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A Sludge Story

Mar 6, 2011 » by Michael Barata

We always enjoy sharing ROWE stories with you. However, we also receive stories from non-ROWErs, which are often oozing with Sludge. Following is a Sludgey story with an optimistic ending. Kat Coolbaugh-Steiner, from Drums, PA, shares her story about Sludge, timing, and moving on….

Sludge. What a spectacular term for what I have been swimming in for the last few years at work. It wasn’t until I started reading “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix it”, that I realized there was a name and a face for this monster.

Over 10 years ago in a college lecture, a guest speaker’s words resonated so strongly with me; I still recall them vividly. He explained that the way we work in this nation is tiresome, inefficient, almost barbaric and the opposite of family friendly. He spoke of siestas in South America, shorter work days and weeks in Europe and a high focus on family time with lengthy paid maternity and paternity time in the Netherlands. This lit a fire in me, but as I entered the real world, I quickly understood the way to get noticed was to be fake, care more about work than family and be willing to be anywhere at anytime. Work was life. When I voiced my concerns about the erosion of family and self worth because of high demand low control professions, I was criticized and called lazy. I was swimming upstream, which is cool with me, but I also realized I needed to buy into this “work myself to death” mentality to make any money.

The last 7 years of my life I was a social worker in a nursing home. I was really good at my job and had 4 promotions in 6 years. I loved my job, my clients, my coworkers but mostly my boss. She never micromanaged me, I didn’t have to punch a clock and she told me as long as my work gets done I could be wherever I wanted to be. Of course I never took advantage of this, it would have been stupid to do that. I worked hard, and most weeks, more than 40 hours, but it was because things needed to be done. I had even negotiated a 4-10 hour day work week when gas prices were astronomical.

Two years ago, another social worker was hired as our clientele was growing. She was nice and a fast, efficient learner which helps me – since I was the one training her. We became friends and enjoyed working together. About a year later she completed her Masters degree and because of this piece of paper, my boss decided she would make the women I trained…..my supervisor. I voiced my concerns saying that things were great as they were and I just didn’t feel the change in dynamic would work. I warned her of what would come. Sure enough as soon as my coworker I trained became my supervisor – everything changed.

I was told I would need to punch the clock and have a set schedule with a set time for lunch. My office was moved from a bright space with a window to the middle of the medical records room without a phone. And then the menial tasks were thrown my way. I was given the work she felt too superior to do. I could go on, but in short, she was enjoying breaking me. Being a stubborn, optimistic and overall good hearted person, I did the best I could to have a good attitude.

Things became unbearable about 8 months into this arrangement. She was a miserable person and her bad attitude spread like a cancer throughout my coworkers. Instead of shunning this behavior, it became like a mob mentality, a pack of wolves who would discard the weak or non conforming ones. If there is anything I am not, its a conformist.

These people made it their jobs and took pleasure in tearing people down, spending hours at a time gossiping and forming alliances to shun people. When I refused to take part and even numerous times voiced my concern, I was ostracized and in the end my job was sabotaged. I am not attempting to make this sound dramatic, it literally was like watching an animal hunt on National Geographic. I ended up being fired because my supervisor lied and I had no recourse. I had never been fired and it was a blow to my ego, but now I see it as the best thing that could have happened.

Without knowing my circumstances, Michael Barata and I got to talking about ROWE and he sent me “Why Work Sucks and How To Fix It” the very same week I was fired, which I believe to be serendipity. This book not only validated feelings I have had for years, but lit a fire in me to pass this on to as many people that will hear me. I am thankful for the book, Cali & Jody, the people willing to give this a try and all of us who choose to think and live in ways that make our hearts and spirits grow.

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  • Concerned Employee

    Kat,
    Thank you for sharing your sludge story.
    The traditional environment in which we work is full of contradictions and it is a place in which managers do not know how to manage. It is very common to see new supervisors coming and implementing rules which make employees miserable and unproductive.
    In a ROWE, managers focus on results only.

