Bascially, it goes like this…  the executive of the team make a decision and communicates it to his/her management team.  The management team digests the decision and prepares themselves on all manners of questions that may arise out of that decision.  The human resources representative will then train management on how to handle certain inquiries.  The management team enforces that decision, whether they agree with it or not.  The direct reports of the managers relay the decision to all the underlings. 

Everyone from the the executive to the management team to the direct reports brush off any probing questions with a rehearsed rationale, even though it does not answer anything.  That is the unified front…

I am experiencing this unified front as we speak, and it’s making me sick.  Why can’t management just be truthful and practical?  I think the employees would appreciate honesty much more.  I guess that’s why I gave up on being part of management…  I value my principles over corporate status too much.

Now let’s move on to the subject of  “holiday text messaging”.  I just went over the 20 or so text messages I received from other friends from around the country.  Several text messaging came from New Jersey, of course, some from California, one from Maryland, several from New York, etc.

This year, I was guilty of mass texting, “Wishing you and yours a wonderful 2010 and beyond!”  Usually, I personalize each text message, but with the four parties held at our house this year, I was too exhausted to be original.  I felt even more guilty when I received several texts that were personally addressed to me.  So, today, I began responding personally to the 20 or so texts from New Year’s Eve.  Now my thumbs are tired, but I feel much better.

And, I learned my lesson… mass texting is as artificial as those pre-printed holiday cards.  Don’t do it… and if you are found guilty of doing it… make amends like I did the day after.  Oh, by the way, “Wishing you and yours a wonderful new year!”

My wife and daughter were already downstairs watching the Tournament of Roses parade on TV, so I spent a few more minutes in bed to contemplate what it’s been like in the past year… the past ten years.  I know for many it was pretty rough, especially the last three years during the coming of the financial crisis and the burst of the real estate bubble.  It’s also difficult to forget about all the bad stuff that happened in the beginning and middle of the decade, namely, September 11, the New York City blackout, the Bush administration, the New York Transit strike, the Avian flu, SARS, Mad Cow disease, the Tech dotcom bust, Nigerian e-mail scams, phishing scams, etc.  Whew!  Was it really that bad of a decade?

I personally faced plenty of struggles, more than enough stress, and major disappointments — one of which was to realize that my junior executive position that I was so proud of obtaining in 2007, was being transitioned… out.  On the bright side, the past decade did bring me a wonderful marriage, a beautiful daughter, and a nice townhouse (albeit an overvalued one), plus a sense of self-worth knowing that I am destined for something great.

So, I decided today that I would start this blog.  It will serve to remind me that no matter how tough things seem, if there’s something worth going for, I better get up off of my behind and go for it.  Day one, is when it all starts… there’s no turning back.