Work This!

At my consulting firm, I'm often called upon to write reports, proposals, papers and the like. I'm a good writer -- not on a par with Ernest Hemingway or Jacqueline Susann, to be certain, but good nonetheless.

Today, I turned in a report. Then I waited for hours as one of my many bosses ripped it to pieces and reassembled it, a la Dr. Frankenstein, into a document that contained most of the information -- but none of the message -- of my original report. The reasons for the changes weren't explained. At the end of the day, I found myself arguing over semantic changes: I tried in vain to tweak some sentences and change some words.

Then I just gave up. I suddenly realized that my boss' goal -- either knowingly or subconsciously -- wasn't to rewrite my report to his liking. It was to prove to me that I have no control over my work. Winning an argument over some words would be a Pyrrhic victory.

Okay, I might be exaggerating about what happened at work. But I'm not exaggerating about my epiphany: I work in a place where workers can't do anything right because bosses (a) don't explain what they expect from their employees (b) don't give those employees enough control over their work to complete tasks successfully and (c) repress those employees through fear and confusion -- instead of inspiring them to do good work, and encouraging them to be creative.

My consulting firm could use some consultants. And common sense.