We are having a garage sale at my house. This is the second day. I am not a garage sale guy. This is my wife’s project. I just play a support role. It really is about cleaning house. After awhile, you have to do something with junk you have collected over the years. Actually, you have to do something with the things you don’t use any longer. It is amazing how true the old saying is, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” In fact, I think it is true from several vantage points.
Yesterday, I watched as people hauled away our junk with smiles on their faces. It made me think maybe we should have reconsidered selling some of those things. Were they really junk? And then I thought about “employees”. I really did. Not all employees, just the ones people are letting go. There are a lot of people today who probably need to lose their jobs but I wonder how many of them have been thrown into the junk category prematurely. It seems like the people who hire them next think they have really hit the jackpot. In reality, they probably have.
Once you begin to consider something as junk, you disrespect it. You put it in places where it can’t function. It gets lost. If left too long, it really gets mistreated. I think the same is true with some employees. They have been put into a category they can’t do anything about. Managers have them in the “junk” category and they can’t change their perception. What if they were treated with more respect? What if they were really challenged to perform? What if expectations were clarified? Think about it.
Here is the thought. If you aren’t going to give them a chance or if you don’t think they deserve a chance then you do need to get rid of them. On the other hand, you might want to give them one more look. Maybe there is treasure you have missed. Collins talked about getting the wrong people off of the bus and getting the right people in the right seats. I think he is right. I just think sometimes you can wait too long to have a garage sale and sometimes you can get rid of things irresponsibly. I am personally going to take a closer look at what we are putting up for sale. That is if my wife will let me. Do well, my friends.
