Culture – DNC-Consulting

Fundamentals of Corporate Training – Learning to Learn Prepares to Teach

Bobblehead Doll Organizational design (OD) hinges upon a caveat posed by Myron Tribus, “what does the business organization [leaders] desire?” Business organizations can be designed in a myriad of ways and possess a plethora of leadership styles. Tribus remains correct; the entire design can be simplified into a single decision about the organization’s makeup and summed as the business is either a money tap or a socially involved mechanism trying to improve society and culture. If money taps, there is not much left to say. The organizational design, culture, and climate will reflect the owner’s desire to collect as much money as possible until the tap runs dry and the business is cast off by industry. If socially involved, the decisions are obvious, and further delineation is superfluous.

For several years now, I have researched corporate training; from the start of recorded history, corporate training has protected business knowledge as much as it is screening people out for not being the “right fit” for a business and as a means of controlling behavior. Originally an untrained youth would be indentured to a master, who agreed to do work in exchange for knowledge and ultimately be trained to become a journeyman, then master of a trade, craft, or business. Your options were controlled long before interest was gaged and contracts for services were purchased.

Schools sprang up, and indentured servitude was expected to fall away. Instead, only the indenturing of people went slowly away, but the servitude remains and is as healthy today as it was in the 1600s. Currently, servitude is cloaked in terms of culture, competitive stance, and corporate knowledge, and the corporate trainer remains the arbiter of entry into a business, trade, craft, etc. The trainer does not impart knowledge but exemplifies behaviors, attitudes, and mannerisms that the business leaders consider tenets of competition.

Finally, let’s name the 800# gorilla in the room, servitude is captivity, and captivity is how a person is described who changes into what the company desires of its long-term employees. Thus the phrase “Captured by the system” indicates this phenomenon. What does it mean to “Play the game?” the same thing, change your attitude, behaviors, and ideals, and become one of us, doing what we tell you to do.

By naming this phenomenon, I am not being cynical. Multiple researchers of peer-reviewed research have discussed this phenomenon in their research and called it key to business success, placing the onus onto trainers and training to expound and exhort compliance of the human element. Trainers are considered mentors, managers, job coaches, HR representatives, supervisors, etc.; if you fill a leadership position and trust, it is because you exemplify the business’s manners, attitudes, behaviors, and culture. Understand compliance is neither good nor bad. Non-compliance leads to ostracization and eventual unemployment. However, submission does not guarantee long-term employment either, as those businesses relying most heavily upon human compliance tend to burn out fast and bankrupt themselves.

All operational processes and procedures rely upon changing behaviors, not necessarily upon gaining new knowledge. In making this statement, I am not discounting gaining new knowledge, as new knowledge can arrive in many shapes, sizes, and encounters, but the primary role of a trainer in corporate offices is not new knowledge imparting but behavioral controls. The indentured servant model of a Master training Journeymen and Journeymen training Novices has not changed these many centuries and remains firmly set in the “modern” principles of organizational learning. Question 2

Why is this important to know?

Not understanding the model and putting into place a person who does not comply is as dangerous to the health of a business as a thief, a liar, or a con man. ENRON did not fail only because of the action of the leadership team. ENRON failed because the model of behaviors exemplified by the leadership team and taught to employees poisoned the organizational body. Hence the corporate trainers led the failure of ENRON, for the corporate training model follows GIGO (Garbage In equals Garbage Out!). Understanding that the trainers were responsible for ENRON’s collapse does not excuse any person’s conduct. Instead, it more fully places the blame on the leadership team who exemplified behaviors anathema to good organizational health.

Take any business, successful or collapsed, military organization, or non-profit; these distinctions do not matter. Review them closely, and you will find Tribus’s choice personified in the employees’ actions, cultures, desired attitudes, behaviors, dress styles, mannerisms, etc. Suppose a learner is preparing to train others, and doesn’t understand these fundamental aspects of corporate training and organizational design. In that case, that trainer will teach poorly, and those employees will have short careers in the business.

Hence the most extraordinary aspect of controlling costs does not arrive in cutting people but in training them for compliance, improving the understanding of the role of behavioral adaptation, and improving the incentives to adopt the culture of the business. A client of mine is facing this exact scenario; the economic downturns have hit them hard. Instead of focusing on improving costs through behavioral adaptation, they have begun cutting people, leaving in place the trainers that are fundamental to the problems the company is facing. Proving the maxim, “You cannot correct the problems with the same thinking that spawned the problems.”

What is needed?

Unfortunately, what is needed is not what is currently wanted, but the path forward will require pieces of the following solution. What is needed is a new model for corporate training, and the model has been historically proven to be successful. Joseph Smith Jr., an early American religious leader, founded several highly successful communities and launched a leadership revolution and a religious organization. His leadership style was based upon the following principle, “Teach them (people) correct principles and let them govern themselves.”

Technology has removed the brick stick to beat compliance into employees. Technology has also leveled a lot of playing fields, putting employees into a position where they must act for themselves, guided more by self-interest and self-preservation than any generation of workers previously. Add in COVID lockdowns that spurred the rise in remote workers, and technology has released a lot of employees to work outside the accepted strictures of an office. The release of employees has done two things, changed the behaviors compliance spectrum and removed the front-line supervisor as a primary trainer in monitoring and controlling cultural acceptance.

Several years ago, a researcher was told by front-line supervisors, job coaches, and mentors of a company that communication and training were not in the specific job roles of these people. Thus, they could not be held accountable for poor communication on their teams. Remote working has eliminated these aspects on the part of the front-line supervisor. Therefore, if the supervisor is not teaching independence, allowing for self-preservation, and promoting the freedom of thought and action in employees, those employees are now acting outside the company culture and operations, and disaster is looming. To their horror, the New York Times just discovered that company-forced cultures are being called into question when employees are not in the office, and demanding employees return hurts bottom lines.

Thus, the front-line supervisors must adapt. Adaptation in managers nullifies a manager’s power and authority, sparking fear of downsizing into these mid-level managers. Fear mixed with self-preservation leads to more problems for a company’s leadership (C-Level Suite) to consider. The self-interested but not free mid-level manager will crave their benefits, perks, and powers, like any drug, and the withdrawal process is never pretty. Again as recently exhibited by the New York Times, their trainers are proving that they do not understand people and technology and do not know the role of the trainer in corporate training. Behavior-Change

Since the mid-1990s, technology has risen, coinciding with the need to provide front-line employees more freedom to make decisions and take rapid action. Mostly, this freedom has clashed with “traditional” models of behavior demanded of by what is considered novice servants. Yet, technological growth was not considered a fundamental threat to tradition until the COVID-lockdowns. Regardless of the politics in the lockdowns, the truth remains, the traditional roles have fundamentally shifted, and the businesses that embrace this new role for the trainer, including a new model for operation, will reap success in the whirlwind.

Hence, while not wanted, the model suggested is what is needed. Employees must be taught correct business principles and fully granted the freedom to govern themselves. Thus, the role of the trainer shifts from behavioral compliance to knowledge instruction and behavioral exemplar. More to the point, all levels of a business need to conduct themselves differently. Relying less upon behavioral and attitude adoption and more upon individuality, expression, and thinking to complete business tasks.

Front-line and mid-level managers are, by necessity, going to have to decrease in the new model. Relying upon layers of managerial oversight is not going to work, and honestly has never worked, and the costs of this oversight have proven too expensive. The gap between C-Suite Level decision-makers and the front line has grown too large and too expensive, and until this is acknowledged, the role of the trainer will continue to be hindered by old-model thinking. The 1960-1980s saw the exponential rise of middle managers, coinciding with significant cost increases and a tripling in government influence, all in the name of controlling behaviors, dictating attitudes, and demanding compliance.

The growth of the middle manager was considered “new thinking,” and history has proven this idea is as false as fools’ gold and as worthwhile. Middle management restricted freedoms, and while employment laws have granted, since the 1940s, employers the ability to take these controlling actions, these actions remain fundamentally unfair. The employees have slowly gotten more freedom back from their employers. Each business will find a balance between the extremes of absolute liberty and the oppressive regime of stolen freedom. The proposed model helps strike a balance as nothing else will, but caution is needed here; there is no one-size-fits-most solution in this balancing act. Fishbone Diagram

Since the industrial revolution began, businesses have competed upon their employees’ skills and influence to serve customers, which is the fundamental truth that cannot be ignored any longer. By the C-Level Suite, the skills, freedoms, liberties, behaviors, attitudes, and investment of the employee dictates the company’s ability to compete for market share. While much lip service has been undertaken to this fundamental truth, action has lagged considerably, and this trend can no longer survive in the global markets. The front-line employee must be taught to understand this truth that they currently grasp like a fish in a stream, and they must become empowered more to act in this role. Requiring the trainers to know, prepare, and teach these principles to power action by the front-line employee.

Teaching correct principles and allowing employees to govern themselves is cyclical. The employee will rely more heavily upon trainers to teach the correct principles. Increasing the need for value-added, timely trainers who support individual liberty and freedom in employees to generate customer-centric solutions. These trainers will need to be taught so that they can teach more perfectly, and the cyclical process will continue. Needs for training will drive new training, producing more freedom to act and driving more demand for training.

Knowledge Check! Returning to the decision posed by Tribus, regardless of whether to be a money tap or a community-building organization, embracing a new model for the role of the trainer will prove beneficial. Reducing mid-level managers will produce direct bottom-line cost reduction. Increasing the freedom of front-line employees while also training them to generate customer-centric solutions will open new lines of business and new opportunities. There are no downside consequences to adopting these changes earlier than your competition and proving the concept. As a business leader, are you brave enough to embrace these truths, or will you watch what you have built be destroyed by those who are? The choice, as always, is yours, and if you would like help, please feel free to reach out.

