If you are hearing this at work, you should probably get your resume in order. You or your company are in trouble and it won't go away. You are experiencing a modern replay of the old tale of the Emperor's New Clothes.
In late 2001, I used to hear this expression about once a week from my management at Sun Microsystems.
Since my job as a senior project manager was to resolve difficult situations as they were encountered, I found it odd to be told that certain areas of inquiry were off limits. Interestingly enough, as time went on, more and more areas were put off limits to discussion. Finally, Sun began layoffs. The first 400 to go included those of us who had been asking embarrassing questions. Shortly thereafter, Sun laid off another 4000 people. Many more have been laid off since then. I understand that the phrase, "Dont go there!" is still used frequently, so I would expect that the layoffs will continue.
I feel that preventing any discussion of problem areas is like turning off a distracting carbon monoxide detector. It doesn't solve anything and almost guarantees that a disaster will occur. I had seen this kind of behavior at other companies and it was invariably followed by a major change in the fortunes of the company. Taligent and Sun are recent examples. IBM is well known for this also. I am sure there are others.
If you have never heard this phrase and have no idea what I'm talking about, you are unusually fortunate!
When I left a toxic workplace after just six years -- it was a very conservative private school for girls where I was the radical teacher -- it took me about a year to wash the lingering criticism, the feeling of wanting them simply to LISTEN for a change, the vestiges of involvement out of my hair. I can imagine that 47 years of scrubbing will take even longer. But who knows? Maybe you've got a washing machine somewhere in that toolbox.
Posted by: travelertrish | Oct 17, 2003 at 07:54 AM
Wow! A toxic workplace! A subject for endless essays.
These workplaces were actually interesting and challenging in the beginning or I would have not been there. Denial and concealment spread like mold on fruit until the workplace became unbearable, if not yet toxic.
Posted by: David | Oct 17, 2003 at 09:57 AM
Jan 11 2005
To Whom It May Concern.
Wow what an experience.
I was employed at Gal Power Systems in Mississiauga to work on diesel generator systems.
I was working on a pair of 16 v 92 Detroit diesel generator sets at
4160 volt at a facility called the South West Regional Center in
Chatham Ontario.
I was requested by the project manager Moe Gallick of the Ontario
Realty Corporation to supply and install some fuel system components
at an Ontario Provincial Police transmitter tower close by.
When I went there to do the work I saw that this was an old abandoned
site no longer in use.
I was let into the building and began work.
As I was working I noticed the building had a an unusual amount of rat poison or toxic
chemicals distributed inside the building.
No breathing equipment or protective clothing were supplied by either
my employer Gal Power Systems , The Ontario Realty Corporation or the
Ontario Provincial Police.
Mr Gallick did not spend very much time in the building.
I did not complete the work.
Shortly after this I had to seek medical attention within the Ministry
of Health and was of work for close to a year.
This was a deliberate act.
I almost died.
This act of incompetence was the end of a series of poisonings that
started a couple of years earlier when I was working at Harper Detroit
Diesel on a project at Mississauga Hydro , probably continued when I
was hired by Thomson Technology in British Columbia and almost ended
in my death at Gal Power Systems.
Talk about bad politics or a toxic work place.
That's kind of the ultimate.
Some people say there is no corruption here in Canada.
There is much more to the story.
Gerry Duffett
14-4218 Lawrence Ave E Box 218
Scarborough Ontario
Canada M1E4X9
Pager # 416-612-5689
[email protected]
[email protected]
Jan 11 2004
To Whom It Might Concern.
Here is a copy of a letter I sent to the Toronto Sun newspaper about an article that was published.This incident that happened to me is an odd health and safety issue.
Here is a situation where a union might have made a difference. I will be sending more letters to various groups in the up coming year.
Hi Mr Margolis.
I found your article about Edwin P. Wilson all too frightening and hits me personally way too close to home. I was working at Harper Detroit Diesel in Toronto and one of my co workers or somebody in my customer base or the competion started poisoning my food over a period of months.
I almost died.
I had worked in the diesel generator industry for twenty two years as a field service technician at a variety of dealers and distributors based mostly out of the Toronto area. In this position I worked in and around all types of generator set applications such as apartment buildings, schools, retail stores, hospitals, marine units, data centers, airports, telephone switching centers, or just about anywhere you would find a generator set.This position also took me into a lot of high security buildings or buildings that you don't need to know exist. Some of the customers I have dealt with include Metropolitan Toronto Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, the R.C.M.P., Bell Canada, Transport Canada, Navigation Canada, Public Works Canada, Department of National Defence, the Ontario Realty Corporation, Nexacor Realty, AT&T, Cantel, C.I.D.A., External Affairs, and many, many more. I did quite a bit of work on high security micro wave and fibre optics communication links all around North America. This is where this poisoning comes from. One person I worked 15 yrs with on these systems, who I had not seen in 4 yrs, called me at home one night in the middle of this series of poisonings, who I didn't even know had my home phone number and asked "aren't you dead yet". I wound up on the West Coast of Canada standing in a parking lot with what were suppose to be Chinese Nationals from F.E.T.A.C. being photographed by the R.C.M.P. as part of a smear campaign.The worst part of all of this is Gerry Duffett almost died, thats me. The next worst part of all of this, is this is my tax dollars paying these freaks. I wonder how many times a day this goes on. I still don't know who poisoned me. I was off work for almost one year. I can now 5 yrs later barely hold a full time job. The harassment in my work place is unbelievable as far as off colour and snide comments about my mental health. There is much more to the story. My pager # is 416-612-5689.
Thank you.
Gerry Duffett.
14-4218 Lawrence Ave E Box 218
Scarborough Ontario
Canada M1E4X9
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
P.S.
Just in the last couple of years a new fibre optics system was installed in Ontario to link all the power generation stations to one central control center code named Ledcor.
Don't tell anybody you know that, somebody might try to kill you.
Posted by: Gerry Duffett | Mar 19, 2005 at 03:53 PM