Episode 44 – Stuck In Time

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The grandpa hears the 16-year-old grandson complain that the used car dad just bought for him is a piece of junk. Grandpa says, “You should be thankful. When I was your age we couldn’t afford for me to have a car. I didn’t get my first car until I was 22.”

“When I was your age…” or “When I was young…” are phrases that signal how we can become stuck in time.

It’s an important reality because it affects so many things. Among the most painful things I’ve seen recently is the tyrannical behavior of aging mangers and business owners determined to impose on their employees “how things used to be.”

They’re stuck in time. They’re also stuck in some pretty bad behaviors. It saddens me for their employees, but it may sadden me more for these managers and owners. They’re living lives of misery because they constantly complain how people disappoint them. Workers never do the work good enough. They’re destined to see all the bad things – all the poor decisions and all the poor performances. They never acknowledge that sometimes good work happens.

They do vividly remember breaking into the business by having their butt kicked. Determined that the way they broke in is how others today need to be broken in, they kick butt. All the time. They’re stuck in time.

Memory is great, but none of us can forget what we’ve already learned. The aging manager whose butt was kicked when he was 18 has forgotten that his 18-year-old butt needed a kick every now and then. So, now he’s 67 and he’s kicking the butts of the 40-somethings who work for him – and have worked for him for almost 15 years.

Not all tyranny is the result of being stuck in time, but recently I seem to be running into it more frequently. Do you suffer from being stuck in time? Awareness is step one toward becoming remarkable by improving what ails us.