© Copyright 2023 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

Hubris Ante Nemesis – Flash from the Eternal Semaphore

Bobblehead Doll As a kid, I read a lot of Greek and Roman Mythology. I learned some great lessons from the fates, the fabled battles, and the historical interweaving with the fictional. One of the lessons keeps recircling, “Those whom the gods would destroy first they make proud.” Except, the gods/God do not make men proud; men choose pride, then comes vanity, all feeding ego, until that penultimate moment when “Hubris Ante Nemesis” occurs and the bottom is pulled out from under you.

The fates are three goddesses by the name of Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter), and Atropos (the inflexible), possibly the children of Ananke (Necessity); these fates spun out the woven lives of men and women on the tapestry of a grand design. Out of necessity, the fates weave, and what is woven cannot be undone. I can understand the mental comfort people might take from thinking that these weavers hold men’s destiny; thus, all success or failure is the fault of the weavers of fate. The Fates Picture, The Fates Image

Hubris, in Greek Mythology, is the god of arrogance. Full of wanton violence, insolence, arrogance, and who actively chooses never to exercise restraint. Hubris remains a classic example of extremes. Nemesis is the goddess of fate and revenge. Roughly translating Latin Hubris brings Nemesis to balance the scales. Nemesis is the humbler of men who Hubris have enticed into taking their lives to extremes.

In Judaism, the saying goes, “Pride goeth before the fall.” Or put another way, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” In all cultures of men, this same semaphore is flashing across the minds of philosophers and religious leaders, beware the tides of extremes, choose humility, and caution against arrogance, pride, sloth, vanity, lust, gluttony, and ego. When did we stop heeding this call? Why have these calls been classified as religious and minimized in all societies? Nemesis | Myth Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

Consider the political leaders of the day, those who think they are beyond the reach of law merely because they think they are the keystone in a democracy and deserve to live better than those who elected them to power. Recent examples of this pride are witnessed in Speaker Pelosi’s husband making stock choices when the company is about to get a massive windfall from the US Government. Al Gore compared climate deniers to the police in the Uvalde, Texas school shooting while jet-setting around the globe. He is preaching moderation and reduced lifestyles while he lives in excess. The list is never-ending, where extreme lifestyles are flashed wantonly, and suffering continues to expand exponentially.

Marie Antoinette was made famous for the starving and suffering by losing her head after supposedly claiming, “Let them eat cake.” Hubris snuffed out by Nemesis in a well-deserved act of humiliation. Yet, one of the things that set Greek and Roman mythology apart from Judaism and Christianity was the ability to repent, achieve forgiveness, and change one’s life being in the hands of the individual, not the destiny of the Fate’s.

Being called to repentance is primarily the realm of religious leaders, and I would not want anyone to think I am making a call for others to repent. Not my job, no authority, no power. Merely, I hope to help raise the perception of those suffering from the hubris of others. I also want to improve how I live. I am not the example to hold up to anyone, except as a warning, but I strive to improve. The poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley rings ever truer, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”

Our world, right now, is suffering greatly. Crime is skyrocketing; theft is out of control; violence, aggression, murder, rape, and so much more are occurring at levels not ever recorded and growing. Yet, Thomas S. Monson authored a book based on a concept of power, “The future is only as bright as your faith.” Consider this for a moment; we can have hope and happiness in whatever circumstances we face as a choice reflecting our personal religious beliefs. Yes, the consequences of crime hurt physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, etc., but the hubris of others can be healed. Victor E. Frankl’s book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” signals the same semaphore, your choices can heal the hubristic consequences suffered, and the future is bright!

Those who have indulged in hubristic actions can find peace, joy, happiness, and forgiveness. Those hurt by the hubris of others do not have to stay hurt, or hurt others, to find the same joy, peace, happiness, and forgiveness. Want to know an exciting thought? I am not preaching religion! Your religious choices are your own, and I respect your religious preferences, provided they do not infringe upon anyone else’s rights to freedom of religion. 25 Best Hope Quotes That Build Your Confidence Again - Picss Mine

I am talking about living without extremes, not religion. How big of a house do you need? Due to my violent sleeping and crazy sleep patterns, my wife and I sleep in different rooms. Because I am a proud person who, after cleaning latrines and heads for the US Army and Navy, hates cleaning bathrooms, we also have separate bathrooms. As a married couple, these changes to the “traditional” style of a man living with a woman have led us to live in a slightly larger home, but this fits our needs. Please note that my bathroom is not a filthy mess, but it is not the surgical clean of a military bathroom either. Nor is my bathroom one step higher in cleanliness above the military than my spouse’s.

How many cars and vehicles does a person need? I don’t know. I have friends who have four-wheelers, tractors, motorcycles, and a host of other vehicular conveyances. I am not here to tell anyone how much of anything they need. I merely postulate that you can make better choices and exercise less hubris through careful consideration and thoughtful discussion. The same goes for food, clothing, entertainment, and every other vice humans invent to fall into. I am not condemning anyone! I suggest that we can live well without the extremes and expect our political leaders and bureaucrats to do similarly.

Question 3 How expensive is the government because those who claim to be public servants practice hubris with our tax dollars? How complicated a process does a government become when government becomes a jobs program instead of a government? How big does a government become when hubris is practiced against the citizens?

As free-thinking humans, we do not need to be ruled with a brick stick to make better living choices. We do need a moral code to live by, and how you choose your moral code is your business. The moral code should include things like living within our means, not being violent to others, promoting good where we see it, and disdaining socially what should be kept privately, among other things. I cannot stress this enough choosing what you believe is your business. However, hubris hurts others to make oneself inflated, and that is everyone’s business!

Consider for a moment the store clerk who had to take a life to defend himself in a bodega in NYC. That man will be forever haunted by the violence perpetrated upon him, leading to the perpetrator’s death. The hubris of the attacker led to his humiliation but had consequences for society at large. The thieves in San Francisco, Chicago, and other places do not hurt just the business and local communities, they hurt everyone in American society, and their hubris is morally, ethically, and legally wrong! Hubris Quotes. QuotesGram

The murderer’s hubris affects society just as wholly as the hubris of a political leader who lives in excess; I see no difference between the two. Some may complain that murder and living in excess are two different moral choices, but those hurt do not differentiate the wound, so why should I? Is not a life lost in murder? Is not a life lost when the excesses of others lead them to use the power of government to steal, cheat, and lie in the name of government business?

Consider illegal immigration as the theft it is, and we can see how hubris negatively influences the originating country, pushing the poor out and the host country where the poor want to reside illegally. Does this mean immigration is wrong; absolutely not! Immigration includes assimilation, illegal immigration does not, and those practicing illegal immigration, promoting, and facilitating are all practicing hubris for personal power, wealth, and gain. Are there those in the illegal immigration classes who are the “Sons of Mary;” indeed. But the majority are merely perpetuating hubris with the resulting consequences in increased drug trafficking, sex trafficking, disease spread, and a host of other social ills.

I admit the murders of millions in Nazi Germany under Hitler were terrible, but how is this any different from Mao using government powers to kill millions by withholding food, clothing, and housing from those who disagreed politically, religiously, or personally? Or any different than Xi Jinping doing similarly to the Uyghur populations? What is different between Marie Antoinette and Marx or Stalin? How are these actions any other than what the government has done under the excuse of Covid? Did not millions die while political leaders lived in excess, flaunted their hubris, and stole from those who put them in power?

Under communism in the USSR, the people lived in abject misery, while those who considered themselves elite grew fat and lazy, all in the name of helping, providing, caring, and progress. Communist Cuba and the disaster called Venezuela are additional examples of what occurs when hubris corrupts governments and society is left to suffer while the leaders live lives of excess. America used to be a capitalistic country but is now a mix of socialism and communism under the guise of capitalism. The hubristic lifestyles of those in power, their lackeys, flunkeys, and bureaucrats, are all at the taxpayers’ expense. What is the difference between hubris in the communist USSR and America?

I am not claiming that anyone is doing anything inherently wrong. Our choices to live an extreme lifestyle breed pride, vanity, ego, narcissism, and a host of other social ills; these social ills breed expanses to government, creating red tape, tax increases, and socialism/communism as measures to improve equality. What happens when the hubris grows too big, war, revolutionary governments, and destruction. The mythological Greeks would call this the coming of Nemesis to cull the acts of Hubris. Judaism and Christianity would discuss balancing the scales of justice with mercy. Other religions would discuss balance, choice, and compounding accountability for choices. All truths flashed from an eternal semaphore, where man tries to explain the loss, putting morales to the stories and trying to pass along a truth grasped at, that men make choices, and when those choices include extremes, the consequence is death.

Knowledge Check! Is the future really as bright as our faith; YES! What we choose to believe in, how we choose to exercise belief, and the need for freedom of religion to keep men on equal grounds, are all pillars to helping man live life without extremes. Extremes breed death; living without extremes creates life; can we at least learn this lesson? I hope so.

© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

Courtesy: The Key to Civil Society

Not to state the obvious, Roe v. Wade has been rescinded, and the political left has become the antithesis of civil society. Acting in a manner that is rude, boorish, and bloody awful. I know sugar-hyped, caffeine-strung-out, two-years-old who behave better than the supposed adults rioting, looting, and threatening violence. Frankly, after the summer of rage (2020), I am fed up with the media cheerleading criminal behavior in the name of expressing themselves; let us now affirm and cherish as sacred courtesy as the preeminent civil virtue needed in society.

Elder Marvin J. Ashton, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints (October 1976), addressed the topic of courtesy while discussing self-management. Quoting Elder Ashton, “Courtesy and self-respect are necessary ingredients” in properly being a member of any society, business, family, etc. In a previous article, the discourteous behavior of the political left was discussed, especially those who choose to join the LGBTQ+ communities. Why has courtesy dropped so precipitously in American society and too other cultures across the globe? Elder Ashton discusses the answer:

“Seeing men and women who think, speak, and act with propriety in any community or personal situation is refreshing and uplifting. Good manners are necessary for the decency and peace of community living. [Good Manners] should be a matter of grave concern to all, yet we hear and read less about their cultivation than we do about dieting and “daily dozens” to enhance our personal acceptance and development.”

