Power- 2nd Order Effects

Written Wednesday, 29 Aug.

Well, I am three days into being a group commander and I am already
seeing how hard people will work to make me happy and just how dangerous
that could be.  Case in point.  We had a staff meeting on Monday and I
noticed there was no clock in the front of the room where I could see it.  I
hate to check my watch in front of people. I like to be more subtle than
that.  But I want to be efficient and respect people's time.  There was a
digital clock on the wall behind me that everyone else could see, but I had
nothing.  So, I simply asked the squadron commander responsible for that
function to have the clock moved from the back of the room to the front.

Today, two facilities guys come to my office and ask me where I want the
clocks.  CLOCKS??  As in pleural?  OMG.  I walk with them and it turns out
that they had three new clocks, plus the old clock and they were
specifically told to make sure the clocks had sweeping second hands and not
ticking ones.  REALLY?  I couldn't care less about sweeping or ticking!  I
just need a @&*^% clock in the front of the room!!!!  We settled on two
analog clocks with sweeping second hands that matched- one in the front and
one in the back.  Wow.

It reminds me of a story that I read several years ago told by a famous
woman- I want to say it was Hillary Clinton, but I could be wrong.  Anyway,
she happened to mention that she liked Diet Dr Pepper.  She said that from
then on, all of her fridges in every hotel around the world were stocked
with Diet Dr Pepper.  She said, "What if I want a Coke?"  It was a big
lesson for her in the power of her position and how much people paid
attention to her and tried so hard to please her.  It's a lesson I've never
forgotten either since I read it.

And today that lesson hit home again.  It pains me to think that people care
whether I want a clock to tick or to sweep.  And that they actually spend
extra time making that happen.

Now, if I can just get them to make my picture on the web at least half the
size it is now.  Good Lord, it's ginormous right now.

Friday Update- my photo was changed the next day- the Sergeant told me she thought I wanted it that big the first time, but couldn't tell me where on Earth she got that idea. Wow again.