  • JohnPR

    Wow! I really wish I was in a position to take advantage of ROWE. I am currently seeking businesses that operate that way to be employed by. But I digress. I came here to provide a link with a discussion I have been having with a gentleman on another “work-life balance” board. If you follow this link: http://www.lifecompassblog.com/2010/02/10-best-employers-for-work-life-balance/ you will find my discussion with a gentleman by the handle of Yadgyu. My handle is the same as here. He has really been brainwashed by traditional “values” (insert sarcasm here). Enjoy the read.

    • KellyK

      Oh. My. Yadgyu’s attitude is so messed up that I have to hope he’s trolling. That sounds like someone who doesn’t realize “Cat’s In the Cradle” is a *depressing* song.

      Granted, lots of people have to sacrifice to make ends meet. I know plenty of folks who work multiple jobs, or jobs that suck. But once you get to the middle-class point where your budget concerns aren’t “Can I buy groceries *and* put gas in the car and still pay rent?” but the “iPhones and expensive blue jeans” that Yadgyu talks about, it becomes a whole different story.

      Time is finite. People are irreplacable. Stuff is just stuff.

      • JohnPR

        I can only hope to agree with you KellyK, that this gentleman is trolling. As it stands now, he has not deemed it worthwhile to respond to my latest post. I keep looking and hoping that he does because a mind can’t be changed without dialogue.

        Thanks for your response. :)

      • Yadgyu

        Sorry guys, you got it all wrong.

        People are definitely replaceable and should be replaced when you have no more use for them. Thankfully I am replacing my wife with a younger and sleeker model. I am also replacing my house with a condo in Hong Kong. I have more money to make and more life to be lived.

        Never get comfortable and never settle down.

  • kat coolbaugh-steiner

    Dear lovely reader,
    Thank you for your insightful words! How I wish so many other would open their minds and realize this is the way. Work should not be something we are forced to do with long faces, it should be an extension of who we are. I whole heartedly believe that if left to their own devices, given trust and a sense of importance most people will work hard to provide results. It’s really an issue of throwing out tyrannical beliefs, getting to know our true selves again and working together to make something important.

    • Lily

      Indeed, Kat. You say that “if left to their own devices, given trust and a sense of importance most people will work hard to provide results.” This has now been proven by the ROWEs that are springing up around the country. Data is showing exactly what you and many others of us know will happen when people open their minds to the logic of ROWE. Cali and Jody started it – but it’s up to us all to fan the flames of this revolution! Go ROWE!

  • kat coolbaugh-steiner

    This is so much more than a workplace revolution. This is an issue of shaking off the social norm junk that accumulates and getting back to basics…it’s organic really. If we can get quiet enough to find our own voice inside then these situations become almost second nature.
    ps…you guys butter my toast!!

  • kat coolbaugh-steiner

    Gore associates, a privately held, multi-million dollar high tech firm in Delaware that makes Gore-Tex fabric, Glide dental floss and conductor tubes and cables has an interesting work model. “At Gore there are no titles, everyone is an associate. People don’t have bosses, they have mentors and sponsors, someone to look out for them. There are no organization charts, no budgets, and salaries are determined collectively. Corners are reserved for free space so no one has the coveted “corner office”.
    The late founder Wilbert Gore had a goal of 150 people per plant as he found things got clumsy at any higher number. He stated “we put 150 parking spaces in the lot, when people started parking on grass we knew it was time to build a new plant.”
    The company has 15 plants in a 12 mile radius just to keep the number in each no larger than 150. You may wonder why 150 or think that this is inefficient. Studies based on algorithms of mammals brain surface area found that homo sapiens function better in a close knit “unit” until the number tips over 150 which is when division occurs. The company figured this out on their own and realized when you treat each person like a vital part of the Gore family; where no 1 person is more elite than the other, the peer pressure to remain a person of integrity was enough to keep people productive and happy.
    -text from “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell

  • DCow

    Good story – was probably tough to share. I’ve had a similar situation due to a re-org 8 months ago – I haven’t been let go, but it’s affected my life in ways I couldn’t imagine previously. I think this is why the “Why Work Sucks” book suggests that flexible work arrangements don’t work because they can be taken away. Too bad.

