The Big Whinge

In Defence of Cynicism

Cynicism is perceived as a negative trait in large corporations. Why is that?

To be cynical is to be distrusting or disparaging the motives of others. Now, these days you would have to be a right gumpy not to be even slightly wary of the motives of large faceless corporations, who only worship at the altar of the Achieving the Bottom Line Next Quarter.

How are cynics a threat?

For a corporate to continue to run smoothly (ie flog the serfs to work unquestioningly and work harder with fewer resources in shorter periods of time - you guessed it: Bigger Better Faster) without inconvenient questions about ethics or long-term benefits, you do not want types who rock the boat. If you can sit quietly and just pull the oars in the general direction of docility, hop right in.

Every company has a nod to innovation in its long-winded and infrequently used mission statement. But not the sort of innovation that may make life uncomfortable or extinct for the incumbent ruling strata.

This is not dissimilar to the story of the child who realised the emperor was indeed naked, while everyone else more experienced and with more to lose were busy kowtowing or too afraid to point out the bleeding obvious. Hello, old naked man parading through the streets!

So what happens when employees have been hit with the cynicism stick?

They begin asking questions about why. Senior management become angry and defensive because they don't have a strong argument to disguise their ugly agendas. It's easier to vilify and alienate the people doing the questioning than to admit a weakness. Cynics are crticised for being "negative" when they are simply intending to inject a level of realism. No matter whether a corporation purports to encourage diversity, cynics are never on the door list.

Cynics out there - you're not alone. Give yourself a pat on the back for standing up to fascists. You know you can shrug off the charges of "undesirable element" because at least you won't be finding your own picture in the google search results for "deceived" and "puppet".

posted by Yarravillean @ 8:07 am