Conference 7.286::digital

    Well emotionally I thought I was going to have to argue with that lot
    but logically I can't !.. Seems a reasonable set of direct questions,
    that answers to should be easily forthcoming , in an organized and
    controlled company !
    
    Its nice to see the brave, who are prepared to overcome the current
    political parlalysis that the weaker of us portray, come out and fight
    for all of us. Despite ourselves !
    
    Are there any more courageous and caring people out there, who have the
    abilility to still strive for a future above personal considerations,
    that will inevitably help us all ?
    
    Chris 
    

>================================================================================
>Note 1902.0         New round of lay-offs - more information?         No replies
>DREUL1::rob "my life is His"                         63 lines  18-MAY-1992 06:32
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Perhaps, I really am asking too much of upper management,  . . . 
>
>Rob

Said with a heavy sigh

    Re 1902.0

    > Perhaps, I really am asking too much of upper management,  . . . 

    Maybe upper management feels that it is kinder and gentler to wait
    until the axe falls, before telling people.

    On the other hand, maybe they are hoping that sales will increase
    sharply, and it won't be necessary?

    On the other hand (am I running out of hands?) maybe upper management
    just doesn't know.

    Sigh.....

    
    My vote will go for they have no idea how deep cut will be, what's
    the best way to do it, where the cut will be.
    
    Image the upper management shake up haven't been completed yet, 
    meeting is going on, debate is hot, and exile will be executed.
    
    Until all those settle down from top, I don't expect anything will
    dramatically change.
    
    Again, IMHO, your guess is as good as mine.
    
    Michael..

Hi, me again...

I remember a line from a play, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead" (if I
remember the name correctly, it's been a long time :-), that was spoken by
one of the characters out of despair for their predicament, and it goes some-
thing like this:
	
	"we float down life clutching at straws, but what good is a brick
	to a drowning man?"

(for those that don't know, they used to make bricks out of pressed together
straw..)

Anyway, to me that line always typified the desperate acts that one resorts
to, that really don't help, and sooner contribute to the problem than to the
solution.  I guess that that is the way I view the current drastic measures 
to which this company has resorted.

I can't remember which note it was in, but there was a note in here that men-
tioned the way that "Ken" has pulled this company out of crises before.  If I
remember correctly (please correct me if I am wrong), "Ken" always did it by
having forsight, or vision.  Having a handle on what was happening (or rather,
what should happen) in the marketplace, and leading the way.  Resorting to 
massive lay-offs was never one of those strategies, and I have to question if
it is a good strategy.  It certainly is not one that DEC has used, and succeed-
ed with, so it's risky at best.

The problem that I see with not talking with the employees in advance, is that
you really don't give them any opportunity to see if they can help the company.
ie.  Wouldn't it be better to go to a group that, due to changed market needs,
no longer needs to do what it does, and rather than laying them all off, talk-
ing with them to see what can be done (new business) in order to keep part, or
all of the group?  It may still be that part of the group will, none-the-less,
be layed-off, but some of the group may be able to stay with the company, and
contribute to building new business, bringing in more revenue, and helping the
entire company pull out of it's current situation.

But, perhaps this relates back to the note on "mission".  Every employee would
need to know what this company's mission is, and what new businesses would fit
into that overall mission.  If they didn't know that, then it would be hard
for them to evaluate new ventures.  But, whatever this mission statement may
be, it would need to be flexible enough that new ventures could be taken
on...ie if the mission statement is too narrow, the entire scope of the com-
pany becomes too narrow, and rather than being able to branch off into new
businesses, we shrink into a niche market (of course, if upper management has
our "shrinking into a niche market" as their mission, then the current policy
of layoffs, makes perfect sense, and is probably the correct strategy...). 

I could assume, as some of the replies here state, that upper management really
doesn't know what they're going to do, yet.  To me, that's really scary.  It
means that they are grasping at straws, rather than planning intelligently with
foresight.  The company, if that is the case, is doomed.  There is no way any
company that is that short-sighted will ever survive the current changes in
the marketplace.

If I assume that they do know, but they aren't telling us, then I wonder if
my scenario above is something that scares them.  ie They are scared of loosing
control themselves (giving more control to the employees, by letting the em-
ployees make decisions about new business, etc...).  They are blindly persuing
their course, deaf to the concerns of people on the "front lines" who really
do have some idea of what is happening on the market.  Which, is also a very
scary situation for me, because it means that a few people (perhaps very few)
at the top, perhaps in their "ivory tower", are making decisions, and are 
totally out of touch.  They will eventually (if they aren't already) become 
absolutely convinced that they are right, and the individual contributor (ie
you and me, or the "man on the street") will never, *never*, be able to in-
fluence them at all.

The problem with not knowing is that we begin to assume.  That's just they way
we are.  Sure, we hope that we aren't the ones to go in the next round, but we
don't really know, so we get concerned.  Morale goes down, demotivation creeps
in, worry increases, anger and frustration grow, etc.  Especially when articles
come out that paint "Ken" as a person with no plan, no vision, backed into a
corner and defensive, vehemently holding on to being captain of the ship, and
the ship is going down...  All of this is not a very pretty picture, but I am
afraid that it may be accurate.

All I can say is: hey! Ken!  if you don't know what to do, why don't you ask
some of us??  All we want is a chance to see if we can save (and maybe even
create) some jobs in this company, help the company be a leader in a changing
marketplace, increase our own job satisfaction (pay, benefits, etc...) and
still have a company that is making a whopping profit (which will of course
be invested in helping the company continue to change, expand into new markets,
etc.... :-)

On the other hand, maybe you guys at the "top" really do know what is best.  If
that's the case, then it wouldn't hurt to let us in on it, would it?  Could it
really be that much of a trade secret?  Are you worried that IBM might pick up
the idea and succeed with it before DEC does?  In view of the current situation
within the company, I would think that you'd have everything to gain, and noth-
ing to loose.  But, then again, maybe I'm just a dumb employee who should keep
his mouth shut, and not confuse you with the facts. :-(

Rob

    
    Let the managing classes tremble at a workers' revolution!
    
    Apologies to Karl Marx...
    
    -Ed
    

    re: .6
    
    OK ... that's too deep for me.  How about a translation.  I really
    don't understand how that fits this discussion.  I could use some help.
    
    Chuck

    Karen,
    
      I absolutely love your idea.  I believe we would get a lot more real
    work done in this fashion.  I also believe this way of working would
    create a much more flexible working environment for members of the
    team.  But since I also work in Denver, I am all too aware of the
    reality that you point out.
    
    So now we need to find ways to change that reality.  Right now, I am
    very impressed with the ideas presented by Peter Senge in his book
    entitled THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE.   I would absolutely love to work in
    a "learning organization".
    
    As a final thought from Gandhi:
    
    	"Each of us must be the change that we want to see in the world."
    
    Rich Pack