Stemming from self-discipline, courtesy is an outward expression of inner strength, and our manners precede us into new situations. As a kid, one of the deadliest sins we could commit was being late to an appointment, meeting, or scheduled event. You could lose your temper, drop the worst language, but if you were late, you were in big trouble! Sure, foul language was a punishment multiplier but was a punishment reducer if you were not late. In the US Army, we were taught if you are not 15-minutes early, you are late. 15-minutes early was on time, building the mental toughness to understand the military requirement of “Hurry up and wait.”

Yet, what do we see too often since 2000, less and less is society expecting a person to be “on time,” let alone early to a scheduled appointment. Worse, recently, I had a doctor’s appointment, and the staff in the office were grateful I had shown up, let alone was 15-minutes early to my appointment. When further discussed, the conversation drifted to how people do not call to cancel, show up hours late, and still expect to be seen, and how the staff was forced to work overtime when people showed up late. The provider felt compelled to see these patients, even though doing so meant staying late. Importantly, sourced from Elder Ashton, serenity and poise are the companions of those who practice courtesy and judgment to always be on time.

As self-discipline has been reduced, social interactions have also declined as people feel attacked when courtesy is absent. Worse, if I do not believe the same as you, social norms state I deserve to be attacked, even physically attacked, and this atrocious behavior is my fault for not having the courtesy to believe the same as you. No! This is not courtesy, self-discipline, or proper self-management, and I refuse to spend another microsecond being abused!

What is courtesy?

Jim Butcher is correct, “If you can’t manage courtesy, try silence.” In defining courtesy, the dictionary refers to courtesy as “polite behavior” and “indulgence.” Yet, I feel this is barely scratching the surface on defining courtesy, especially since indulgence is not a strong suit of mine. Courtesy is a willingness, and ability, to properly relate to others. Courtesy requires humility or a humble approach to social interactions. Elder Ashton was clear, “Proper self-management will permit us to be a team member first, a coach, captain, or superstar second.” Do we understand, and will we willingly accept, the role of a team member, participant, or active and engaged audience?

Early in life, I had some lessons forcibly taught me. Elder Ashton sums up the lessons:

“Good health habits, integrity, bearing, mannerisms, conversation, and self-control can be powerful assets in one’s balance sheet. These traits outwardly reflect the views of the management. Integrity within oneself makes it possible for honesty with God, family, and all other daily associates. A person with integrity within himself will also have it in his relationship with others.”

At my current stage of life, I lack a “cherub-like demeanor” with anyone who tries to steal, infringe upon, or impugn my integrity. This is wrong, and I struggle daily with the slings and arrows of our discourteous society. Yet, still, we find a need to define courtesy, and while healthy eating, exercise, and patience help me in my struggles, these other aspects of courtesy remain invaluable.

Courtesy, as an extension of self-respect and self-discipline, generates improved mental and physical health, further promoting courteous living and mental peace needed to suffer the fools slinging mud and practicing violence. Do we understand the connection being discussed; Elder Ashton affirms, “our self-image and general conduct [observed through] dress, grooming, and hair standards, moderation of voice, use of worthy language, good manners, respect for other’s rights.” However, does this define courtesy; not really, but they form the core of actions witnessed by those with self-respect and self-discipline.

Consider the recent media coverage of the two camps prominent in the Roe v. Wade protests since late February/early March. The dress, language, general conduct, manners, and moderation of voice distinctly identified which camp one woman belonged to or another. The distinction was easily observed long before either camp opened their mouths. More to the point, look at the Republican and Democrat audiences at their respective national conventions. The media coverage never ceases to amaze me, the camera operators and producers work tirelessly to not fuel stereotypes, but even then, the audiences are clearly distinct.

Elder Ashton states and I affirm in the strongest language, “In any community or personal situation, it is refreshing and uplifting to see men and women who think, speak, and act with propriety.” Having traveled amongst incredibly diverse global cultures, it does not matter where you are or the culture you originate from; it is mentally and physically refreshing to be among people who act with propriety and courtesy and live with self-respect and self-discipline. Clearly, courtesy is at its best when it is least obvious, and the least apparent; the greater self-respect shines through the actions and speech of courteous people. Courtesy is a manner of living; it is a lifestyle choice and is not merely a religious thing stemming from a Judeo-Christian moral code (the Ten Commandments). Aristotle is quoted saying, “We are what we repeatedly do; excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.” Consider these two quotes for a moment; courtesy is an action displaying excellence, and courtesy is courage. To Jacques Maritain goes the final word on defining courtesy, “Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.”

Thus, gratitude, excellence, and gratitude are mere pieces of courteous behavior. Interestingly, I find the best lessons on courteous behavior have arrived from the most disgustingly discourteous people. In the US Army, I was called out by an incredibly courteous person for my language. In the US Navy, I learned why courteous language was required through observing the consequences of the discourteous around me. Several department members used horrific language, acted in manners revealing their lack of self-respect, and then cursed the gods for their predicament with women and money.

I am not saying that courteous living makes people rich or loved. I merely relate that life is better the more I struggle to keep my cherub-like demeanor when stressed by those with manners more closely resembling pigs in rut than men with the potential to become God. William Wordsworth stated in his writing, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality:”

“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting. The soul that rises with us, our life’s star, hath had elsewhere its setting, and cometh from afar: not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness, but trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home.”

Disregarding religion for a moment, man has a tremendous imagination, but no religion yet has a discourteous god at its center. Let us so live, with courtesy, self-respect, and self-discipline, that when we return to the God who made us, we trail clouds of glory as a mark of gratitude and courtesy.

Serial Betrayal – More Government Attacks Against Citizens

Angry Wet Chicken Government laws, rules, regulations, and the tyrannical thumb of bureaucrats upon the scale of justice mean citizens lose, not gain, freedoms. Consider the oppression created by the European Union to “protect” wine industries but, in so doing, eradicated competition and locked-in prices to which the government takes through taxes, tariffs, and trade. The cost, though, is to stop the majority of innovation, the role of technology, and the promotion of class warfare.

For example, in reviewing the history of wine, there are several events where a member of the royalty got into a particular product, and the upper classes adopted the same tastes, regardless of costs, and to the detriment of all citizens. Tea, Port wine, Champagne, and so many other products through history repeat this process, and the government is used to protect the product, to the detriment and cost of all citizens. Consider this for a moment; similar tactics would be considered protectionist, monopolistic, and highly illegal in any other industry. Yet, because the government takes these actions, they are allowed to bend the rules, act in a manner disrupting all citizens, and worse, betray the foundational anchors of a society to trust their government. When trust in government is destroyed, the government has no moral standing to represent its citizens. Few understand this is a precious commodity, and even fewer, especially in government, will admit to honoring it.

A few examples are required to help drive home this truth; please note those specifically named politicians represent the problem, not the only people betraying and using government jargon and bureaucrats to hide and obfuscate the citizenry. Ridding the body politic of these examples is a small step in the right direction, but the bureaucrats are the primary source of power; thus, reducing the size of government is the answer, not merely replacing the elected heads abusing their office for personal gain and political power.

Senator Mitt Romney finds himself on top of this list of characters not deserving of his office, and who, with his family, should be as investigated as Biden and Clinton. Sen. Romney recently changed his mind about SCOTUS Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Because of a supposedly in-depth discussion, the senator now considers the nominee “mainstream.” Senator, what does “mainstream” mean? Why should a judge be “mainstream?” Finally, which stream is “mainstream?”

I have made my mind up on this disastrous nominee based solely upon her non-qualification for a judicial appointment, let alone the ability to sit on the “Court of last resort.” Her judicial activism, her refusal to use logic and common sense in her decisions, her flaccid legal mind, and her disastrous leaning toward pro-child pornography are just a few reasons she should NEVER sit on the Supreme Court of this the United States of America. Good senator, your Yahoo! News article fluff piece does nothing to explain why you changed your mind. If Judge Jackson was not qualified for a district judgeship, what has changed in the last few weeks to change your mind? I smell serial betrayal of the citizenry and more mealy-mouthed yellow spinelessness that cost you the US Presidency!

Three state governors also help to elucidate the principle of serial betrayal and deserve removal (in shame) from public office and a transparent investigation. New Mexico, Utah, and Michigan, your governors Michelle Lujan Grisham, Spencer J. Cox, and Gretchen Whitmer, respectively, are serial betrayers worthy of Benedict Arnold, Doña Marina, or Brutus. Consider their actions, not their words, and you will find innumerable betrayals made for personal power, political gain, and the demonization of the citizens for the promotion of those who consider themselves elite. From mask-wearing, mask mandates, government brutality against citizens, and the passing of laws to the destruction of the citizenry, these governors do not deserve janitor’s office, let alone commander-in-chief.

Under the rule of Grisham and through a disastrous legislature, New Mexico became what is termed an“Adult-use Cannabis” state, which means that for recreational use, cannabis can be sold and consumed by adults. In a state teeming with homelessness, poverty, and already suffering from drug and alcohol abuse problems rampant in the citizenry, the legislature, cheered on by the governor, began to sell cannabis. The excuse sold to the people, “The state needs to expand its revenue base.” How does selling an addictive substance to a citizenry already near collapse from the weight of homelessness, illegal immigration, and government regulation improve the tax base? Simple question, never asked by the cheering media nor answered by the betraying elected leaders proposing another sale of an addictive and harmful substance. Ziad K. Abdelnour Quote: "Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated ...

Governor Cox ruled that when the Utah Jazz began awarding scholarships based on race qualifications, as not racist, his colors were evident as a betrayer in deed, not merely by word. Worse, look to the wording of his first action as governor, what is known as the Utah Compact on Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: A Declaration on Five Principles and Actions to Create Equal Opportunity. First, we need to clarify that nothing in this declaration was needed as existing laws are regularly enforced already on the books. Yet, this new declaration adds some pretty ambiguous wording that is not clarified and will make judicial activism worse, not better. Leading to the first question, why was this signed into law by the governor who is expected to lead a state?

