The board of directors thing is something I wish everyone knew like I do. The human element goes right out the window and profit leading to shareholder value is all that there is. Have a tough quarter? Fire some people. Hire a new executive to right the ship, he has 6 months to fire a bunch of people. Corporate acquisition to increase the value of the corporate portfolio and buy customers? You better be on the buying end of that transaction or there will be more death by snu-snu (and old joke most people have never heard). These companies will pay more to attract the best who know that they are trading stability for personal profit and are fine with that high stakes game.
When it comes to unsubscribing from that model, that’s what I did when I retired from the big corporate game. It didn’t help much on the immediate finance side but at least I can build our own portfolio of offerings and clients, and take care of my people. In a service based industry (like marketing,) the people are intellectual property. Not property like an asset to be squeezed and maximized in value. An asset to the company to be inspired and activated and rewarded.
I think you are mired in global trends which take too long to change course and the individual has a fart in a windstorm of a chance of changing anything. The shittier it gets with the wealth distribution drying up for the workers, the more of a motivation they will get to say fuck this. Focus on what we can control in smaller circles and grow that at a level we can reach to share with others. It is the less obvious path that takes a while to navigate but the board of directors needs to be starved on the vine one by one.
I think people have a "sense" for it, but don't understand it enough. I also think that many people don't really understand when I say that the metric is shareholder wealth. They get it from the financial perspective, but don't follow the path to what practical implications it has.
I am most definitely mired in the longer term, I get that people want to focus short, but ultimately it is going to cost everyone more, and everyone to come, possibly everything. More and more I get the sense that I m not made for this world as it is. I could ignore it, but it would be active ignorance. Is that the kind of person I am, or want to be? I don't think so. Writing about the bigger things here, helps me focus my daily activities more on what matters to me, and those I care ab out. But, I am still not acting for short-term satisfaction with what I do.
I am definitely in a losing game and everyone will say "I told you so" while we are all aboard the same sinking ship.
Yah man we are alike. I try and keep sane by considering it then shutting it off to concentrate on that which I can control a little more.