If Businesses Were Run Like a College Basketball Program

Ok, a lot is said in the title, but allow me to explain.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about my career in the past few months. I have recognized that there are some fundamental flaws with the way 95% of American businesses are run. People wonder why the Japanese are kicking the Big 3's butts year in and year out. Mmmm, probably because they don't pay some turd $19 and hour to blow compressed air into water jackets of a big block as it rolls by on an assembly line. My point is, what ever happened to people being proud of their job, working hard because it is the right thing to do, leaving work with a sense of accomplishment, pushing yourself to the limits?

If American businesses were run like a college basketball program I guarantee we would not be in the economic bind we seem to be in right now (Michigan especially).

Lets compare the facts. I will use my job as an example of how the health care field is ran. I am assuming there are many other companies out there ran the same way.

If I show up late to work, I get a point, 7 points makes a step, 3 steps I'm fired.( I can show up late 21 times per year before I lose my job)
If Show up late to practice, I don't play the first half of a game. I don't know what would happen if I were to show up late consistently because it never happened more than once, with any players.

If I work really hard at work and help 10 more patients than the therapist next to me, I get nothing, no one knows if I don't tell them.
If I score ten more points in a game, we win. I become more valuable to the team, I get the ball more, I am trusted by teammates, I am recognized in the paper, classmates give me a pat the back, etc.

At work I get a yearly evaluation that takes about 10 minutes, if I meet my goals I get 2.5% raise. (are you fricking kidding me, that doesn't even keep up with the cost of inflation!)
On a college team I am evaluated everyday; practices are recorded, every drill is monitored, points are tallied, tests are taken, grades are given, playing time is issued according to performance and hardwork. The rewards are true motivation to try hard.

At work I compete against no one, as long as I don't punch a patient in the face or set the carpeting on fire, I have a job.
In college I had to prepare for the next opponent every day. Eat or be eaten. If you don't take your role seriously, someone else out there is, and he will kick your butt when you go head to head with him. I was in constant competition with my teammates to hold my starting position, if I take a day off or perform poorly for a few days, there is someone else that is chomping at the bit to take my place.

At work there is a 3 inch thick hand book on rules and regulations to hold people accountable. If there is not a section in that book about coming to work drunk, then by all means, bring out the scotch.
In college we had three rules, 1. Do your best 2. Do what is right 3. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. We had one motto: Constant And Never-ending Improvement (CANI). People were held accountable for their actions, we didn't need a rule book to tell us what was right and wrong. If you did not know how to follow those 3 simple rules, you don't deserve to be on a team or attend a respectable college.

These are just a few examples, but I hope this illustrates the ridiculous lengths businesses go to to be counter-productive. I think Ross Pero said it best "If I see a snake I kill it, I don't form a committee on snakes". So true, how much productivity do businesses lose because problems are not nipped in the bud right away?
Now I know what a lot of you are saying. There are "workers rights" and other rules that managers have to abide by. I believe a major reason a lot of companies cannot run the way a college team is ran is because of unions. Principles of unions are out dated. In the 30's unions were necessary to protect workers. Now, all they do is protect lazy, undeserving workers. I believe if we do away with unions American business will grow once again.

Ok, I am getting off the original subject. I think you folks get my point though. Give workers a challenge and a feeling of self worth, and they will be productive, happy, a part of a team, reliable, and hard working.

Dickens Said it Best

I had lunch with an old friend today at a new restaurant. We did the standard holiday ritual, get together, catch up on new ventures, reminisce about old ones. I can't help but think how the ritual has stayed the same but the topic of conversation is drastically different. To compare a conversation a year ago, three years ago, five, ten, to the one today would be oceans apart in content. We talked about new jobs, money issues, family, you know, grown up stuff.

As I was driving home today I tried to imagine all the people elder than me going through all the same things that I am going through. Is it possible that my grandma had childhood friends? Did she lose touch because she had to tend to her kids, get a job, carry a load of responsibility... Grow up? Was she completley satisfied?

When you are younger you are constantly prompted to think about what you want for your future. When you get there and you have made all those things happen you spend all your time reminiscing about the past. Are we ever satisfied to be in the present?

Since I was 10 years old I knew some day I wanted a family. When I was 16 I knew someday I wanted to go to college. When I was 19 I knew someday I wanted to graduate and get a satisfying job to support a family. When I was 25 I wanted to go back to school and get my masters to provide a better life for my family. When I was 26 I had, or did, all of those things. There is something about time that dilutes your goals and expectations like too much water in a pitcher of Kool-Aid.

I have everything I have ever wanted since I can remember, I thank God every day. I have more than 90% of the rest of the world, but yet, at times I feel as though I need more. I am not talking about material goods, I am not talking about family issues. I am talking about personal hierarchy of needs. To put it plainly, I need a challenge.

Since we were all 5 years old we were constantly challenged, pushed to reach that next step. If you complete fifth grade, great, you move onto sixth. If you complete high school, great, you move onto college. If you got a B this semester, get an A next one. The list goes on. Everything I have ever known has told me to keep reaching, never give up, always set the next goal and not just achieve it, exceed it. I am a bread competitor. Now that I have the things I have worked for and am successfully managing them all am I suppose to turn that drive off like a switch?

It took me 27 years to truly realize this. I don't care if I am playing tidily winks with Connie Stienbach from down the street, I want to win. It didn't matter if I scored 4 goals in one game, if Gull Lake scored 5, I am still pissed we lost. I could score 25 points against a nationally ranked college basketball team, but if I would have made those two free throws I missed in the first half, we would have won. It is not enough to be good, you must be the best. Is this a admirable quality or a terrible burden? This is not to show triumph, it is to express personal nature. Day in and day out, there is something that drives us all. A list of motivational needs that must be met. I have achieved all the goals I have set for myself since the first time my brother beat me in basketball and I cried my eyes out because I never thought I would be as tall as him; so why do I still feel such a drive? Why do I feel complacent when I have had the same job for 3 years?

I know the answer to all these questions, I stated it before, I am a competitor. All the preparation to eventually get the job I have, has prepared me for a completely different job.

So did my friend and I talk about all of this at lunch today? We didn't mention it once, but with out talking about it once it has never been so clear how things have changed, but more so, how they have stayed the same.

I could never ask for a better wife, a better son, a better set of brothers, parents, sister, etc. I wouldn't change a thing about my past. I have "top notch" friends that have always been there for me. All this non-materail wealth under my hat. But yet I yearn for more.....in reference to the title....It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Suspence Over

no more waiting. I didn't get the job. This just means that God has something better in store for me. Keep on plugging away.

The Suspense is Killing Me

Ok, as most of you out there know, I am in the process of finding a new job. That means I am looking but no bites yet. I had a great interview with Merck pharmaceuticals last week and the wait to hear back from them is eating at my brain. Filling my every thought. I must have replayed every second of that interview in my head 132 times. Is it strange to put that much emphasis on an interview, it is only determining the rest of your career life, that's all. I have had interviews before, I have had to wait for responses before, but this one is different. I laid it all on the line for this on. I had to drive to Grand Rapids, go through a three hour interview with 3 different people (one hour with each interviewer). There wasn't one point I didn't hit, not one angle I didn't attack, I was on. I felt so confident, I was convinced I had the job when I left, a week later, I am starting to second guess myself. If I didn't get this job I am very doubtful I have much to offer any other employer. Funny how time works, it is starting to make me think I missed something, I said something they didn't like, when a week ago I was sure they wanted to started the first Quentin Hunt fan club.
oh cruel time!! I just want a call at this point, good or bad, at least I will know and I can move on with the rest of my life.