I decided to search for what is special about March 22nd. It turns out this is National Goof Off Day. If I had known that, I might have missed the opportunity to blather about this or that. Goofing off is a great American pastime. My issue is that my mind is constantly too busy for me to just sit back and relax. A real shame, I know. Goofing off is quite common in the business world, although we called it a meeting. Everyone has to give their two cents worth, and real outcomes rarely happen. I can imagine Board of Directors or C-Level meetings that are exactly like that. I worked for several huge corporations and a few small companies. Meetings rarely resulted in positive business ideas.
When I worked for a personal protective equipment company, I recall a meeting with the big shots from sales. They were telling us how they would sell our latest product, called VeriPro. That system (software driven and operated by certified trainers, most who would be audiologists) helped ensure workers received the hearing protection level they needed to remain safe. The sales guys all wanted us to focus on selling the most units to our largest distributors, just like earplugs, earmuffs, and other PPE equipment. Pardon me for patting my own back with my response. I told them that selling VeriPro was not about selling VeriPro. They looked at me like I was crazy (perhaps I am). Then I added that selling VeriPro is about selling ourselves. With that product, we were demonstrating that we are not just salespeople. We are professionals who are truly concerned about the health of the workers using our products. That ended the meeting.
Being a finance and accounting guy, those types of solutions seemed obvious to me. As we all know, salespeople are focused on selling the most units to get the largest payoff.
A year or two later, the business was sold to a major US corporation. They have effectively destroyed most of the value they received when they paid more than a billion dollars for the company. Those decisions must have been made in meetings too.
I have been retired for just over two years now. Frankly, no more meetings is a wonderful thing. It is unfortunate that most of us have to work for 40 or more years to earn the right not to attend meetings. I worked for 47 years. Now I can focus on what I love, which is writing stories. Storytelling has been part of me my entire life. To be honest, I did a lot of storytelling while working, like case studies on whether we should enter the Brazilian market, and if it was more profitable to operate our plant in Tijuana, Mexico, or if we should move operations to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Being away from maniacal bosses is a wonderful thing. For some reason, I found them in most companies where I worked. I hope your working life was not a much a roller-coaster as mine. If your jobs have been like mine, try writing a book about it. I wish you all the best.
If you have the time, please check out the blog posts by the other Rave Reviews Book Club authors who are participating in this 30 Day Challenge. I know you will find something you needed to hear. You can use the link below to go there whenever you are ready.
Karl, your assessment of meetings accurately describes quite a few, maybe most, I attended in my past life. Retirement, for me, consists of daily goof off days. Except for doctor visits, I do nothing I don’t want to do.
Karen, thanks for your thoughts on meetings. I imagine only CEOs and other high-up managers think meetings will work. The rest of us already know they are a waste of time.
I tend to be reserved at work, but I goof off the most (and best) with my sister. She is one of the few people who make me feel safe enough to fully let my guard down, and I’m so grateful I have her in my life to goof off with.
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Yvette, I am an introvert and lifelong accounting and finance guy, so I was extremely reserved at work. The big bosses did most of the blathering. I just smiled or nodded in agreement, just to help expedite the end of the meeting. When I was married, she was my lifeline, and I could tell her all the wacky things that happened at work. She worked for the EDD in California, so she often had more hair-raising things to say than me!
Karl–I retired in 2014, the year I turned 66. I had a young boss whom I might have murdered had I worked any longer than that. He had no idea what he was doing, and he blocked me from talking to the “big boss,” even though I was the public information person. He took all my ideas, expressed in meetings, and told the big boss those ideas were his. So, considering that I might be in jail for murder, I opted for retirement. I don’t know how I ever had time to work! Meetings were so often a waste of time. I would sit in those and think, “I have so much work to do! I’d rather be doing my work!” It was a state job, and I had often heard that people who had state jobs didn’t do their work. I certainly did. It was never a dull moment. But I got out before I committed a crime! LOL
Wanda, better to retire than face prison, plus bosses are not worth the trouble. I have had great and awful bosses. I had considered retiring at 70, but my boss was both dumb and nasty. Not a great combination. I am happy that I got out when I did. I am glad you and others have opined on the waste of time we call meetings.
Karl, I’ve been retired ten years now and like Karen, I do what I want to do. Unfortunately, my day has become structured and when deviating, I get upset. Perhaps, I should schedule a meeting with the household for a solution.
Now that’s funny, John! It would serve them right. Also require each person to give their ideas for solutions. That will really get them to stop whining, and to beg for no more meetings. Quiet at last!
Hi, Karl! I thank the Lord for goof-off days, which, for me, are filled with reading and writing. When I worked full-time, some of those years were spent as a single mom of three active pre-teens to teens. That equalled to two full-time jobs every day, although the part with my kids was a labor of love and produced much personal joy. Now that I’m ‘retired,’ I work many long hours, but always doing what I love to do. So glad you can do that, too.
Blessings!
Patty
Thanks for your thoughts, Patty. Raising children is a full time job, even if you have to hold down a job too. In the end, we feel fulfilled, but then comes the time they move out and we are left alone. Such is life.
Hi Karl, I so identify with these words. The number of meetings I attended as a Senior nurse was appalling. Never did anything seem to be resolved and I usually left feeling what a waste of time that was. Love the goofing off expression.
So true, Joy. As a sort-of executive, meetings could often fill most of the day. As you note, little or nothing was accomplished. The worst kind is when the boss wants everyone to give their thoughts. Most people in meetings just want to go back to work.
Hi, Karl,
I so agree with Yvette. I can only goof off with someone that is safe for me where I can let my hair down or with God. I can always goof off with my Lord.
Pat, while I am not much of a goof-off kind of person, I do tend to veg out when I play computer games or watch TV. I do love old classic comedies.
At jobs that I had it was about cliques; not about what you know but who you know. That’s what helped advancement.
Karl, a lot of times were wasted writing memos that somehow recirculate back to the circulator. It was wild!
It’s laughable when you look back on it.
Shirley, in my life, what you called cliques is what I experienced as sucking-up. It seems the largest weakness of any corporate big shot is the desire to be told how wonderful they are. Of course, most of them are terrible people, focused solely on themselves and their bonuses. What a world!