Euphemisms for Getting a Pink Slip

Our division is slated to get layoffs sometime around the middle of December. This is getting to be pretty repetitive news around my employer. Whenever new management comes in, the first thing that they do is pull the flush lever and see who's left swimming in the bowl. Since management is changing faster than than the seasons, the net result is efficiency meltdown. The first round of layoffs really pared out some deadwood, and even the second round had some merit. Now it's gotten down to productive employees that do a great job but can't wear a dozen hats on a single day. You'd think that our division is losing money, but just the opposite - we're the most profitable division in the corporation. The claim is that the technology has matured and that there's not much upside in continued research and development. I'm not a cardiologist, so bear with my personal assertions, but my belief is that while patients continue to die from heart disease, there's a market for new and innovative products. OK, time to get off the soapbox now; this post is about layoffs.

The term that management finds least offensive these days is RIF, or reduction in force. The people that get laid off are now the "effected" people. Also, those of us that are not "effected" have been told to "respect" those that are "effected". No! Really? I was actually planning on bringing in some rotten fruit to throw and taunt them all the way to their cars. I've had the past pleasure of laying off good friends and it's not fun. Using some cute euphemism for laying someone off is personally offensive. I was very direct with the people that I "let go". They were told of what the overall need was and why they were the ones that would no longer be employed with the company. Sometimes it was an emotional time and I thought that was appropriate, especially when friendships were involved. There's no easy way to "kick someone to the curb".

I really haven't given too much thought to my own situation in the upcoming "right sizing", but I'm sure that it will enter my conscious more as the time gets closer. I have every belief that my day will come to be "culled from the herd" and actually some joy will be had in not needing to be judged in the beauty pageant any longer. Until that time, I'll show how innovative and efficient that I can be; a real example to the rest. Hmmm? I'm glad that I live in such a Rational Nation.

He's not bright, but he espouses our values

Recent articles have given Republican candidates a failing grade by economics professors on their knowledge of basic economic principles. These same men and women are supposed to be the very people that lead us out of the deepest recession since the great depression. Similar, huge gaffs about the constitution, American and foreign history, military and nuclear capability, and  foreign affairs are minor speed bumps in a candidate's pursuit of the highest office in the land. Our focus instead is on how well the candidate conforms to our own personal belief systems, leading us down such valuable paths as prior infidelities, personal associations, and the house that they worship in. It's as if we think we can actually judge the character of a person through the lens of the media and the candidate's handlers. If the candidate reminds us of Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies because he has a nice smile, then he must be the sort of honest man that we need in the White House. It's just amazing the amount of distrust there is for highly intelligent people leading the way. We'd rather have George W telling us about the "nucular" threat from "eye-rack" because it's some dark force, in some distant land that we can rally against. No mention that it's complete hogwash.

It's time that we become more of a Rational Nation and make both our leaders today and those that want to be leaders prove their worthiness. Don't tell us how bad the plans of another are until better plans can be brought to light. Don't just say that your plan is better, but have firm data, from actual experts in the field can back you up. 9-9-9 is not a plan, it's a prescription for 9-1-1 which will require economic defibrillation. We deserve better than the load of horse-manure that we're being force fed. It's a simple economic model; we spend far more than we take in. We can either take a page from Greece or learn to spend only what we take in. With the expenses of Social Security, medicare/medicaid, defense, and servicing the national debt eclipsing all other expenses, these seem to be issues to address. If there's a candidate that proposes a balanced economic plan for these items, he can surely resolve the rest of the budget. A Rational Nation wants to vote on a well-thought-out plan, not hear about your faith journey. We want our children to live in the land of opportunity, not to serve the masters of our debts, made by ignorant parents. If the plan requires personal sacrifice, then let us plan ahead for it.

Be bold and demand the best from our elected officials because a Rational Nation requires it.

We don't have a law that says we can

Let's start this posting by saying that I work on implantable medical devices and the lives of people are indirectly affected by engineers like me. I understand that there must be rules and regulations regarding actions that are taken in regard to the quality and safety of the devices. People have been harmed due to poor judgement, poor product design, off-label usage, and even blatant stupidity. My issue is when our hands are tied from doing the obviously right things. The hallway comment of the day is "we don't have a law that says we can". To improve on the manufacturing process in such a way that improves quality is to admit to the FDA that there must have been a quality problem. Even if the improvement reduces the incidence of failure from 1 in 10000 to 1 in 500000, this is still a corporate shortcoming that must be dealt with harshly. How did we manage to drive Miss Daisy to the asylum? Medical innovation in our core products has come to a grinding halt because the FDA believes that (with enough rules and regs) that they can actually legislate quality. Actually, you can no more legislate quality than legislate morality. Quality comes from within the DNA of an organization, where there's absolute intolerance for defects.

Over the summer, I offered my services to one of our senators at possible risk to my job, because I think that this an issue that needs addressing if we're to continue to lead the world in medical innovation. I've received no reply whatsoever. Maybe ignorance of the problem (and possible solution space) is bliss. Since this is a senator that's from our state, someone that I've contributed to, and also on the Health and Human Services committee, I thought that I'd at least get a "thanks but no thanks", response ... nope. More likely it was her staff people that vetted me as some sort of crack pot, rather than an upper level engineer that develops strategies for product quality and reliability. In any case, if it's not me that helps in fixing the status quo, then there needs to be some forum for getting through this morass.

OK nation, this is today's request to become more rational.

P.S. Someone figure out how we don't move critical medical device manufacturing to China ... transparency on quality issues is not at all the Chinese corporate DNA.