Member-only story
Scorched Earth Mentality
The Toxic Work Mentality of Soon-To-Be Retirees
A few years back when I was with a smaller firm, I was paired with a co-worker who had a significant “macho” complex.
His name was Sam.
He was an older gentleman.
He was “never” wrong. Didn’t seem to be interested in learning new technology. He didn’t communicate most effectively or document what he communicated. His orders often conflicted with other members of our staff. He was just a wild card.
He was a relic of a bygone era.
Yesterday’s worker. Today’s liability.
Sam would walk around the office chat it up with other team members, tout how he had his portion of the job site under control, and would relay irrelevant information back to me that came from upper management. Just a guy who felt like he had a sweet spot on our site
The reality was, that everyone kept their distance from him. Especially our trade subpartners.
It was his way. Or the highway.
He was the kind of general in a board game that would throw all the resources and bodies at a problem without regard to what it cost. He simply did not care.
