You have handed in your resignation and your soon-to-be former boss calls you in to say that the company doesn’t want to lose you and is prepared to match your other offer. Should you stay? Should you go? You have a conflict. 

One of the most powerful concepts being utilized in business today is “The Team”. Unfortunately, many companies in Jamaica have settled for removing the word “department” and replacing it with “team”. Much more is required if we are to gain the benefits of teams.

Nothing can hold back the tide of societal transformation. Either we understand it and prepare ourselves to benefit from the changes, or we can ignore the signs and become victims of the change. Change is frustrating and most often resisted especially by those who have the most to lose the longer they resist the inevitable. The Prime Minister of Jamaica has announced the present position of the Government of Jamaica on the Sugar Industry.  As predicted, there is “the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth’. 

Some years ago, we experimented with various models of Flexitime at our company. One work model that was developed out of that experience was the concept of The Virtual Private Office (VPO). VPO enabled persons to devote large blocks of uninterrupted time to the completion of a project. VPO had three (3) levels. Level One had you working at your desk but with the understanding that the rest of the office would act as if you were not in the office.

The Wrong Concept

There are many misconceptions regarding the psychological effects of Redundancy. The most common thing we hear is about how awful, destructive and painful this experience is.  I know this is only a part of the story.  As a function of my work, I have been at ground level zero in a number of organizations at the time when announcements are being made concerning possible closure and/or redundancy.  I have also had the privilege of designing strategies to help both the organization and the workers to deal with the subsequent issues related to the redundancy. 

My work over the past 25 years has been shaped by a paper I published in 1980 describing a Social Psychological model of personality. This theory proposes that as human beings, we have two needs; the first is for work and the second is for intimacy.

My work over the past 25 years has been shaped by a paper I published in 1980 describing a Social Psychological model of personality. This theory proposes that as human beings, we have two needs; the first is for work and the second is for intimacy.

The headlines last week read ‘2017 – 1600 recorded murders! 2018 – 25 murders and counting!!’

How do we slay this monster of crime? I think the solution lies in addressing the rampant indiscipline in the society by nipping antisocial behaviours in the bud and adopting a zero-tolerance approach.

The ‘sickness’ of indiscipline is the root cause of all our social problems. It has become the new normal to challenge authority, break rules and break our commitments. What would happen if each person made discipline a core foundation of their life?    

So many thoughts have been splashing about in my mind over the last few weeks. I don’t even know where to start.

Whether it’s the arrest of two black men at Starbucks while waiting; the arrest of a black woman at a Waffle House in Alabama while ordering; the situation with two black men at LA Fitness while working out; the embarrassment to 5 black women while playing golf at a Pennsylvania golf course or the show of force by the police, responding to a call about 3 black women who were leaving a house they rented through Airbnb in California - my head is spinning!