What does “economic inclusion” mean, and why should all Utahns or any citizens in a direct representative government agree this wording is essential? What is a “racially equitable state?” Utah and every other state in America’s union are already racially equitable, only made inequitable by the bureaucrats enforcing the government’s wishes. Consider the housing projects created by the federal government, supported by state governments, where race is inequitable by design. Tell me why the government doesn’t just end the housing programs and the racial division they created to have a class of people always ready to riot? 25 Quotes on Friendship, Trust, Love and Betrayal

What are “cultures of inclusion?” The US Constitution already declares in words of soberness, “All men are created equal.” The Utah State Constitution declares in Section 1 the following:

“All men have the inherent and inalienable right to enjoy and defend their lives and liberties; to acquire, possess, and protect property; to worship according to the dictates of their consciences; to assemble peaceably, protest against wrongs, and petition for redress of grievances; to communicate freely their thoughts and opinions, being responsible for the abuse of that right.”

As a point of fact, Section four of the Utah State Constitution remains an even more powerful declaration, more easily understood, supporting equal rights, where equal rights promote a society of inclusion, where cultures of inclusion are grown and sustained.

Further in the declaration on racial equity, diversity, and inclusion, we find another phrase with no meaning and lots of availability for abuse, “… equal opportunity and access to education, employment, housing, and healthcare.” The recent COVID-Farrago saw healthcare limited based upon race, and Governor Cox did nothing! The recent COVID-Government sponsored pandemic also saw employment and housing decisions influenced unequally, opportunities to pursue life, liberty, and happiness were restricted, and Governors Cox, Grisham, and Whitmer were leading the pack in cheering and advancing unequal treatment under the law. Why? Why is equality something to be turned on and off based upon skin color, obeisance to government mandates, and the cudgel of government used against citizens who have the right to be left alone? Betrayal Sayings and Quotes ~ Best Quotes and Sayings

In reading the five actions you have committed Utahans to follow, Governor Cox, I am left in a mental swamp equivalent to the Okefenokee Swamp. Racism in America, especially in Utah, only exists because the government is building a disgruntled class of people who can be depended upon to riot explosively anytime their government benefits are threatened. This is not equality and does not promote life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but you have insisted that all Utahans are racist by default. I OBJECT!

Action item two declares the need to invest more in creating the perpetually aggrieved class. More welfare, not less, breeds more discouragement, anger, and racial inequity. Since the government has created racial problems and supports racial inequality through government action, why do we not reduce government to improve racial justice and inclusion? The remaining action items do nothing to advance anything but more government top-down actions, which further promote racism as a government action!

30 April 2020, the Michigan State Supreme Court stripped Governor Whitmer of her legal basis of powers for violating the citizen’s rights to representative government. Yet, Gov. Whitmer was able to continue to abuse, despise, and detest through government actions the rights, liberties, and lives of Michigan’s electorate for the entirety of the government-mandated COVID-Pandemic. Is there any more glaring example of treason and betrayal by an elected official, let alone a sitting governor, on a massive power grab? Newsom and Cuomo cannot pale the hubris of this governor, Gov. Whitmer; you deserve to be named beside Benedict Arnold, Doña Marina, or Brutus as the greatest betrayers and traitors in history.

Serial betrayal of the electorate appears to be a game; how much can a politician get away with, remain in power, and be considered honorable? Hollywood got something right in the Pirates of the Caribbean” movies when Captain Jack Sparrow said, “The deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers.” I believe in the rule of law and so wish you your day in court, in front of a jury of your peers, where justice may be served. I am not your judge, juror, or executioner. I am a concerned citizen who is fed up with the gamesmanship of politics!

Knowledge Check! America is a Constitutional Republic, a democracy, and a direct representative style of government; thus, I ask, who are you representing? The demographics of Utah reflect that the governor is not representing the majority of his constituents. The demographics of New Mexico and Michigan are similar but also reflect that the constituents are not being represented by the governments and governors currently executing the offices held. On the mayoral level, too many mayors are learning how to deceive, mimic despicableness, and manipulate the media to play the games and achieve elected offices beyond their maximum level of incompetence. Why is this happening, the gamesmanship of politicians? The bureaucrats consider themselves to possess lifelong employment in a cushy and “influential” office; they have lists of media heads to call and whisper to and lists of donors and influential people schmooze.

The answer to solving these problems is a more informed electorate and smaller government!

Employers and Employees – The Battle is Waged: The Fight is Important

Employers throughout the world, including Disney, American Express, Wells Fargo, and thousands more, have begun to battle their employees. Unionized shops, the battle has been waged for 50 years and shows no sign of relenting. Only recently have other employers joined the fray, not to help employees but to rid themselves of employees. These businesses are fighting employees against their employees for the company’s culture and soul. Couched in many a buzzword, political stance, and archaic practices, the employers want to rid their workforces of those they despise, and the battle is legal!

Make no mistake, what the employers are doing is immoral, unethical, and disastrous to those employees unfavored, but the actions remain perfectly legal, and this is the point we must understand. Laws have been changed against the majority for the selectivization and advancement of the minority. The fight is important because you might be next and never know your termination has been affected, but not enforced until it is too late. This article intends to raise awareness, not cover every particle in the fight or catalog every avenue an employer might take to attack an employee. Imperative to know and remember, as long as the actions are against individuals, no laws are being broken, and the employer wins when they can make the situation untenable, and the employee on the out quits or is forced out under a miasma of quasi-legal terms, so it appears that employee was treated fairly.

Never forget, a lawyer’s job is to make the illegal appear legal, and the legal appear illegal, so a judge must decide. Add in judicial activism and legislation from the judicial bench, and the trouble becomes apparent quickly. Unfortunately, the lawyers’ training has shifted, and the legal mind’s quality has slipped under the weight of many of the topics discussed herein. The vicious cycle can only be broken when the collective beliefs of the majority are re-established, not to the demise of the minority but the growth of the entire society.

Culture and Politics

As long as people have banded together into organizations, societies, governments, etc., there has been the push and pull of politics. All of recorded history bears truth to this fact. People have beliefs. They express these beliefs through representatives who rise and fall in different leadership positions, and societies change according to the expressed beliefs through which a society is governed (law). Pick a governing style (Communism, Socialism, Representative, Direct or Indirect Representation, Monarchy, Theocracy, etc.), and you will find the collective beliefs of the people expressed in how long a leader remains in power or the stability of the society so governed. Politics happens and is best described as the push/pull of collective beliefs expressed by populations. Economies rise and fall based upon the collective beliefs, expressed in the stability of the society and the government leader’s length of time as leader.

History has shown when a governing leader is short-lived, it is generally because they refused to follow the collective beliefs of the population, giving rise to the credit ratings of stable governments and societies being higher than for those who are changing leadership every couple of weeks or months. Those leaders who can tread the waters of public opinion maintain their jobs and, many times in history, their heads by following the collective beliefs in the morals of the people. The US Dollar’s stability is one of the strongest reasons this currency is one of the world’s benchmark currencies. Politics did that, and politics are the push/pull collective beliefs expressed by the citizens to their government leaders. The process is messy and needs to be messy for a reason; only in the expression of two divergent points can a healthy middle ground be established, and society can grow.

Culture is not politics, but politics and politically minded people can influence it. If politics is a society’s expressed beliefs, then culture is the expressed moral convictions as lived by a community. For example, many institutions have been built on the law that coveting (envy) is wrong, but the practices of the people living build a culture that accepts graft, bribes, and other incentives that, while violating the law, are accepted. Make sense? The closer the culture is to following both the letter of the law and the living of the law provides for a stable and influential culture to invest resources into.

How does one change the collective beliefs of a society and the living practices of that society; first, you capture the children. Bad ideas do not go away, they are either replaced with good ideas, or the bad ideas go into hiding, awaiting the time they can make a new appearance. Everything modern society is facing has been faced previously, and the difference is that the seeds for the current dilemmas were planted more than 100-years ago, but the bad ideas first captured the children. Why have these bad ideas advanced so rapidly? The education of children in social customs, collectively shared beliefs, and individual duty, has been eroded and attacked mercilessly since “progressive education” (the refusal to teach children to read, write, and perform math) began in the late 1800s with Dewey, who called functional illiteracy “Progress!”

One of the first words plasticized, twisted, ripped apart, and then put together to fuel tyranny through modular language was the term progress. Unfortunately, language has continued to suffer relentless attacks since the late 1800s, and more words have suffered the same fate in the modularization of language. Consider with me the history of Tea. Tea plantations in India were ruled by the iron fist of laws drafted in America and marketed with women in distress to the consuming nations geographically distant to where the crops were grown. The tyranny of slavery is the same tyranny we face with modular language. Nobody realizes this because to mention this connection is frowned upon by those making money off the tyranny of language. The tyranny of modular language fueled the oppression of entire populations to fuel an empire. The language led to actions (afternoon tea) and a host of other practices, words, and social customs to fuel the demand for Tea. Unfortunately, the tyranny of modular language also fueled hot wars in China, more geographically distant suffering from the population consuming Tea.

Language – Plastic Terms

Diversity, what is it; what does it mean in practice versus meaning from a dictionary; what value does it have for a business? Equity, same problem, fewer answers, more confusion. Inclusion, same problem, confusion, chaos, and eventual destruction. These are, but a small sample of current buzzwords strung together and causing problems in businesses. There are entire word classes set apart for plasticization, which sound good to the ear, and that people love to rally behind, but these terms cover a hidden agenda. They have been weaponized to destroy, not lift and build—tyranny through modular language, plastic words.

