The Story Behind This Book
My intention in writing the book was to help create a better understanding of the workplace. As understanding is the first step toward improving, the book is a means to facilitate that first pass. Some may take the impression that the candid accounts and topics spoken of are meant to be derogatory toward the workplace, and companies. This cannot be further from the truth. This attitude, while misinformed, serves the point that open and candid discussions on the subject are not always embraced with a positive attitude. Perhaps this is an insight into the cause of some displeasing workplace issues. In my 20+ years in industry and providing training services, I always worked with the objective of helping improve the company I worked for. In writing A Business Diary, Part I, it’s my intention to have the same positive effect. As highlighted in the book, my contribution to the companies I had worked for totaled in the area of 1 million dollars, and that’s not considering the indirect benefits which are not considered in the figure. Despite the candidness of the stories and their descriptions, which may come across as being lighthearted depending on the reader, the point of the book is a serious one. Companies like the ones mentioned in the book contribute to local economies; creating jobs and supporting spinoff industries. The people in the stories are part of something which contributes to their city, region, and even nation, on a macro level. For some, their job within a company is a matter of fulfilling their individual needs; be it the personal satisfaction of having a career, or the challenge of the work, and for others it’s a matter of having a livelihood which permits them to enjoy other aspects of their life. The Discussion section after each story is there to show how to avoid the problems that are described in the stories. As one story in the book explains, the loss of an employee creates problems for the company, although it isn’t always evident. And similarly, for each problem that exists in the workplace, the effects of it on the workplace, company, and even the business are also there, although not apparent. It is not in the interest of anyone in the workplace to not consider and take seriously the problems found in it. This only serves to harm the benefits which the company has to offer its people and their community. If necessity is the mother of invention, then competition is the grim reaper of jobs. The good news is that any time taken to consider what the book is saying, is time well spent.