In April of 1962 I was 22, fresh out of the army working nights at an entry level grunt job in a factory for $ 2.72/hr. It wasn’t a bad job, not sitting at a machine assembling pieces and parts which it very well could have been. I got to walk around, pick up and clean those parts, put them in boxes and deliver them to quality control. John F. Kennedy was President. To say he was a rich man’s son would be a dreadfully serious understatement. Like previous rich men’s sons in that office, the Roosevelts, Teddy and FDR; he aligned himself with ordinary people and a greater good which infuriated the barons of big business.
In April of ’62 JFK was embroiled in a battle with the Steel Industry. He had just pressured steel workers to sacrifice with a modest pay raise for the sake of holding down inflation. The steel companies followed with a significant price increase to their customers which gave the appearance that JFK had conspired with big business against the union and its workers. The President’s response was captured in a private conversation which of course was leaked to the press. In so-many words he shared what his father had told him about businessmen, that they were all a bunch of bastards; that he hadn’t believed it before but this changed his mind and punctuated his feeling with, “I hate the bastards.”
At 22 with little more than 3 years of rigid military conformity and a few months of swimming in corporate conformity I was more like half-baked bread, almost ready but not quite. But now, 65 years later I have most of the puzzle pieces in place. I learned how important trade unions were for us in my growing up and how the teacher’s union protected my family’s best interests. The biggest problem with trade unions is, in order to succeed they’ve learned to fight fire with fire. Union leaders and members are willing to adopt the same underhanded dealings and deceitful schemes that the Business stereotype had employed from the beginning, the Bastards.
This story may be a stretch and I may be overreacting but then it’s my story. My garage door broke last week and I couldn’t park my truck inside. I googled for businesses near me that do that work and started calling. On their websites I noticed the absence of their address, only that they serviced my town. I asked if they did in fact repair broken garage doors and whether or not their business was located in my zip code. It didn’t seem to matter who I had on the other end, male or female, scheduler or the guy driving the service truck; all I got was vague answers. All they wanted was my address and a request for service. I’m full of questions, it’s my nature and nobody I talked to wanted to answer my question about where their business was located. I like to hire local people. It keeps local money in the community and I get a local name and face to go back to if need be. It’s not uncommon for the voice on the other end and myself to argue and be confrontational and I don’t like being that way. But they want to charge me for a $75 service call when they make an estimate, even if I don’t hire them. They say, “We have to pay our drivers.” I reply, “My time is as valuable to me as yours is to you. I have to spend valuable time waiting for your service tech and you tell me it will be sometime that afternoon. My time is valuable too so I’ll pay you for the service call after you pay me the same amount for the wait.” I don’t have to elaborate on how those conversations end. I got my garage door repaired but neither of us were happy and the tech was grumbling as he left.
Going back to JFK’s off the cuff remark, my mother told me there are two different sides of business. One is where you give someone the business which is to exploit the vulnerable person/group so you maximize your gain at their expense. The other end of the business is the vulnerable person/group who is being exploited, getting the business. The underlying rule is; maximize profit, whatever it takes, whatever you can get away with. And yes; Bastards is a good fit.
True, individuals and groups of individuals can vary greatly to the extent of how accommodating or how manipulating they are pursuing Business. People like myself would prefer the two doing business to view themselves as equals trying to meet the other’s need in a mutually beneficial transaction. It seems to me the fewer individuals involved the easier it is to be collaborative; in the end you all have to feel validated for it to succeed and 2 is a much more accommodating number than sales, supervisor, manager, purchasing, president and board of trustees. The farther one is removed from the interface the easier it is to fall back on Bastard behavior.
Think of it as a game; the formal game is called “Zero-Sum”. For Zero-Sum to work there has to be a winner and with that distinction there has to be a loser. Without a loser there can be no winner. In each case the competitors knows their role in the outcome. If you cheat and win it’s still a win. The opposite game is called “Non-Zero-Sum”. Rather than competing in a winner-take-all interaction they can negotiate terms of agreement. The perfect outcome is a “Win-Win” where both sides give up something in return for a concession on the other’s part.
I have been taking my vehicles to the same shop for scheduled services for so many years I can’t recall; oil change, rotating tires, safety inspections, etc. I’ve done the math and don’t see how he makes a good return on my business. While I’m there they check things that aren’t included in the description on the receipt. By now the owner and I are on a first name basis and he is genuinely interested in my travels. His shop employs 6 or more techs, a bookkeeper and an assistant. It’s a rare day when he doesn’t have to turn work away because his plate is full.