American Express is a perfect example of how DE&I efforts (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) have been weaponized to pick away, through politics, the non-politically affiliated, those who show up to their employment and merely want to work their job. The University of Phoenix is another company long captured by, and suffering from, DE&I tyrants. Both American Express and the University of Phoenix began their DE&I journeys with the best of intentions. Still, the result remains the same, the minority classes bring politics anathema to good order and discipline into the company, initiating change cloaked in DE&I. The result has been the discouragement and disenfranchisement of employees. The DE&I champions crow and cheer for these people leaving as it injects more DE&I hiring, and the new employees realize that unless they are politically affiliated, read that as aligned to a militant tyrant in DE&I, they too will be out of work very shortly.

Language matters, and when terms are plasticized, the only result is destruction and tyranny. Consider the teachers in the Albuquerque Public Schools System or the employees of the State of New Mexico; both populations stress DE&I initiatives under various names but with the same purpose. Who are the enemies of DE&I; those who do not wear their politics on their sleeves, acting as emotionally charged smart bombs of the media. Even if a person holds some of the DE&I beliefs, if they are not militant in their beliefs, they are ostracized by their language, judged, and removed from employment.

When the patients rule the asylum, the problems for all patients in the asylum double and triple, not improve. The same result occurs when the vocal minorities of a population gain power that is not theirs, and they make no concerted efforts to rule fairly and justly. One of the truths about any revolution is that those who initiated the revolution rarely (if ever) get to enjoy the fruits of their rebellion as they are so focused on fixing what they perceive as injustices, they miss that they have become worse in action than those they deposed.

80-20 Rule

The 80/20 Rule is known by many monikers, but always it is the same rule, in different wrapping – 80% of a population will be controlled by 20%. In standard terms, the minority is setting the culture for the 80% to follow, and they hope you will never realize you are stronger without the vocal minority than with them. Take the recent changes at Disney. There is a vocal minority demanding change, couching the changes in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the Disney business model is about to self-destruct. The same is true of American Express, where if you are male and white, you are not welcome. But, if you are one of the members of any number of protected classes, you are welcome. When politics interferes in professional pursuits, 80% will always suffer under the tyranny of the 20%. What happens when the vocal minority becomes the majority, they fang themselves to death, and nobody is left to care because that 80% majority has left them to their own devices.

It should go without saying, but I will make plain, I am not against diversity. I do believe that diversity for diversity’s sake is wrong, immoral, unethical, and anathema to good order in a society. Diversity of thought should be preeminent as the diversity of thought transcends skin color and lifestyle choices. Diversity of thinking includes the desire to see all succeed on merit, character, and individual action. I abhor in the strongest terms picking a person solely based on their gender, skin color, religious preferences, disability status, culture, or any variable that supersedes accomplishment, education, and learned skill set. The same is valid for inclusion and equity; when people cannot compete solely upon achievement, education, and intellectual skill sets, this creates an imbalance in the population.

Hence roadblocks to education must be removed, character-defining and building experiences should be shared and taught, and achievement recognized. What is missing from schools from K-12 and up; is accomplishment, education, and learned skill sets. What has replaced these; is DE&I, where the vocal minority is destroying with no thought for what replaces the institutions, societies, corporations, and more. Iconoclasm in its most destructive form has taken over employers, and these companies are committing suicide to pacify, tranquilize, and placate a small population at the expense of all.

Inherently, change is not bad but growing, productive, and useful change requires inputs from a diverse population. Inclusion is not inherently a bad thing, but the current demands for inclusion, only for the sake of inclusion, make the activities of the vocal minority lethal to the entire social body. Equity is a prerequisite for society to grow, develop, and be stable long-term. This is why societies built on slavery, or those muzzling 50% of the population, are inherently ripe for hostile takeovers.

The actions of the vocal minority in employment right now are precarious at best, suicidal at worst, and permanently immoral and unethical. The models they promote have no substance and enable unfair, unjust, and unequal systems. Worse, companies that flout their customer base, which is the largest stakeholder in any business, will find smaller profit margins and higher expenses as employee churn increases.

One truth that should give hope to the employees affected is that when the minority becomes the majority in a body and does not have any substance, they destroy themselves. C-Leaders, are you sure you want to take the company you have been placed in control over down this dangerous path? On my first day at American Express, new hires were introduced to the rich, proud, and stable company history and core values. How sad it is to witness how fast this company has fallen! Who will replace these companies? Will their replacements learn from the failures of the past?

The Role of Quality – The Only Path to Improving Productivity

Look Warehouse or call center, manufacturing or non-profit, service industry or product sales, the role of quality continues to be misunderstood. Sometimes, it appears that quality is intentionally misunderstood. Often it seems as if quality and compliance are synonymous, even though quality is a small part of compliance. Some businesses call quality “Quality Assurance,” “Quality Control,” or the “Quality Department.” Regardless of the name, quality is the only path to improving productivity; however, productivity is measured. Inspiring Quotes on Quality - Fortune of Africa Swaziland

I have worked with businesses that used quality as a stick to beat employees and ultimately fire them. This is an absolute abuse of quality and the quality people! Worse, it hinders productivity because everyone becomes worried about meeting quality demands and not meeting customer expectations. The employees who meet “quality” in these organizations are depressed, morale is pathetic, and the brand suffers significantly. What really hurts, everything costs too much takes too long, and the company is not competitive, flexible, viable, or even worth mentioning.

What is Quality?

Bobblehead Doll Quality is a process of striving to improve. Interestingly, people inherently know when they have received quality or not. Be it a person, a company, a community, a state, a government, etc., how one approaches quality as a process for improvement defines that person, company, community, state, etc. Some companies think, “We have a quality department, we are meeting quality metrics, we are doing just fine in quality.” To which I reply, in my best imitation of Colonel Potter from M*A*S*H 4077, “HORSE HOCKEY!”

Why; because that company cannot define what drives the metrics being reported. That company has a quality department but not a quality attitude, quality focus, and quality determination. It cannot be stressed enough if your people are not quality first; you are losing between 33% and 50% of your potential! Worse, the loss of potential is always hard to pin precisely to a direct problem when the problem is lodged in something as amorphous as “quality.” Chinese Crisis

Recognizing Quality Value

Let’s do the numbers together. A manufacturing plant, a call center, and a warehouse are examples A, B, and C, respectively.

Example A: Employee A has been trained on making a part; he has never been told how his parts affect the finished product and is sometimes sloppy in creating pieces. But, because he is within set standards, his sloppy work can be cleaned up at another station, so Employee A does not want to improve quality. Producing 200 parts made per day, with anywhere between 5 and 75 pieces, needing additional work; Employee A has an overall cost to the company above and beyond expected costs. Regardless if Employee A increases his productivity to 250 to 300 pieces per day, his defects remain potential lost. Blue Money Burning

Example B: XX Team has 15 agents; each agent is expected to handle 80-100 calls per day. But the quality metrics are so stringent; the team can only meet 35-40 calls per day on average. However, the business processes to complete work, and meet the quality standards, handicap any single agent from meeting the 80-100 calls per day. Does the company look at the agents or their business processes and quality standards? The business will demand higher productivity and never realize that the churn increase is from burned-out good employees walking away! blue-money

Example C: Inbound product receivers, outbound product shippers, and quality are the three departments in a warehouse. Inbound, they do not consider themselves part of a quality initiative; their productivity is driven by how many items get properly stowed per day. Outbound is where the company focuses as this is where the customer satisfaction is directly observed; how much an outbound picks and prepares for shipping is productivity. Quality is considered someone else’s job as a quality department counts for compliance to SOX and other legislation. Inbound and outbound employees know their positions, and because they are not quality, they can create quality problems intentionally or not, and someone else will always take care of the problem. Dirty part locations with inventory from other areas don’t matter; quality will fix it. Torn or damaged product in a location, it doesn’t matter quality will fix it. In this case, 2/3rds of the employee potential for improving quality is AWOL!

TOP 25 POOR QUALITY QUOTES | A-Z Quotes Now, someone might think, these are hypotheticals, not real businesses. Those examples are directly from my experience. Yes, these examples are slightly oversimplified for brevity; however, not having a whole company quality culture hinders productivity. This is a truth inescapable.

Co-Equal but not Co-Valuable

kpi Productivity, however measured in your company for goods or services, should be a co-equal part of quality. Yet, if equality cannot be achieved, err on the side of increased quality until productivity catches up. The value of productivity is measured in green money, cash. The value of quality is measured in blue money, potential. Bringing up my favorite axiom, “Burn enough blue money, and cash evaporates, and no one can trace where the cash went!”

Returning to Example A, the employee does not know, has not been trained, and is unaware that their actions are directly costing the company. Since there is a quality person to check and “fix” the mistakes, the loss of potential is immeasurable until the business leaders have to increase the manufacturing price to account for the added work in quality to correct the errors. Hence, when all metrics are equal between quality and productivity, err on the side of quality, and productivity will catch up.

Exclamation Mark Want a secret; it does not work in reverse! Erring on the side of increased productivity increases costs elsewhere, burns potential, and ruins company bottom-lines. Quality cannot “catch up” to productivity — an example best witnessed in manufacturing and warehouses. The potential costs between manufacturing or multiple handling of products carry a potential cost, with no means of recovery. Thus, it remains imperative to understand the roles of productivity and quality defined early, and placed in the proper order, to avoid significant cash hits to the bottom line.

Quality – A Culture, Not Just a Department!

A quality culture is an extension of the individual’s professionalism, always striving to be better. Not faster, not slower, but better every day. Training is a dynamic part of quality, and learning something new should be encouraged. Yet, training, especially in call centers, always seems to take a back seat to operations and productivity. All because productivity is not correctly understood and placed in its proper role. Training and quality are potential or blue money expenses where the return on investment will be unknown. Why; because quality and training place tools into the hands of employees, who then go on to build or destroy based upon the examples of leadership.