    In 20 years, I think ROWE will be vindicated, but there will be a lot of stories like this in the meantime.

    • Cali

      DCow – exactly. The only thing that should be taken away is someone’s *job* if they’re not performing. We hear so many stories about managers taking away the “perk” of the flexible schedule and never addressing poor performance…talk about a losing scenario for companies.

  • kat coolbaugh-steiner

    DCow- thanks for the empathy! Writing is cathartic for me so this was actually healing and the feedback has brought me back to life. I believe most people look at ROWE as progressive but really it just makes sense; hopefully gaining the preface “common” one day soon!

  • Marie

    Reading “Sucks” now and just hit the sludge chapter. I’ve always been the oddball who was not the morning person on the team. Still finding myself trapped in face time world while a full time telecommuter. I’ve heard all the sludge tossed my way over the years and just last week got an email asking. “where are you”. Sigh

    • Cali

      @Marie – as you’ve probably read in the book by now, your response to “where are you?” is “Is there something you need?” “Where are you?” has nothing to do with the work. “Is there something you need?” is a beautiful phrase for getting people off their Sludge horse and redirecting the conversation to results.

  • http://www.stcloudstate.edu/music catherine verrilli

    I am a professor in a department of people who fight, grab, spit, micromanage others’ positions. The relationships have degraded as has morale. we can barely be productive in meetings because of our dynamic.

    Is ROWE something that could help us in academia?
    We need help, and your program sounds like a potential link to a better, more productive, less jealous, less territorial place. Can you help us?

    • Cali

      @Catherine – the answer to both of your questions is a resounding yes. Just received your note via e-mail as well, so we’ll be sending a response very soon. Stay tuned.

      For others wanting more information about ROWE in general or ROWE implementation, always feel free to shoot us an e-mail at info@gorowe.com. Always ready to answer questions or help you think through how to approach implementation…

  • http://twitter.com/#!/glennfriesen Glenn

    I’ve had similar experiences, in my life… 5 in particular… Each time, the same pattern emerged:

    1. The person in charge was a, or became a PIMM (Paranoid and Incompetent MicroManager),

    2. Others played “follow the leader” and behaved according to the construct the PIMM had for their role,

    3. while I, believing it would improve things for our customers, other employees, and company profitability, continually presented democratic workforce and results-driven management ideas,

    4. the leader (and the followers, in turn) progressively ignored, mocked, and excluded me, sometimes sabotaging my work; until finally

    5. I quit (which always resulted in extreme hardships for me [including homelesses], since I have never had any financial support and didn’t have much, if any, family or network support at the time).

    Anyway, I think your model is one that more people should be exposed to, particularly those with any sort of “power”. Though I believe more in the effectiveness of completely self-organizing systems, I feel that your model is a more likely shot for most companies. However, I doubt many with some perceived power in companies will let their power go. You know as well as I that people and organizations don’t tend to give up their real or perceived domination, control, or power — even when they are aware that letting go would improve things for themselves, others, and their company. So I wish you all the best… — literally, the best companies, who do understand that so many things in life are ropes of sand, and that letting go of perceived control is often the best way to benefit from the order of the system. 

    • http://www.gorowe.com Cali Ressler

      @Glenn – thanks so much for the comments. The power will indeed be difficult to shift, but in the name of increased productivity and a stronger bottom line, we’re seeing the ‘best companies’, as you put it, move forward with ROWE. More will follow…and you can find out about them here.

  • KC

    Kat, you really nailed the culture there. We are both survivors of that “Lord of the Flies” environment, and much better for it! I never really understood why our “boss” turned a blind eye to the evil machinations of above mentioned person, as well as the rest of her minions! (who weren’t that nice before she got there.) All the best!