So I Watched Undercover Boss

So I DID stay up after the Superbowl (and, yeah, I was pretty happy the Saints won - been a fan since Fifth grade or so...second to the Steelers, of course...) and I did watch Undercover Boss.

The episode, for those who didn't watch it, was about the President of Waste Management going undercover in a bunch of entry level positions (recycling plant, porta john emptying, getting stray papers flying around a windy hillside, riding in a garbage truck). It was good to hear the President say that he didn't realize how hard his people work (physically) and it was enlightening hearing him say that he didn't realize how the policies that he handed down from his desk affected real people in sometimes not good ways.

I was really glad the guy got fired from one job (couldn't fill enough bags of flying paper at the landfill) and I was not surprised he couldn't cut it on the recycling line, either (I did the UPS unloading one Christmas so I get how demanding assembly line work can be).

About halfway through the episode I looked at Lori and said, "This is exactly what I was hoping this show would be." I really enjoyed it.

Thinking about it a day or so later now, I think it was the human element that had the most impact on me. The peoples' stories (the guy on dialysis, the woman who did like five peoples' jobs and had health issues and was going to lose her house, the woman driver who had to pee in a can...and the lady who was going to lose like two minutes for every one minute she's late in punching back in after lunch) didn't just impact me - the COO was clearly affected by these stories, too. In fact, the stories may have had too much of an affect on the guy. I think he lost his objectivity (which may be the subject for a later post).

So, in the end, the show was about a reality check for a guy who probably hasn't put steel-toed boots on in a long time...if ever. And it was a revelation for some of the workers, too. Upper level management is willing to find out what working for the company is REALLY like.

So, I'll keep watching Undercover Boss - until the inevitable episode when they go for ratings by exploiting the situation - then I'll dump it like I did Men of a Certain Age.

The point? Hmmm. How about this? It's all about the story. Everything - whether it's a theological point, or a business policy or a bit of gossip, it's somebody's LIFE. Everybody has a story - and every story has implications far beyond the issue, the policy, the whatever.