There Is Nothing New Under the Sun

Some of you may recognize this line from the Ecclesiastes. The entire verse is as follows:

Ecclesiastes 1:9

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

I was reminded of this verse while visiting the Mel Fisher Museum in Key West. For those of you who don't know, Mel was a treasurer hunter who spent more than a decade and a half looking for the Atocha, a Spanish ship rich in cargo that sunk off the Keys in 1622.

Two things not new under the sun since that time
- Tax evasion: Items were found in the wreck that did not appear on the manifest. People were attempting to smuggle them in so they didn't have to pay taxes on them.

- Conspicuous consumption: It was fashionable at the time for both men and women to wear extremely long gold chains across the body to show how wealthy they were. They also would snip off pieces of the chain and use them as currency.

Yes, nothing new under the sun.

What a difference 90 miles makes

I recently visited Key West, Florida for the first time. As you may know, Cuba is only 90 miles from there, closer than Miami. I was struck by what a difference that 90 miles makes. Here I was in a place known for leisure, fun, and laid back lifestyle. Ninety miles away people are living under a dictatorship and in poverty in many cases. How blessed I am to have been on this side of the 90 mile divide.

Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths

This is the title of a recent article by Time Magazine. It was forwarded to me by my boss (head of HR) and to him by another manager. My first thought was that number had to be on the high side. After reading the article, I think it might be low, at least at my organization. I bet some faces from where you work (or places you've worked before) came to mind. My favorite quote in the whole article?

"They also tend to be charming and manipulative — and in corporate America, that easily passes for leadership."

That is so true. How often do you see true leadership in your company? I tried to think of one example from where I work, and I couldn't for a long while. I finally did though. It is probably the experience that has made me the most proud to work for my employer. Sad, though, that I can only come up with 1 in 11 years.

There article also has a link to a list of Top 10 Worst Bosses. It's definitely worth a read.

And Another One Gone

We've had several people quit this year. In fact, our turnover rate is on track to be the highest it's been in years. Here's one of my favorite ones thus far.

"Mike" started last November as a temporary. It's been back and forth for months if we were going to hire him, mostly because he wanted more money than what we typically pay someone in that job. Finally in August an agreement was reached, and he started as our employee. He went through new employee orientation in September, then quit with no notice the next week. He said he got a six figure job offer (WAY more than we were paying him, as in multiple times), and they wanted him to start immediately. His former supervisor was of course not pleased. I talked to one of his former coworkers who said "well, that's why he missed all those days. He was interviewing." I hadn't heard he'd missed several days, but since he was a temp, I likely wouldn't. I found the situation quite funny personally.