Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm.
That is what is known as drone, a continuous low dull humming sound. It is the audio that accompanies the axe that managers bury into their coworker's heads.
The Axe
In chapter four of The Cluetrain Manifesto, authors Doc Searls and David Weinberger describe the axe in our heads:
We know that the real purpose of marketing is to insinuate the message into our consciousness, to put an axe in our heads without our noticing. If the axe finds its mark we toe the line, buy the message, buy the product and don't talk back.
Substitute manager-speak for marketing. Their message is everything surrounding the practice of goal setting and goals. The difference in our example is that the axe of goal setting was buried into our parent"s and grandparent"s heads. Although management gurus spew out the low, dull humming of the importance of goal setting, we are immune to it. It's like that hair that grows out of your ear. Your body inherited the ability to do that from your parents. You never think about it until it becomes unsightly. When it does you cut it off. On another note, it kind of reminds you of the torture incurred while being reviewed by your manager, doesn't it?
So, how do we dig the axe out of our heads? Marketing is still a most worthwhile endeavor. How does the marketer get through to her market? Being different creates awareness and loosens the axe. The basic concept of goal setting is worthwhile. To create an awareness however, we need to be different. While the marketer is an essential cog in getting out the message (is she really?), I am not entirely sure the role of manager as we now know it, is to the goal setting/achieving process.
Moving forward I am going to introduce different terminology related to goal setting. I suspect that those of you who get tripped up on the semantics, are those who have found success in goal setting and goal achieving. That's cool... "I hear two ladies out there singing in harmony. That's all right though this is a free country live like you wanna live, free country, nobody's gonna bother you."
Also, moving forward in the spirit of, do we really need managers? I'm going to look at this through the window of the person who takes hold of his own work, education and career to grow and get results.
Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Maybe we're onto something Davo?
Cluetrain Manifesto Note: If you haven't read this book, you must! The authors spoke about everything you see and hear today about social communities and the value of relationships, conversations and voice... eleven to twelve years ago.
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