Angetha's Helpful Words

Angetha called her workers to her office.

"What you all need to do," she said sternly to the group in front of her, "is work quicker.  You need to make sure your reports are written faster and are more accurate.  This will help your processing time.  And that's what I'm trying to do!  I'm trying to help you!"  And she slammed her fist on her desk, as if she wanted to beat all her workers in the room.

The workers left Angetha's office, feeling as if they had been yelled at.  They went back to their offices and started writing reports.  Most of them, however, had no idea about how to improve themselves.  She simply said to do it faster.  But I'm working as fast as I can.  And I write all my reports as accurately as possible.  What, does she think I'm actually writing an inaccurate report on purpose?!  Without knowing how to better themselves, the workers continued to perform at the same level as they did before Angetha's meeting.

So Angetha called her workers to her office again.

"I told you," she said, angrily spitting her words as if they were daggers, "you must increase your processing time.  None of you have increased your speed or accuracy!  And we just had a meeting about this!  What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"It would be nice if we had some assistance with how you would like us to increase our processing time," said one of the workers.  "I heard you last meeting, but I don't know what I could do to increase my speed or accuracy.  I'm doing the best I'm able to do."  Angetha's silence made the workers words seem so small, as if they had been lightly tossed into an enormous chasm that Angetha had just created with her muted hatred and fury which was evident on her face. 

"You don't know how to do your job?" she asked the worker.
"I know how to do my job..."
"So you ought to know how to do it quicker."
"If I'm already working as quickly as I can..."
"We trained you to perform at a certain level.  If you're not able to perform at that level, this might not be the right place for you."
The worker stopped talking.  His job had inadvertently been threatened, and with the country in the middle of an economic recession, he couldn't afford to be out of a job.  He had a family dependent on his job.  So he allowed himself to be publicly humiliated and berated by Angetha.
"As long as you work here, you are required to meet certain guidelines.  When those guidelines aren't met, then that means we need to have a talk.  And I know none of you want to have a talk.  So just make sure you get your reports written.  And don't make any mistakes."

The workers went back to their offices.  The talked with each other.  They tried to discover a way to write faster than what they were already doing.  They tried to discover a way to become more accurate.  But they were already doing their best.  And Angetha wasn't giving them any assistance with how they could change to better their situation.  So even though they wanted to better themselves, they were completely powerless to do so.  And they were destined to return to Angetha's office for more talks about how they weren't performing as well as they should.

And later that year, Angetha wrote a report.  "My employees are deliberately delinquent.  They do not wish to perform at a suitable level of work.  We have had several meetings, and they have not responded to direction."  Angetha sighed as she sent her report to her boss and hoped that her new batch of employees would be better than this last bunch of degenerates.