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These are canonical beliefs of executive types, which are not to be questioned, and which define their attitudes and behavior. Anyone with a title of Director or above in a company, and many business owners, subscribe to this dogma.

1. I am a member of a privileged caste. This status is permanent, and results from my having achieved a certain level of management.
2. My caste status entitles me to a large salary, generous retirement benefits, guaranteed bonus payments, stock options, and many perks paid for by the company. This is independent of my function or the quality of my work: I am simply granted these things because of Item 1.
3. I am not required to work. Work is an “implementation level” task. I decree policies, produce strategic concepts, review the work of others, and meet with other executives to agree broadly on things that will later be worked out in detail by lower castes.
4. It is not important that I possess intelligence, skill, or charm. I can misuse technology, murder spelling and grammar, and treat others poorly with impunity. My status is independent of any ability on my part to create things, accurately communicate, or interact appropriately with others.
5. If I command something it is not to be questioned by anyone outside the executive caste. Questions, corrections, or objections are insubordination.
6. The rules of my organization are made for my benefit and not for the benefit of the organization or any other people. I may ignore them but others must obey them.
7. I must only associate socially with other “executive quality” people.
8. I cannot hear bad news, detailed explanations of a situation, or technical briefings. I will blame those who bring me news I do not like. Anyone who gives me detail or technical explanations will be informed that I need something at the 100,000 foot level, and that I am a big picture person. If I become knowledgeable or know about things going wrong, I could lose my mana and become a worker bee.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2003 at 12:54 am and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.