Quality Image Quotation #4 - Sualci Quotes Quality should be felt in every conversation, in every process, in every program, in every interaction. As the most important customer in a business is other employees, the quality program is the most important activity and process for enhancing the business’s goals, aspirations, and daily production rates. A culture of quality will then have the ground to grow and room to expand. But, a quality culture will not grow overnight, nor will it grow without causing stagnant processes to change.

Knowledge Check! Consider a seed. To grow, that seed has to be destroyed completely; but no one ever mourns the loss of the seed for the potential fruit to be born from that seed growing. The same is true for a quality culture growing; the culture will destroy the seeds of stagnation, the apathy of indifference, and the processes and procedures that are not valuable to the new quality culture. Will you allow a quality culture to grow?

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Loyal Oppositionists – A Leadership Principle Requiring Focus and Explanation

Tools The last time I discussed being a loyal oppositionist, I am afraid people missed the point. Apparently, the thought absorbed was that only a person could be a loyal oppositionist in politics, which is incorrect. Thus, I am revisiting the principles of choosing to be a loyal oppositionist.

Loyal Oppositionists

“It is less that you are an adversary and more that you are someone with an opinion that (although frightening to me) might in some way enrich my own. And if I raise myself to being a partner with you on this mutual journey of ours, and if I refuse to bow to the posture of being a frightened adversary as you intersect my journey with a journey different than my own, we can profoundly change what we would have otherwise both died wrestling over.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

Webster defines “Loyal Opposition” as “a [person] whose opposition to the party in power is constructive, responsible, and bounded by loyalty to fundamental interests and principles.” If we are ever in a position of power, we, the loyal oppositionists, stay mindful of our actions, responsible and accountable to those who supported us to power. We remain true to the organization’s fundamental principles, giving us the privilege to serve as a leader.

Lemmings 5 Loyal Oppositionists never use violence to control the thoughts of others. We refute ideas with more potent ideas. We employ words, conviction, and confidence. We love the freedom found under the “Rule of Law.” We are constructive in our comments, truthful, and we research and report, even if it means we must improve our individual actions to meet our ideals. Now, more than ever in American History, America needs loyal oppositionists to step forward, answer the call, and defend liberty against the tyranny thrust upon us.

“You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.” ― Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People

Principles of Loyal Oppositionists

“Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three.” – Ziad K. Abdelnour

Thus, the first principle of loyal oppositionists is to adhere to and commit to understanding this basic equation. Failure to know and live this basic equation means loss of leadership, wasted resources, and chaos. Important to note, these principles come before being “constructive, responsible, and bounded.”

Exclamation Mark While not precisely a ranked principle, a person’s character is witnessed; they are not spoken, not listened to, observed, and judged by others.

“You can easily judge a man’s character by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Like trust in a relationship, a person’s character is built upon mutual experiences, time, and consistent behavior. Loyal Oppositionists understand the power and reputation inherent in a person’s character; they are slow to judge, quick to observe and create their own opinions about other people’s character. Realizing that a person’s character is built, allow yourself and others time to get to know your character. Virtue

The following cannot be stressed enough:

“Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.” – Woodrow Wilson

Self-sacrifice is not equivalent or comparable to being a floor mat for everyone to walk on. Self-Sacrifice is all about knowing the why and being a volunteer. Not to the point of burn-out, and not to inflate an ego or anything other than an honest desire to render assistance to the best of one’s abilities. Loyal oppositionists want to help! Failing to understand this mental desire is the number one reason why loyal oppositionists lose positions, roles, and employment. Leaders, do you know who to trust as a loyal oppositionist? Do you know how to use a loyal oppositionist to advance ideas to solutions?

Detective Confucius makes a powerful statement here for loyal oppositionists and their leaders.

“Base yourself in loyalty and trust. Don’t be companions with those who are not your moral equal. When you make a mistake, don’t hesitate to [admit and] correct it.”

How often has a team failed in competition because one team member has the moral integrity of a louse and the entire team suffers, without ever knowing why they keep losing? Consider your favorite sports teams, how many make the news for acting without moral integrity, and you can answer the first question quickly and easily! Doubt this fact, pick a team, any team, any sport, and job, and you will find the truth glaring at you. Morality matters!

Leaders… Never Forget

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.” – Edward R. Murrow

Remove America, insert your company or branded organization, and you will find significant truth in the statement from Mr. Murrow. Dissent is defined as concluding contrary to the majority, expressing an opinion different from prevailing opinions or an official position, or simply a disagreement.

I was working in a call center for a prominent online adult educator, where I questioned the software being changed and the rollout of the new software system. The software would not be finished and thoroughly user-friendly for an additional five years after the initial rollout. I expressed my dismay at rolling out a partially completed product when time and energy should have been put into finishing the software before rolling it out for all the employees. My director felt this was disloyal to the organization, trumped-up fallacious claims, and wanted to punish me for disloyalty. I walked out of that job; I was not disloyal then, I am still not disloyal to the brand. I am not loyal to that director or the supervisor who craved a promotion and signed off on my being punished on fallacious claims and charges.

Mr. Murrow’s point is extremely critical for leaders and followers to embrace. Loyal opposition lives as long as leaders, and followers, agree to disagree. In the middle of two extreme points, truth is found, solutions improve, and people are built. Thus, loyal oppositionists’ value is the second point in an extreme to aid in changing perspectives and building a better product, service, country, or nation.

Knowledge Check! While killing loyal opposition is most visible in the political spectrum where partisan politicians cannot agree to disagree and work together, the problem with killing loyal oppositionists is everywhere. From sports teams to board rooms, to political forums to every business, refusing loyal opposition has become the disease we are strangled with. Some try to blame communication skills, others try to blame the “speed of business,” others will use one of a thousand other excuses, but as the axiom goes, “Excuses are like butt-holes, everyone has one, and they stink!” Embrace your loyal oppositionists and allow them to help you!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Juneteenth and Critical Race Theory: A Head Scratching Conundrum!

Question I fully admit, every time “Juneteenth” comes around, I have to look up the word and the history to make sure someone is not pulling my leg. For those like me, Juneteenth is the celebration of the emancipation of slaves in Texas from 19 June 1865. Apparently, President Biden just made the day an Official U.S. Holiday, the first since Martin Luther King Day in the early 1980s. There are times I feel like, for all the work I invest in knowing what is happening, I am still living under a rock.

Included at the bottom of this article are references to the source materials and knowledge gleaned. Unless explicitly linked, the references below can support both my questions and my conclusions. Feel free to expand your mind and read; be warned, though, once your mind expands, it can never go back!

The historical celebrations of Juneteenth included prayer, new clothes, hymn singing, and expressions of gratitude regarding being made free. A celebration of freedom by slaves in America also included food. I have never seen race; plain and simple truth! Your choice of race is your business; how you act and live is more important than race, culture, creed, religion, handicap, and gender to me. While working on my MBA degree, I was introduced to two concepts, critical race theory and the fact that the United Nations claims race and culture are a conscious choice.

Why If the United Nations can claim that a person’s race is a choice, then I am an American. I am not distinguished by color, several colors, or even my history. As a point of reference, America was set up that way for a reason; it releases people from bondage to not be judged by their family, their financial circumstances, historical tribal connections, color, or any other line of separation. When America as a “Melting Pot” was described to me in school, I cheered because it meant I am not the sum of my family’s actions!

Then along comes Critical Race Theory, and my mind took a sudden jolt. Critical Race Theory is a loosely organized intellectual movement based upon a shaky legal framework and premise claiming that race is not a natural, biological, or physical distinction separating subgroups of humans. The intellectualists embrace Critical Race Theory and attempt to make race a sociological invention to oppress other people. They further adhere to an almost religious belief that America is inherently racist, especially to African Americans.

Question 3 Here is where my brain disconnects, the questions asked are honest, and I would appreciate dialog without emotion to attempt to answer the following questions:

1. If the United Nations is correct, and race is a choice, how does Critical Race Theory have any followers and adherents?
  - - Since race is my personal choice, I can be any race I choose, regardless of skin tones, speech, mannerisms, etc. How can anyone claim to be oppressed by another race?
    - How can race be an issue if race is a sociological construct?
    - Under the Rule of Law, there is no distinction of race. The lady of law has a blindfold for a reason, so she cannot judge by sight, only by hearing, and weigh the results on the scale. Where is the legal justification for Critical Race Theory?
2. Is Juneteenth a celebration just for black people? If so, doesn’t this upend the Critical Race Theorists? If not, then what is Juneteenth historically?
  - - If Juneteenth is a celebration of liberty, why did we need another holiday when the 4^th of July celebrates freedom?
    - When considering people’s kept as slaves across history, race becomes an interesting variable if race is not a choice but a biological, physical, and method of sub-grouping humans. Africa has seen a lot of periods where one tribe conquers another, and the conquered became slaves. The same pattern has been witnessed across all the different tribes, countries, and human species throughout world history. Does this mean that Critical Race Theory was just proven invalid as a concept?
3. If Juneteenth is a holiday only for those emancipated from slavery, does this mean others cannot celebrate humans ending forced servitude?
4. Why is Critical Race Theory all about black oppression? Didn’t the American Indians have it much worse than black people in early-American history? Where is the holiday for the American Indians being freed from reservations, empowered, and promoted as a distinct culture worthy of respect and study?
  - - Wait, if the United Nations’ supposition is true, that culture and race are a choice, does this mean that the laws against and for American Indians are now in question and under doubt?
    - What about other indigenous tribes across the world facing brutal oppression? Are those laws invalid due to the United Nations or due to Critical Race Theory?
    - Which minority groups are “more equal” and “deserving” than other minority groups under the Critical Race Theory? Why the distinction if race is a choice and not a biological, physical, or cultural tribal distinction in human sub-groups?
5. Since the American Indians owned slaves, why are the Critical Race Theorists attacking white people only?
  - - If the United Nations is correct, then those purporting to be Critical Race Theorists are broadcasting their ignorance by adhering to a group that pushes a lie about race being a factor, right?

