Screw Being The Yes Person

Screw being the ‘Yes’ person

 

The world’s corporations rely on good yes people to put their heads down and graft for the good of the corporation. These hardworking individuals produce what the corporation needs to maintain itself within its select market place. All the while, the individual exchanges their time and skills for those lovely pieces of coloured paper that represent value and what saves us, as individuals, having to barter. The thing is I have been watching a slow and quiet rebellion taking place within these ‘imagined’ constructs. It seems that the big corporations are introducing more and more controls and more and more rules to the individuals. Strangely those higher up the food chain don’t seem to adhere to those same rules. The yes people abide by these rules through fear of losing their jobs and not being able to pay bills. You know what? It is weird when you think how much the workers essentially tolerate in exchange for money. If you wish to read more about this please have a read of Sapiens, a fantastic book.

 

So today was a fascinating day. I have said before that I work in two capacities. I run a wonderful team of Social Media creators and I also work as a strategist and business analyst. I love both roles because they appeal to both sides of my nature and brain. Yet, with all this in mind, today was a day of rebellion. The most recent tremors began with an article that I wrote on the top five New Year’s resolutions. The article listed the fact that people wanted to lose weight, save money, get in touch with people, stop smoking and drinking. The article was written and then sent for higher management approval. Over the ‘festive season’ it turns out a whole series of new social media rules were introduced. Many corporations are not allowed to mention Christmas because not all people celebrate Christmas.  Smoking or drinking were not allowed to be mentioned and nor was weight loss because it was not fair to penalise people for being fat or even slightly over weight. That was not what the article was about, it was about health and making positive resolutions. So from the original list, the only remaining approved item was getting in touch. In the meantime, the higher management felt that people should not be making resolutions because they did not keep them and that meant they were going to fail which reduced productivity. I was then asked to re-write the article and instead of talking about resolutions I was asked to focus on ways people could increase their productivity at work. Erm… no! It was quite an amusing moment because in addition to this, the social media group were told they could not use photos from their phones, from the internet or any imagery that had not been taken by an official photographer for the company. 

 

Are you sensing why there was rebellion brewing? Now, our Social media site was created with the following mission: create uplifting, inspiring and fun blog content that exceeds expectation and articles that the audience will love to read. That is precisely what we did for a whole year. It seems the blog’s success has caused its own problems because the blog team and I set about creating something special and unique within a very controlled and austere environment. The popularity of this blog went corporation wide because the articles were passionate, written with humour and were a little bit exciting – imagine! What’s more, the group were run on the theory of tribal leadership. This is when the group enter a room for discussion and all hierarchy disappears. We are all equal, we all take turns leading and we all choose our level of engagement. Our level from the outset was the highest level whereby we intended ‘to create something exemplary’ where others would be inspired to aspire to our unique way of communicating.  It worked so well that we had huge viewing figures and other lines of business emulated the way we approached things. The thing is with success often comes parasites. Those who noticed the success wanted their names on it. They then found ways in which to control the free-spirited creativity and that is what happened today. What I will say is that creativity needs space and freedom. Creativity is not forced otherwise it is like constipation: no matter how hard you push nothing comes out. It is only when you relax that you can deliver.

For the last year we have provided excellent communication and there have been numerous attempts at sabotage that caused the blogging team concern. We all did our best to jump the hurdles, united our minds and found new ways to progress. However, today was the last straw – no photos and being asked to write dull shit! So that was it… My lovely young team and I had a heart-felt discussion and came to the conclusion that it was time to say no. In doing so one of the quieter natured creators turned to the group and said ‘Screw being the yes man. There are times when a person has to say no and they are not going to do it anymore.’ I agreed and asked what they wanted to do with our allotted meetings if the blog ceased to exist. The answer was simple: have a meeting, discuss how the group progress their careers and use the time for group motivation and mentorship. So the crap was transformed into flowers.

You might well ask what has happened from the higher management point of view. They are still in the process of figuring out what happened and what to do. Of course the whole group have their main job roles and this Social Media group was what was known, according to corporate carrot dangling, ‘as an above and beyond stretch assignment.’ We went above and beyond but there is only so far you are willing to stretch before the elastic band snaps. That is when the yes person says screw this and shifts to the NO!  That is when the other workers will begin to ask questions.

 

 

You can find my books at the following link: Ruby Allure books on Audible:

http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_hp_tseft?advsearchKeywords=Ruby+allure&filterby=field-keywords&x=0&y=0

 

MONEY FARM 5 STAR REVIEW! YEY!!!

