Feedback

If I could, I would stop performance reviews ...
To be more precise, I would stop their use to negotiate salary and bonuses.

Performance reviews are a source of fear, and contribute to skewed measures.

Would you dare to openly confess your errors under threat of stick and carrot.

Let me be very clear:
I fully support respectful non-manipulative feedback.
I am against manipulation.


Fungus

Crime

This may come as a bit of a surprise, but crime is not the hallmark of our times.

There is some evidence that other eras and other economic structures have also been plagued with crime ... now, to the question: Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of detection?

Detection will find the criminal and sometimes will put him in jail to be corrected, but considering how much we get for one pound in modern correctional facilities, it does not seem as a good investment.

Prevention, if it works, will stop criminals before they commit a crime, but does it work?

Let's review two cases.
Case one is prevention by fear: Detection may be so effective, and punishment so harsh, that crooks outside perceive that crime does not pay, and stop. You still have a lot of people getting a free lunch in jail, and a lot of detectives in the payroll. It may work, but it costs more than an ounce.
Case two is prevention by education and values.

Well ... I believe it can be done, and I like to think I am involved in it, but then, I am a romantic, and a dreamer.

Fungus

Loyalty

My problem with loyalty, as with so many other grand words is that I don't know what it means.

I wouldn't know loyalty if you brought it to me on a silver plate with watercress around it. Is it the same as self sacrifice? Is it being able to keep one's word without Big Brother watching? Is it the will to take care of your master's property as if it was your own?

You are not loyal in a vacuum, you are loyal to your master because that is the best way to promote your own interest. (And since you cannot serve two masters, sometimes you have to decide.)

If I understood A Man for All Seasons, loyalty is a word invented by the feudal lords (including kings) to exert control over their vassals. Loyalty had to be sworn, and the violation of loyalty (treason) was severely punished.

If I understood the Da Vinci Code, loyalty is a word adopted by the medieval guilds (including Templars and Masons) to exert control over their members. Loyalty had to be sworn, and the violation of loyalty (defection) was severely punished.

I also saw The Godfather...

Loyalty is not something that you can see, weigh or measure. It is a way you act towards something... for your own reasons.

If your organization's vision and mission are reasonably aligned with your own purpose in life, then you are loyal to your organization, and a good thing too.

Others, go through the motions of work motivated by spurs, reins, carrots and sticks.

Fungus