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The Plan

Clipped to the Drawing Board by Administrator

(Be careful what you say and how you say it - it could be misinterpreted)

Once upon a time, in a work place, not unlike yours, a Plan was devised to improve the way of the workings. Presumptions and assumptions were made, but many of these were without substance and when the Plan was presented to the employees, a darkness came across their faces, they mumbled and grumbled and held a mass meeting.

From this meeting there was unanimous feedback and they all said "this Plan is a crock of s@#t and it stinks".
The employee representatives then took this message to the supervisors saying "it is a pile of dung and none may abide the odour thereof"

The supervisors immediately requested meetings with their managers and relayed the thoughts of the employees saying "it is a container of excrement and it is very strong such that non may abide by it"

On hearing this feedback, the managers arranged meetings with their Divisional Managers and gave them the response "it is a vessel of fertilizer and may abide its strength"

The Divisional Managers then met with the System Managers saying "it contains that which aides plant growth and it is very strong"

Meetings were then held with the General Manager who was told "it promotes growth and is very powerful."

On hearing this, the General Manager went to the Board of Directors and told them "this new Plan has been endorsed by the workers, it will actively promote the growth and efficiency which this organization needs"

The Board of Directors looked at this Plan, they saw that it had been endorsed by the employees and that it was a good Plan and it became Company Policy

THIS IS HOW S@%T HAPPENS - so be careful of what and how you say it.

Start a conversation

George ()

Newbie | 2008-01-02 04:46:54

it would never happen in my company - ha, ha, ha - well maybe just a bit

Toby ()

Newbie | 2008-01-02 05:06:45

Strange but true, so many times do verbal messages get distorted as they are misheard , guessed or misunderstood,? you are probably all familiar with the classic Chinese whispers story from WWI where a message is passed from the front saying 'Send reinforcements we are going to advance.' By the time it gets to the officers at the rear, it has changed to 'Send 3 and 4 pence we are going to a dance'! - many a true word is spoken in jest and many jokes have a degree of fact about them

Jacko ()

Newbie | 2008-01-02 05:10:31

most people I talk to claim to hate email - but it is the best way to document the facts and get that documentation out to many people - of course writing an unambiguous email is a skill that not everyone has - but if its not clear - ASK - it should be on every drawing in big print - if in doubt - ask

Trent ()

Newbie | 2008-01-02 05:12:57

well i like the gag - lets not bring logic into play - tho' i can see the hidden (maybe not so hidden) message

Chuck ()

Newbie | 2008-01-02 05:16:19

it would never happen where i work - all too blunt - most people have a word for every situation - and its generally the same word - begins with an f so generally not much misunderstanding

Tess ()

Newbie | 2008-01-02 05:18:28

I take it that you don't work in mixed company then Chuck

Chuck ()

Newbie | 2008-01-02 05:22:04

yep, I do, the guys sometimes get a bit embarrassed - the females have the worst language - its a changing world !!

Carlos ()

Newbie | 2008-01-03 20:16:53

all I can say is that i've seen similar things happen - not quite to this degree but there can be a very big gap between the shop floor and the board room and the way comments are communicated -

Wednesday 2 January, 2008 10:39 AM

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