 

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MONEY FARM REVIEW

 

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5Extremely thought provoking...

BySusan Keefeon July 13, 2015

Format: Kindle Edition

Gillian’s world is turned upside down when she is unexpectedly ‘released’ from her job. Her government funding is revoked after the board decides they did not like a paper she wrote on ‘Reactants, resistance, reflexivity and reversal in times of financial and social hardship.’

All of a suddenly her secure life has gone. What will she do? All around her people are getting into debt, being encouraged to spend more than they have, buy things they don’t need. Possessions are everything, all that matters. Why? How had the world gotten into this state, and why didn’t the powers that be want to hear what she had to say?

Not taking her redundancy laying down Gillian’s resolve hardens as she actively strives to understand the financial system and money handling. Living on her savings whilst looking for a job, she soon discovers that it won’t be long before she is homeless.

But what about M.O.N.E.Y? The people who work for M.O.N.E.Y live at the Money Farm, which was a series of huge walled islands, linked by bridges, which has been in existence for over 200 years. Gillian becomes obsessed with the M.O.N.E.Y concept. Who are these people, how are they chosen? M.O.N.E.Y is totally self-sufficient, secretive, she has to know more.

How do you become part of M.O.N.E.Y, this amazing organisation whose employees themselves are intriguing?

Then, one day she follows a M.O.N.E.Y employee out of a shop and asks the man the leading question “How do I become one of you?”

This simple question, and his reply changes her life forever.

As she trains and is inducted into the world of M.O.N.E.Y, Gillian soon discovers that she has in fact been chosen. Her militant nature and questioning attitude allows her to think outside the box. However, I wondered, as the story progressed, did M.O.N.E.Y have any idea of what her impact would be?

This was a fascinating book, deep and very thought provoking, it made you wonder…

I will certainly be looking out for more very interesting books by this talented author.

 

 

 

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To confront or not to confront...

Imagine you have paid a sizable sum for a ticket to a concert that you have wanted to see for ages. You sit in your seat listening to the music and really enjoying the spectacle and then it happens...  An older couple come in late and disrupt everyone as they take the seats directly behind you. First of all they do not even look like they have arrived at the right concert. Once they have settled they then proceed to moan. What's more, they talk so loudly that everyone in the area is aggravated by them. What do you do?

This happened to me and my friend last night. For a little while I fought myself. I am always the one who says what needs to be said. I understood this pair were unaware of how loudly they were talking; however, I really didn't care that the old woman really liked Julie and that they needed to pick up some cabbage for coleslaw. In truth the lack of awareness and consideration made me bristle. I glanced around to see how the rest of the nearby audience were reacting. You know what? They were aggravated but said nothing. The mental argument went something like this 'right I am aggravated now...'
‘Leave it, they are unaware and you don’t want to get into an argument. Plus someone else should say something.’

This mental argument went on and on and their chatting grew louder. Finally I turned around and asked them to make an effort to talk quietly. I was polite and firm. Their response amazed me as they attempted to justify talking through a concert. Admittedly they did quieten down; however, the husband wanted to take it further and said ‘what is wrong with me talking to my wife?.’

Answer: we have not paid money to hear about cabbage and how nice Julie is. (There were sniggers around the area) You have plenty of chance to talk to your wife elsewhere. Now I suggest you show some respect and allow everyone here to enjoy the concert or leave. There were a few here here’s from the surrounding group. The thing is I could feel the man’s anger. When it came to the interval he stood up in an attempt to intimidate me. Which is ridiculous since I am close to six foot and compete at rowing. So I stood up and was half a foot taller. I realised in that moment there was a divine comedy taking place. I was a woman confronting an older man in a public place in a polite and feminine way. Yet the man had to become aggressive. In addition, the music playing was all about conformity and rebellion. So this is it… and it made me think about people and characteristics. Is confrontation down to confidence? Why do so many people avoid confrontation? I feel that it was well within my rights to ask the couple to be quiet. Yet why couldn’t he accept that he was ruining other people’s experience? This made me think about unawareness and how unaware some people are of themselves and others. In some ways it fascinated me because the couple were classical stereotypes and their behaviour could be anticipated. In terms of writing and character – how the character confronts or avoids confrontation reveals a lot about them. So with that in mind…  Would you have confronted or accepted the situation? What would have been the best way to resolve the situation?

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