I need to understand something, and history, as well as archeology, supports the following:

“White slavery pre-dates black slavery in America. This fact has been verified by forensic evidence from archaeological digs and historical documents uncovered by contemporary scholars, including Don Jordan and Michael Walsh in White Cargo (New York University Press: 2009).”

The stories behind white slavery, indentured servitude, and other means of conveying the purchase and abuse of people are incredibly heartbreaking. What man has done to their fellow man through all of recorded history is appalling. Trying to further that oppression through Critical Race Theory is despicable on a level I can not describe. Yet, what do we see, Critical Race Theorists doing precisely that, getting a person to choose a race, then choose to allow themselves to be victimized and oppressed because of their choice to join a culture, tribe, or race.

Knowledge Check! Hence, my conundrum! If we accept that race, culture, creed, and religion are choices made by humans without compulsory means, what is Critical Race Theory talking about and preaching? If we refuse the belief that race, tribe, and culture are not choices, then we still have a logical disconnect between Critical Race Theorists and the history of civilization. The Critical Race Theorists seem to be missing the forest for the bark they are stuck seeing. Unfortunately, I still do not understand most holidays, since I prefer to work than rest, I do not need to know to understand the holiday, just save me some food.

Slavery References

Davis, J.B. “Slavery in the Cherokee Nation.”
Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. 11, No. 4. December 1993.

Gates Jr., Henry Louis. “Did Black People Own Slaves?”
The Root. 4 March 2013.

Gates Jr., Henry Louis. “How Many Slaves Landed in the U.S.?”
The Root. 6 January 2014.

Hall, Kermit L. The Oxford Companion to American Law.
New York: Oxford University Press USA, 2002. ISBN 0-195-08878-6.

Halliburton Jr., R. “Free Black Owners of Slaves: A Reappraisal of the Woodson Thesis.”
The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 76, No. 3. July 1975.

Johnson, Michael P., and Roark, James L. Black Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old South.
New York: W. W. Norton, 1986. ISBN 0-393-30314-4.

Mintz, Steven. African-American Voices: A Documentary Reader, 1619-1877.
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. ISBN 1-444-31077-1.

Rodriguez, Junius P. The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery.
Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1997. ISBN 0-874-36885-5.

Russell, John Henderson. The Free Negro in Virginia, 1619-1865.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1913. ISBN 1-480-03049-X.

Walton, Hanes and Smith, Robert C. American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom.
London: Routledge, 2015. ISBN 1-317-35045-6.

Critical Race Theory Reference

Crenshaw, K., Gotanda, N., Peller, G., & Thomas, K. (1995). Critical race theory. The Key Writings that Formed the Movement. New York, 276-291.

Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction (3^rd ed.). NYU Press.

Juneteenth References

Donovan, A., & De Bres, K. (2006). Foods of freedom: Juneteenth as a culinary tourist attraction. Tourism Review International, 9(4), 379-389.

Ellison, R. (2021). Juneteenth. Modern Library.

Taylor, C. A. (2002). Juneteenth: A celebration of freedom. Open Hand Publishing, LLC.

NO MORE BS: Come, Let us Reason Together

Knowledge Check! In physics, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I am not a fan of the word reaction, for a reaction places all the control of the action into the control of the original actor, and nature does not work like that. But, to reason, we sometimes must use language common to all to understand each other; thus, it is sufficient to my purposes to use the term reaction in this discussion. A similar law applies to psychology; a human chooses to act, natural consequences follow. The ability to as, agency, and the person being acted upon, the actor, play a significant role in how and why businesses succeed and fail.

Plato 2 Societies, cultures, governments, and countries all rise and fall on the moral agency of the individuals in power, the common citizen, and the collective leaders of those groups of people. I have always liked the movie “The Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye makes a statement about how without tradition, they would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof. Bringing a mental image of a fiddler, balancing upon a roof, and having two options, climb down and resume playing, or learn to balance on the roof while playing. Both choices offer natural consequences that are easily understood, especially if you have ever worked on a roof.

Detective 4 I have consistently written about VA Leadership failures for several weeks, rightly calling out the administrators at the local VAHCS and VAMC, the VISN, and the Federal levels. Hospital leadership is not so different than leadership in any other industry, even though the VA has tried to make hospital leadership distinct. Herein lay the problem, an employee, a nursing assistant, has just been sentenced to 7 consecutive life sentences for second-degree murder.

“Mays was employed as a nursing assistant at the VAMC, working the night shift during the same period of time that the veterans in her care died of hypoglycemia while being treated at the hospital. Nursing assistants at the VAMC are not qualified or authorized to administer any medication to patients, including insulin. Mays would sit one-on-one with patients. She admitted to administering insulin to several patients with the intent to cause their deaths” [emphasis mine]. VA 3

We have an affect, but what was the cause?

“While responsibility for these heinous criminal acts lies with Reta Mays, an extensive healthcare inspection by our office found the facility had serious and pervasive clinical and administrative failures that contributed to them going undetected,” said VA Inspector General Michael J. Missal” [emphasis mine]. VA 3

Regardless of her intention, an employee was allowed to commit murder because of the “pervasive clinical and administrative failures” of the VAMC leadership. Now, two days prior to receiving the results of Reta Mays’ court proceedings, I received the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General report on the clinical leadership failures. I have not witnessed a more despicable and damnable report of leadership failures in the decade-plus; I have been following and writing about the Department of Veterans Affairs or any other government agency!

“In June 2018, facility leaders identified nine patients with profound and concerning hypoglycemic events dating from November 2017 to June 2018” [emphasis mine]. VA 3

The scope of the administrative investigation is as follows. Staff from the VA-OIG’s Office of Healthcare Inspections (OHI) assessed the following areas, in parentheses is who owns the problem raised in the investigation:

- - Mays’s hiring and performance (Human Resources)
  - Medication management and security (Pharmacy and Security)
  - Clinical evaluations of unexplained hypoglycemic events (Nursing and Doctoral Staff)
  - Reporting of and responding to the events (Facility Leadership)
  - Quality programs and oversight activities (Facility Leadership)
  - Facility, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and VHA leaders’ responses and corrective actions (Local and area-wide administrators)
  - During the course of this review (investigation), the OIG also noted areas of concern regarding hospice and palliative care practices and nursing policies and practices (Nursing, Patient Care and Safety, and Hospital Administrators)

Just as logic tells the fiddler on the roof that he has two choices to live a long and musically fruitful life, the investigation reveals that the VAMC leadership had choices and made both poor and potentially criminal choices in this investigation of Mays’ conduct.

“Ultimately, quality health care is dependent on leaders who promote a culture of safety that reduces or eliminates those risks whenever possible. Providing high-quality health care to a diverse and complex patient population demands the support of, and adherence to, an organization-wide culture of safety. When this occurs, a patient-centric environment becomes the “norm.” Conversely, systemic weaknesses in a facility’s culture of safety can have devastating consequences. The OIG found that the facility had serious, pervasive, and deep-rooted clinical and administrative failures that contributed to Ms. Mays’s criminal actions not being identified and stopped earlier. The failures occurred in virtually all the critical functions and areas required to promote patient safety and prevent avoidable adverse events at the facility” (pg ii) [emphasis mine]. VA 3

Before we go further into the report, it must be made clear; the investigation team found the leadership, the hospital administrators responsible for allowing Mays to kill seven patients. Attack another patient with the intent to kill and a potential additional hypoglycemic patient who died under her care but could not be directly linked to Mays. A question arises, how did Mays gain employment with the VA; the answer, a former HR employee, failed to do their job in conducting “… background investigation file and determining her suitability for employment!” In a previous article, I wrote about the hazards the VA was purposefully opening themselves to by using “COVID” as an excuse to delay proper investigations into backgrounds when hiring. Here is a classic case where “COVID” is not related, and failing to investigate a background led to people dying! Plato 3

The VA-OIG last year reported that hiring practices had been relaxed due to COVID and background checks delayed for employees being hired during a pandemic. Yet, when will those background checks be completed? If someone is found unfit due to background checks, will they be forced to return all their wages for lying on a government form? If there is a testament to the need for comprehensive background checks on employees, the seven (7) dead patients who died at the hands of Reta Mays! How many times will this story replicate because the hiring managers are not doing their jobs? VA 3

Let us reason together, is the VA administrators the problem with the VA? Does the VA leadership require immediate and total removal? How would you resolve the issues without breaking the system and further endangering the lives of veterans? Please let me know in the comments section.

I-Care VA Secretary Denis McDonough signed onto the “I-Care” principles as core values in care for veterans in the VAHCS. When can we, the veterans, see that these core principles have been onboarded and are correcting behavior?

“VA Core Values describe how VA will accomplish its mission and inform every interaction with our customers. These Core Values are Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence — better known as “I CARE.” VA’s Core Values will continue to serve as the right guide for all our interactions and remind us and others that “I CARE.”

- - - - I care about those who have served.
      - I care about my fellow VA employees.
      - I care about choosing “the harder right instead of the easier wrong.”
      - I care about performing my duties to the very best of my abilities.

Mr. Secretary… The veterans are dying now! We are waiting!

NO MORE BS: Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and Assimilation

Public Service Announcement: The following article is probably longer than desired. However, I am trying to cover a lot of basics where tyrants have invaded and are attempting to gain control.

Let me be perfectly clear; I do not care what you look like, your handicaps, abilities, or disabilities, or frankly, anything other than how you do your job and live your life to not interfere with other people’s freedom. Hence, when the discussion inevitably turns to diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, I fully believe that you are the number one driver of equality and inclusion in the workplace and society. You choose to become offended if you feel not included at work. You decide to feel marginalized, and in choosing to feel marginalized, your choices and consequences are solely yours. Except, you demand your consequences be the problem of the business and community. That behavior is childish, selfish, and reveals your ignorance!

