of the ever decreasing worker cesspool ; underpaid, overworked, able to be fired for the slightest infractions of the voluminous codes of conduct.
So it is with mirth in my heart, that I relate to you this story of ‘sticking it to the man’ from long ago. It’s still one of my all time favorites.
My good friend Duwayne and his wife lived in the same building as my first wife and I, along with my sister and her husband. We called ourselves the 101 club because the address was 101 Roosevelt, West Bend, WI. We did just about everything together. Parties, game night, races at Elkhart Lake, Wi and just sitting on the patio shooting the shit. It was at one of these patio nights that Duwayne giddily related this episode.
He was on a sales trip to meet some of their very high profile clients. A small group of sales managers from all over the country had flown in to participate in this extremely important meet and greet with these Fortune 500 clients. Unfortunately it was in the Pacific Northwest. You know, rain all winter, every day, all day. One of the newer sales managers had not brought a rain coat. He was from Phoenix, what did he care about rain?
Well he found out the first day how bad it could be. Soaking his best suit was the least of his problems, as he looked like a complete yokel in the meetings, unprepared, unaware, and totally inept at his job. He went out that afternoon and bought a beautiful and expensive raincoat so as not to repeat the mistake the rest of the week.
When it came time to submit his expenses for that month, he included the cost of the raincoat on his voucher form. DENIED. He was livid. He complained to no avail. He grumbled to anyone who would listen for the next month, until he hit on a plan.
When he submitted his expenses for the next month, no one could have faulted the impeccable line by line items, each seemingly unimpeachable in their accuracy. It was a work of art. Signed by the artist himself in the appropriate space.
At the very bottom of the form he wrote in very clear capital letters.
FIND RAINCOAT