The Unemployed Buddhist

When I wrote my last post there was light in the tunnel for our troubled company. The light is still there, but it’s amazing how quickly things change.
Our Captain has already decided that one of our implementations isn’t working; he gave it a three day trial.
The happiness that most in the company were experiencing just a week ago because they still have a job, has in some cases been replaced by anger, sloth, conflict, etc.

I would be remiss, if I wrote this series without pointing out that however common the collective neurosis of our company is; it is likely the main cause for our failure. I don’t point this out lightly, or to blame certain individuals whose character seem to create more conflict than others. I believe that a company is like a living organism, and as such, its success depends directly on the healthiness of all of its parts.

The higher in the body the illness; for example the brain or heart, the less likely the organization will survive. I can see clearly that the executive or owner that surrounds himself with people who work within the confines of his weakness, sacrifices any real level of success; the organism will constantly have cells that infect other cells, and consequently organs that will fail.

In our company there has always been what I consider a ‘favorite child’ problem, among other things. Doesn’t matter who the ‘favorite child’ is at any point in time, it’s always a problem. As a group we are burdened with malice and a degree of self-centeredness that prevents most in the company from feeling good about another’s success, or even considering each others needs.
I’m tempted here to exclude myself from this dynamic, but the fact remains that I continue to work here, and this means that I am at least partially responsible.

I am glad that I practice Buddhism because I am certain that if I didn’t that I wouldn’t be able to detach enough to see how we all operate together. I’m not a preacher and I am unaware of a single person in our company who is either highly spiritual or Buddhist, but its times like these that I truly wish everyone was Buddhist; silly I know.

What if everyone here meditated; enough so that we could have presence of mind when conflicts arose, and what if we all worked together with a simple Buddhist thought like: “the whole is more important than the part”.
This line of thinking won’t change our company, won’t help it even the slightest bit, because it isn’t reality, so the thought that recurs to me is: how do I help.

This morning my phone buzzed with a bewildered and angry call from Stan; our sales manager. “Could you come to my office as soon as possible”? I was thankful that anger doesn’t have an odor, or at least not to me, because it was spilling out of Stan’s every pore. “You better tell that F** B** never to swear at me again”, he opened. Imagine starting your day; having a nice hot cup of coffee, and not a half hour later, a conflict this heated? I’m often curious if folks wonder what I’m thinking when they fly off the handle like this.
If I was asked I would probably say something like; “Christ here we go again, I’m sure this problem is so severe that you need to turn red, hold your breath, stamp your feet, and make sure I let that B* know how important you are, how important you are to the company”. I would continue, “How about putting yourself in her shoes for a second, how about trying to find a common ground”. Oh, and “How about you tell me the whole story, before I go and Ask what her take is”.

Another silly unrealistic thought, of course, what I’m thinking has never crossed anyone’s mind during these times; anger must be vented quickly and effectively, regardless of its lack of positive impact on any situation.
I wish I could say that this was the only such conflict over the last week, heck even for today, but it wasn’t.

It’s good for me though because it helps me practice patience and compassion, and practice it I do, believe me.

Ambud

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