Does discrimination occur, absolutely; but discrimination does not disappear magically when a diversity, equality, and inclusion workplace initiative is launched! Discrimination does not disappear because someone passed a law. Your attitude, actions, and decisions are all choices you make that come with natural consequences for you. You drive your ability to be included the majority of the time. Individual choice and consequence are the reality never spoken of during DEI initiatives. Failure to include personal choice, assimilation, and consequence remains a glaring hole in DEI training topics.

Assimilation

Assimilation is the act of assimilating, and assimilating is all about taking in and understanding something fully. The Borg from Star Trek gave assimilation a bad name. Worse, some people erroneously proclaim that when you assimilate, you give up pieces of yourself. Assimilation is all about taking the best of you, adding to the best of us, and making the whole stronger than the individual parts. Yet, every DEI training I have been forced to attend has been pessimistic about assimilation and assimilating into a stronger whole. Assimilating is also about absorbing and integrating into a wider society or culture.

For example, a balanced diet includes non-favorite foods, but those foods are good for you. Your body assimilates the good and the bad foods consumed, eat enough poor nutritional foods, and the body suffers physical and mental health problems. Eat too many good foods, and your body will assimilate foods differently and possibly begin to reject certain foods. Hence, balance is needed to properly diet and strengthen the body. Extremes in food, like attitudes, are bad for the body as a whole. The same choice and consequence cycles that drive the assimilation of foods into the body are the same choices and consequences when applied to workplace assimilation into existing cultures. Extremes are hazardous to health!

Diversity

Diversity is all about variety and including variety in a social environment. Diversity has been stretched to become a practice of including people of various backgrounds, ethnicities, and other societies into a greater community. The problem with the plastic second definition of diversity is the assumption that a variety of different people are automatically not wanted or desired in the social environment currently. History has never been kind to different people in a society. This is true of ethnicities, cultures, disabilities, and abilities, and nothing will change discrimination in any organization made up of human individuals.

A friend invited me to a bar; I was not accepted into that bar’s culture as I am a veteran and do not share other lifestyle choices of the bar’s dominant culture. Discrimination happens; if you choose to become offended by the selection of diversity in a community, that is your problem. I did not become offended at the other patrons in a bar and demand that they accept me, it did not matter to me one way or the other if I was accepted or not, and this should be the same stance everyone should be taking!

Equality

Of all the terms we are discussing, equality is by far the most plasticized, twisted, deformed, and dangerously laden with unnecessary baggage! Equality is all about a state of being equal. Equality comes from the “Rule of Law” and the application of “The Rule of Law” for all in society. Except, equality is not what is desired in the term equality when speaking of DEI, but “Social Equality.”

Social equality is a state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in certain respects, including civil rights, freedom of speech, property rights, and equal access to certain social goods and services. Essentially, social equality is all about twisting “The Rule of Law” into exceptions for specific socially acceptable groups; instead of equality, social equality is all about bringing all onto unequal grounds before the law. There is no equality in social equality, ever!

Inclusion and Discrimination

Inclusion is all about the practice of being included. That’s it, the whole enchilada; inclusion is all about being included. However, what does it mean to be included; here is where ideas like fit, temperament, desire, and choice and consequences enter a social group, community, or organization. Where DEI is concerned, inclusion is all about shifting the margins, dropping the individual decisions, and forcing all to be lumped together regardless of personal desire. Worse, inclusion is forced with the power of law without regard; hence all are injured in an attempt to be “socially inclusive.”

Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. Except, discrimination happens all the time, and efforts to be more “inclusive” have done nothing to reduce discrimination. I was hired for an inside sales position with a 90-day trial period. My wife dropped off some equipment I had left at home one day. The bosses learned my wife is older than I am; from that day to the end of my trial, when I was released without cause, the attitude towards me was significantly and tangibly different. Skin color, ethnicity, gender choice, sexual bedroom choices, and every other possible thing can be the source of discrimination, and nothing will change this facet of human behavior.

Admitting that discrimination is happening is not being defeatist, nor am I suggesting that discrimination laws should be scrapped. I am relating a truth about human behavior and why the law cannot dictate moral behaviors! Demanding inclusion does nothing to reach the core roots of the problems with discrimination in society. Which is another truth for certain that must be recognized and discussed.

Exclusion

Exclusion is the opposite of inclusion but also represents a risk. The risk of exclusion is found in the legal arguments from discrimination, not the risk of being omitted. More, exclusion has stricter requirements than elements of inclusion ever will. For example, insurance policies have specific criteria that exclude coverage as a means for controlling risk. The same thinking on insurance policies is the same as what occurs in social environments when a person is actively excluded.

For example, in the US Army, my platoon sergeant and my squad leader had a group of people they were comfortable with both on and off duty. I was not welcome because I hit more of the exclusion criteria than the inclusion criteria. I did not enjoy sports, wasn’t a drinker, a womanizer, and several other items. Off duty, this wasn’t that big of a deal. On duty, this exclusion caused me tremendous problems as I learned to be a soldier. Still, the choices for inclusion or exclusion came down to preference and accountability. As the First Sergeant and the Commanding Officer allowed these discriminatory practices to exist, I had no right to complain, and my mistakes were my own. It was a difficult period in my life, but I survived and was stronger for the challenge.

Individual Identity

Who are you? What makes you an individual identity in a socially expanding group? The United Nations has declared your culture, gender, sexual preferences, and race are all personal choices as part of a unique identity created, changed, and designed for and by the person making the choices. What the UN fails to mention are the consequences.

In the US Navy, I served with a woman who was as white as the freshly driven snow, but she identified as black. According to the United Nations, this is acceptable. This sailor spoke, acted, and identified culturally as black even though she was white, blonde hair, blue-eyed, and the antithesis of cultural black identifying characteristics. I am not one to judge and, frankly, could have cared less how she identified herself. But the command through a total fit when she showed up to morning quarters with dredlocks.

Remember, your identity is your choice. I care less about your identity than I do about a fly. How you work, what you do, and your respect for others’ rights matters to me. But, do not make your choices to be an individual affect my life. Do not thrust your identity into my world and demand respect; I do not care about your identity!

Group Identity

Group identity is the melding and assimilation of identities and behaviors needed to work together effectively. That’s it; the whole casserole! Take any sports team, any sport, and you will find the same in winners and losers, those who choose to assimilate the group identity gain success. Those who refuse to assimilate will lose every time. Pick a sports movie; here are a couple of suggestions where you will see for yourself the truth of the power in assimilation:

- - - We Are Marshall
    - Friday Night Lights
    - Glory Road
    - Hoosiers
    - Invincible
    - Miracle
    - Radio

Group identity requires sacrificing individual identity for a cause bigger than oneself. Yet, for DEI training, when is this ever discussed? Winning business organizations cannot be successful without individuals sacrificing their individual identity for group success. How have we forgotten this rule of nature?

Subordinate Culture

Subordinate cultures, micro-networks, ol’ boys network, whatever you call it, subordinate cultures are designed around those who refuse to assimilate and make their choices the problems of managers and leaders. Consider those who hyphenate their cultures, Indian-American, Russio-Chinese, Irish-Israeli, etc. You will find someone who refuses to assimilate and cannot understand the need to be whole culturally and who could be more without the hyphen.

In the US Navy, I met more than ten first-generation Americans from Jamaica, Africa, Cuba, Brazil, Puerto-Rico, and other places. Not a single one of them would consider hyphenating their status as American. Yet, too often, people who have been in America for multiple generations feel a need to hyphenate to identify themselves. Why establish a subordinate culture? A subordinate culture is assumed to be lower in status than a dominant culture. The subordinate culture is treated of lesser importance, deemed under the control of something else, and all because of the hyphenation. Is being subordinate desired; if so, why?

Dominant Culture

The dominant culture is the most powerful or influential culture in an organization. Essentially, more people assimilated and sacrificed for the success that the organization is enjoying than refused. Yet, in DEI training, dominant culture carries negative baggage and is not allowed as it could be misunderstood. Seriously, the concept peddled in this training blew my mind. What happens if the LGBTQ+ community became the dominant culture in a country; would it be accused of the same claptrap the LGBTQ+ community currently claims they suffer?

Why did Rome fail; they lost the “Rule of Law,” and the subordinate cultures took power and could not unify the majority of people when invaders came. One of the greatest Republics in the history of man is responsible for improving millions of people’s lives. Failed and fell an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle over the same issues every single business and democratic country in the world is facing right now.

Individual Choice

I was part of a first-day introduction activity for new hires (2016), and one of the new hires made an individual choice to identify themselves in the following manner, “I am John Smith, I am non-binary queer with a passion for anal sex.” What does this have to do with the position they were hired to fill? Which audience member in a professional setting needed or wanted this information? The declaration automatically put the entire audience on the defensive; the Human Resources representative was placed into a difficult position and called a 10-minute break to regain composure and finish the introductions.

How you choose is your business! I will respect your ability to choose as you desire; keep your choices to yourself, as I will keep my preferences to myself. Believe it or not, we can work together really well without disclosing our personal choices and lifestyles outside of employment. But, when you make your preferences my problem, I will deal with them the same as I deal with that pesky fly, ignore!

Consequences

Self-awareness, curiosity, and empathy are what I was told today that will make DEI work, and through learning and unlearning, DEI can make an organization stronger. I agree the learning is vital, curiosity is always a valuable tool, self-awareness is important, but empathy is dangerous, divisive, and deadly! Failure to recognize the need for assimilation and sacrifice places the burden onto people who have enough on their plate with their responsibilities in their work.

Imperative to the improvement and liberation of thought and the power of people is the eradication of litigated moral behavior. We, the individuals who make up our communities and businesses, must recognize the 800# gorilla in the room, mandating inclusion, refusing assimilation, denying the need to sacrifice individual identity for group success; these must be enshrined into our cultures, again! Let us embrace these truths and design our “Liberty FIRST Cultures” around a single “Rule of Law,” where people are respected and freedom blossoms!

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