My Right to Point Out Absurdity

[penelope]

I recognize that I have this right to point out any absurdity I see around  me.  I am also s-l-o-w-l-y learning that even when people invite me to do so, they don't necessarily mean it.  This is because most people believe they're good and they're doing the right thing, I think.  Whether they are or not.

The world is somewhat narcissitic in this way, in other words, I believe.

Example:  They pummel this into us at work...

WE ARE A COMPANY THAT PRIDES ITSELF ON HONESTY AND INTEGRITY. 

We are encouraged to come forward if we see something that is "wrong," to seek a senior member of management even, if necessary.

What happens if I actually do it?  Well, I get slapped with a disciplinary action and criticized for the way I point things out.  Why?  Well, because people are damn afraid they're wrong - and they don't really want to hear it.  In other words, all the lip service, all the invitations to right the wrongs.. it's all hocus-pocus.  Smoke and mirrors.  As if when we invite others to point out our flaws, it proves we are in fact, infallible.

bean

[Stormchild]

Bean, I agree 1000% except...

where you, being kind, have said: "most people believe they're good and they're doing the right thing... Whether they are or not",

my workplace experiences lead me to say: "most people want others to tell them they're good and they're doing the right thing, no matter what."

Companies are a lot like men in locker rooms. The good ones don't spend a lot of time telling everyone how good they are. When 'mission-vision-values' buzzwords are being bandied about, the good ones nod, back quietly out of the room, and go back to getting the JOB done.

[Gaining Strength]

penelope
I could write endlessly here.  jacmac has posted some very good, on target points on this.  I have finally
learned this lesson and understood my part in some of this along the way.  I was just saying to my T
this past week that as a young adult I realized that there were unspoken rules in the workforce and
I kept asking people to fill me in and noone ever did.  I had to learn them by myself and the one
you highlight here is a very big one.  People should let young workers know early on.  The erin brockvich's
of this world are few and far between.

GS

[Hopalong]

Spot on, PBean:

I recognize that I have this right to point out any absurdity I see around  me.  I am also s-l-o-w-l-y learning that even when people invite me to do so, they don't necessarily mean it.

Just before giving up on the whole thing because of my back, I think I finally figured out that keeping your head down, not challenging anyone in authority, and doing what you can do in an imperfect environment, complete with inefficiencies and obnoxious egos... is horrible! But in that toxic department anyway, it seemed like the only way to get along.

Sorry you have to put up with this, Bean. Hope it's not too much longer.

Hops

[October]

Example:  They pummel this into us at work...

WE ARE A COMPANY THAT PRIDES ITSELF ON HONESTY AND INTEGRITY. 

We are encouraged to come forward if we see something that is "wrong," to seek a senior member of management even, if necessary.

bean

Actually, Bean, the company is not lying.  Look at what it is saying, in black and white, for all the world to see.  'We are a company that prides itself on honesty and integrity'. 

What it is not saying is, 'we are an honest company, with true integrity'.

Someone, somewhere, made up the exact right mission statement here, imo.     So, because they pride themselves that they have arrived in their own fantasy world of honesty and integrity, the last thing they are going to welcome is someone telling them that, actually, they are the exact opposite.  Just because they are proud of whatever it is, doesn't make it true for you, but it seems that, to them, it is enough.

Words are very powerful things, sometimes. 

[Hopalong]

Most of the time, I think I'm helped by taking people at face value.
Until someone gives me a red flag, I think I'm happiest when I assume goodness.

Intention is a complicated word, I was just thinking I have so many different associations with it, some dumb some biased some whatever.... Such as:

Intention = plotting (I intend, i.e., plan to do someone harm)
= unconscious (I feel a compulsion...I'm not really thinking but there's a force behind my choice, good or ill)
= conscious (I am thinking deliberately about how I will speak or interact)
Intention = from or of the universe, divine (not me!)
Intention = responsible

Know what I mean? They're not even synonymns, just places my brain goes when it flips through its word-association flip file...

Hops