Awakening, 2nd edition by Ray N. Kuili Page B

mind.
    “Why: Because I ’m smart.”
    Clark raised his head to the sound of muffled giggling.
    “What: To be in the right place, at the right time . . . Well said.
    “Why: More money. What: To get promoted often, what else could it be? This is literally what it says here: ‘What else could it be?’ Somebody just can ’t live without asking questions.
    “Why: Because I like to be in charge. What do I want more than anything else when I think about my future career: For starters, to have this career . . .
    “Why: Because I ’m good at organizing people. What: To grow without becoming a brownnoser.”
    Sharp, well -articulated words were being spouted to the room like a metronome ’s clicks.
    “Why: Because I know what I ’m doing and the less clueless bosses I have , the better. What do I want: To work without being sent to places like this.”
    The laughter traveled across the room once again.
    “Why: I hate being powerless. What do I want: Power .”
    Clark looked into the room, which had suddenly fallen into silence.
    “Here,” he said, raising the last sheet of paper. “This is why all of you are here today. And this is what the w orkshop is all about.”
     

     
    “So,” Chris asked cheerfully, carving his Chicken Marsala, “whose company is full of idiots? I think we changed the subject too quickly.”
    “Let it go , ” Alex said good-naturedly. “It ’s anonymous after all.”
    “It must’ve been you who wrote it , ” suggested Stella. “This is not the first time y ou ’ve brought this up.”
    They all felt at ease by now. Lunch started in a subtly tense atmosphere filled with polite questions and cautiously worded comments. But it didn ’t take them long to lose the seriousness, to relax and progress rapidly to light irony and even some friendly teasing. It was hard to say whether it had happened so quickly because of Paul ’s sarcastic observations, Robert ’s tasteful and timely jokes, Michael ’s calm wittiness or Chris ’s boyish vivacity. Whatever the reason, in less than an hour , Brandon remained the only recipient of businesslike tone s . His slightly stern face with the thick mustache s made him look older than everyone else and kept others from crossing the boundaries of a business lunch when talking to him.
    “No,” Chris sigh ed sadly, “I can ’t take credit for writing that note. Not that my work environment is free of idiots.”
    “You can find them everywhere, ” Ross said with his benevolent smile.
    Chris raised his finger.
    “The question is , who ’s got more idiots than a healthy company needs?”
    “A healthy company needs plain zero. Otherwise you have an unhealthy company.”
    “Not so fast. Somebody has to create internal challenges. You lose that and your people get too relaxed.”
    “Don’t underestimate the power of stupidity? Something like that?”
    “Exactly. Alan, you got it right.”
    “Why do you need internal challenges? Don ’t you have enough problems generated by external idiots?”
    “The real external problems come from the smart folks, not from morons.”
    “Say all you want, but someone is short of internal idiots. Why else would they go and hire all these bozos this poor person has to live with?”
    “All right, all right!” Paul ’s voice rose above the chatter. “I wrote it. Happy now? So much for keeping it anonymous.”
    “Really?” Charming dimples decorated Joan ’s cheeks. “Now we just need to get your company ’s name out of you. Imagine the market ’s reaction: ‘According to internal sources, the vast majority of PaulSoft ’s workforce are clinical idiots.’”
    “They’re not clinical, ” Paul sighed . “That ’s the problem. If it were PaulSoft, they ’d be on the street as soon as I ’m back. By the way, I don ’t remember ever saying that I ’m in the software business.”
    “Stop picking on him, ” Brandon proposed pacifyingly. “Let the man rest for a week.”
    “Rest for a week?