At one particular job, whether today or decades ago shall not be
clarified, a certain half wit finds employment despite his malady. (Or
perhaps "her" malady; I will leave even gender to ambiguity and continue
in the present tense as it suits me) Continually causing outages, the
ineptitude of corporate (or government - again with the ambiguity thing)
allows them to continue their rein of incompetence unchecked.
Inevitably, coworkers come to me to vent their frustration. "Why is he
IN this department? He has made this same mistake a dozen times! I
have SHOWN him how to do this!!" To which, politely requesting silence
with raised hand, I plainly proclaim: "Forty watt light bulb." To most,
this recounts the parable, though my memory isn't perfect and I recount
my stories more often than I recall the hearers. Fortunately, it is
trivial to ascertain a needed retelling, as their reaction is either a
distant, bitter smirk, or perplexion. If it is the latter, I continue:
People, much like light bulbs, can be ascribed different
wattages. We are, all of us, given to certain strengths and failings.
Try as they might, the proverbial short person shall never be tall.
(Though, we've nothing against short people; some of my very favorite
people are short) Now, the analogy is not perfect; with diligence,
people can improve their intelligence. Yet, there are limits. The
twenty five watt light bulb will never be a hundred watts, no matter how
hard he tries.
At this point, I am almost always interrupted by vehement
accusations, such as "They should not BE here! Somebody needs to tell
them!" Calmly, I raise my hand again and appeal to reason: Consider
carefully these excoriations - what shall words accomplish? He may get
mad, he may cry, he may, in fact, successfully complain to superiors
that you are "a big meanie." You risk hot water, team moral, and an
enemy, albeit an impotent one, for what what cause? No words you can
invoke shall inspire him to change or depart. Furthermore, you lie
fault solely at his feet, sans any further though. Yet, hear some
history:
This certain light bulb began their employment many, many years
ago as a twenty five watt light bulb. They have studied, they have
worked, they have applied some diligence. They have stretched the very
boundaries of their intelligence and industry to the proverbial limits
and have, by the very skin of their teeth, attained forty watt status.
Furthermore, they applied for promotion because the one trait
that binds us is our universal belief that we all need and deserve more
money. Consider, his money management abilities likely are on par with
his technical, so I would venture to say that he actually DOES, in fact,
need more money. Hence, he has applied with his new status for the job,
which job they gave him, as they desperately wish his former team
members to believe that their efforts or, more appropriate for said
team, exhibiting ANY effort could fetch them some reward greater than
their current course of action, which entails watching YouTube all day.
(Or, to update the ambiguity correctly for ages past, chatting on AIM)
Now, and this is key, there is NOTHING wrong with being a forty
watt light bulb. It may indeed be debated that there is fault if you
are knowledgeable of said limitation and do not spend every waking hour
trying to attain the level required to do your job. However, ascribing
fault by wattage alone without further consideration is inherently wrong.
In fact, the employee in question even deserves some small bit of merit;
he worked, he obtained a degree, goal or certification, and he then
sought promotion. In short, he exhibited motivation. (Which, oddly
enough, almost without exception, is a trait much lacking in the
original complainer, whose wattage has remained constant for years)
Consider, we established that we all need more money - he,
likely more than us. Hence, the opportunity for greater employment will
always be taken in seeking such, even if he does not, like most, feel
undue entitlement. Cognizant or not of his shortcomings, he is ALWAYS
going to take whatever is given him due to that need, or perceived need,
giving no further thought nor regard to his abilities to perform said
job. Therein lies fault, yet not where you are trying to lay it.
A forty watt light bulb will light a small closet just fine. It
uses less power and generates less heat - it's practically made for the
job. Now, if you take that light bulb from it's rightful place in the
closet and you put it in the dining room, it will not yield enough
light, thus failing miserably. And, that is NOT THE FAULT OF THE LIGHT
BULB! That is, in fact, the fault of the imbeciles who, despite MORE
than ample familiarity with the variables, decided to take a forty watt
light bulb and put it in the dining room.
