It was a professional development meeting.
Like most meetings, the participants were full of joy at the prospect of spending an afternoon in a hot, crowded board room. Indeed, everyone sat and listened with rapt attention to the distinguished looking man pacing before them and ranting.
“Listen up y’all! I got three tips for ya ta help yer organizations with.”
As if they were one body, the mass of professionally dressed men and women leaned forward to catch the drops of precious wisdom falling from the mouth of this motivational guru.
Sensing his cue, the speaker stopped pacing and began banging on a blackboard with his cane as he made each point.
“Watch fer Opportunity! It’s easier ta get involved with somethin that is already successful than ta try an start yer own stuff. Watch for somethin successful…then get involved with that.”
“Get Political! It ain’t what made the organization successful that’s important. It ain’t even the people who are actually doin the work that are important. It’s who’s in charge of all this that’s really important. An, ya gotta make sure it’s you! Just don’t start workin, the goal here is ta be in charge, not ta actually do anythin. That’s why ya gotta start playin political games…an winnin them games.”
“Know When Ta Get Out! Keep an eye on the chaos yer causin. When the organization starts windin down cause of all the games yer playin…yer better off gettin out before it collapses in on itself. That way ya still look good an can blame the people who are still workin for the mess that ya leave behind.”
“Start over again with step one. Remember, it ain’t important whether yer accomplishin anythin or not…it’s whether yer havin fun or not…so, let yerself go crazy an don’t worry bout naysayers like bosses an authority figures…they’ll belly ache but what are they really gonna do? Fire ya?”
With that, a round of applause filled the board room. Everyone was fired up and ready to apply these radical new ideas in their own organization. It was truly the beginning of a revolution in business and community development. Given this fact, it is only fitting that this amazing story would end with the timeless words…and they all lived happily ever after.