Like Cats and Dogs

Ahhhhhh, bureaucracy! It's gotten the better of many a good person and this time it's taking down the Kingston Humane Society. In all seriousness I should not use that term, "taking down." I'm sure they'll recover. After all, life is going to go on.. poop happens, right? Yes it does - it happens even if the right paperwork hasn't been handed in, or the rules of the Board of Directors aren't followed.. poop still happens.

To me, the debacle at the Kingston Humane Society is a perfect little picture to communicate to all how utterly ridiculous some rules of business are. Here we have a relatively simply operation: take in strays and abandoned cats and dogs, keep a vet on staff to make sure the animals are healthy (and put them down when needed,) schedule staff, approve some volunteers, do the books, and hold fundraisers to get extra cash.

So what went wrong? In a word: people. Personalities, power-trips, priorities... without having been involved it's difficult for any of us to know which lethal combination of human chemistry led to the implosion. Reading about it in the paper almost feels like voyeurism so personal is the story. It's clear that the business side of the shelter has taken a back-seat to the personalities that populate it.

One wonders how many other organizations are simmering, simmering... just waiting for that final ingredient that will make them boil over. I can tell you from my experience that this dysfunctional stew exists everywhere I've been employed. Indeed, everywhere I've volunteered, too.

All workplaces need to be pro-active in dealing with the power-struggles that plague them. Office politics is so draining it is often the only aspect of work that employees and managers take home with them after hours; but what can be done?

I leave you to ponder. It's an emormous question without easy answers, but I think it is vital that the dialogue begin.