Sisyphus Incarnate: Mutiny

Sometimes, we push the boulder, sometimes the boulder pushes us.

Other times, all one can do is watch as fellow Sisypheans stumble, rolling back down to the bottom of the mountain.

I thought I had seen both sides of a layoff, but today I found myself with yet another vantage point—watching from afar as history repeated itself.

Almost exactly a year ago to the day I watched as one by one, coworkers were pulled into an office with their department manager and an HR representative from the parent corporation, then promptly and coldly told they were no longer viable to the bottom line.

They were neither given the dignity nor allowance of packing up their personal belongings and saying goodbye to (now) former coworkers they may never see again.

They were escorted to the door, then never spoken of again.

I watched and waited, a nervous wreck in my own right, unsure if I would survive.

Sadly, I did—but not for long.

For the bottom line just kept sinking lower and with it the very ship itself.

This time around, I’m already sitting on the iceberg watching a helpless crew and a hapless captain fighting to stay afloat.

Sometimes a sinking ship requires mutiny—sometimes it’s the captain who should be thrown overboard, for he’s the one manning the helm.

History has shown that the iceberg never hits the ship.

Tags: accountability, bottom line, captain, choices, hapless, iceberg, layoffs, mutiny, president, ships