When something goes wrong with my truck that one of my mechanical sons can’t get to or is too big a project for them, John (the business owner) works me into the schedule as soon as possible. I understand that return customers are like vegetables in the garden; if you don’t cultivate them they die on the vine. John knows that too. I think of it as a “Win-Win” game or maybe just Paying It Forward but we both benefit and the cost of playing that game is worth it.
I’m afraid JFK’s father was right, if anything has changed since 1962 I don't know what it is. The Bastards are still bleeding the public and the ordinary people still being exploited.
At 22 with little more than 3 years of rigid military conformity and a few months of swimming in corporate conformity I was more like half-baked bread, almost ready but not quite. But now, 65 years later I have most of the puzzle pieces in place. I learned how important trade unions were for us in my growing up and how the teacher’s union protected my family’s best interests. The biggest problem with trade unions is, in order to succeed they’ve learned to fight fire with fire. Union leaders and members are willing to adopt the same underhanded dealings and deceitful schemes that the Business stereotype had employed from the beginning, the Bastards.
This story may be a stretch and I may be overreacting but then it’s my story. My garage door broke last week and I couldn’t park my truck inside. I googled for businesses near me that do that work and started calling. On their websites I noticed the absence of their address, only that they serviced my town. I asked if they did in fact repair broken garage doors and whether or not their business was located in my zip code. It didn’t seem to matter who I had on the other end, male or female, scheduler or the guy driving the service truck; all I got was vague answers. All they wanted was my address and a request for service. I’m full of questions, it’s my nature and nobody I talked to wanted to answer my question about where their business was located. I like to hire local people. It keeps local money in the community and I get a local name and face to go back to if need be. It’s not uncommon for the voice on the other end and myself to argue and be confrontational and I don’t like being that way. But they want to charge me for a $75 service call when they make an estimate, even if I don’t hire them. They say, “We have to pay our drivers.” I reply, “My time is as valuable to me as yours is to you. I have to spend valuable time waiting for your service tech and you tell me it will be sometime that afternoon. My time is valuable too so I’ll pay you for the service call after you pay me the same amount for the wait.” I don’t have to elaborate on how those conversations end. I got my garage door repaired but neither of us were happy and the tech was grumbling as he left.
Going back to JFK’s off the cuff remark, my mother told me there are two different sides of business. One is where you give someone the business which is to exploit the vulnerable person/group so you maximize your gain at their expense. The other end of the business is the vulnerable person/group who is being exploited, getting the business. The underlying rule is; maximize profit, whatever it takes, whatever you can get away with. And yes; Bastards is a good fit.
True, individuals and groups of individuals can vary greatly to the extent of how accommodating or how manipulating they are pursuing Business. People like myself would prefer the two doing business to view themselves as equals trying to meet the other’s need in a mutually beneficial transaction. It seems to me the fewer individuals involved the easier it is to be collaborative; in the end you all have to feel validated for it to succeed and 2 is a much more accommodating number than sales, supervisor, manager, purchasing, president and board of trustees. The farther one is removed from the interface the easier it is to fall back on Bastard behavior.
Think of it as a game; the formal game is called “Zero-Sum”. For Zero-Sum to work there has to be a winner and with that distinction there has to be a loser. Without a loser there can be no winner. In each case the competitors knows their role in the outcome. If you cheat and win it’s still a win. The opposite game is called “Non-Zero-Sum”. Rather than competing in a winner-take-all interaction they can negotiate terms of agreement. The perfect outcome is a “Win-Win” where both sides give up something in return for a concession on the other’s part.
I have been taking my vehicles to the same shop for scheduled services for so many years I can’t recall; oil change, rotating tires, safety inspections, etc. I’ve done the math and don’t see how he makes a good return on my business. While I’m there they check things that aren’t included in the description on the receipt. By now the owner and I are on a first name basis and he is genuinely interested in my travels. His shop employs 6 or more techs, a bookkeeper and an assistant. It’s a rare day when he doesn’t have to turn work away because his plate is full.
When something goes wrong with my truck that one of my mechanical sons can’t get to or is too big a project for them, John (the business owner) works me into the schedule as soon as possible. I understand that return customers are like vegetables in the garden; if you don’t cultivate them they die on the vine. John knows that too. I think of it as a “Win-Win” game or maybe just Paying It Forward but we both benefit and the cost of playing that game is worth it.
I’m afraid JFK’s father was right, if anything has changed since 1962 I don't know what it is. The Bastards are still bleeding the public and the ordinary people still being exploited.
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