Apr 12 2008
Reminded Why I Don’t Want to Be a Corporate Hack
I had dinner with some friends the other night and met a guy a who horrified me and reminded me why, after graduating university with a business degree, I really had no interest in ever pursuing a career in business. There are lots of things I love about the business world but the one thing that has always puzzled me is how people can become so passionate about whichever widget their company sells.
In this case, the passion was tires. This guy was obsessed with them and our conversation over dinner often led back to these apparently fascinating wonders of the rubber world. We got the history of the rubber industry in Asia along with accounts of sales targets and other juicy tidbits. He refered to his company as ‘we’ when listing off things they’d invented and proudly told us about his 14 hour work days.
Everything he told us was with a freaky, intense passion that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand. It seems to me that he’s sold himself on the idea of tire sales and spending all of his time working to better the company is something he genuinly wants to do. It’s an added bonus that he gets to do the expat thing in KL but when all of his time is spent at work, it doesn’t sem to me that it really matters where he is.
So more power to this guy! He seems happy, he’s found his calling and that’s great but I will never understand how people can become so passionate about things like tires. But I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who can’t comprehend being passionate about computers and the internet.
I guess the difference is that I don’t bore people at dinner parties with my Adsense stats!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go.
ROTFL Kirsty! I personally just bore them with my latest travels - but I have learnt to shut up about that as well! The sad thing is that it’s probably his only interest - what happens to him when the company is bought out and he’s restructed out - these people are basically tying their whole self-esteem to an employer and no employer, at the bottom line, gives a toss for their employees!
LOL. I don’t mind talking about work and business but if the conversation doesn’t move on from there in the first 15 minutes you know you are going to have trouble.
I use to think like that guy. It was for a minor league baseball team. But I changed. It’s the whole “ignorance is bliss” argument. I was happier then, but now I’m not as happy when I see the world for what it really is. However, I couldn’t go back to that lifestyle and be happy again.
Sounds cult like. So many people identify themselves by what they do instead of who they are. But when you spend 14 hours a day under the thumb of corporate culture it’s not surprising that many end up drinking the Kool Aid.
I found myself cringing when I read this. I so don’t get people like that.
Yeah, seems to me that life is way to short to be working 14 hours a day, even if it is something that you enjoy. There is a whole world out there to see and experience outside of work. I am sure that I will not be on my deathbed with regrets that I was not able to work another day.
Tires? Really? Passionate about them? I just find it so hard to get passionate about things I have little personal investment with. Working for a start up currently I have lots of ‘product ownership’ but whenever I’ve worked for companies that are large or corporate mided I’ve found myself just killing myself to sell anything because I am not passionate about the product.
Keep living the dream Kristy! I’m working on getting out there with you very soon!!!!
I feel sorry for that person! 14 hours is just plain ridiculous.
I wonder how he spends his weekends?
Dressing up in rubber no doubt!
)
Working Nomad, your comment makes me imagine that guy is the Michelin Man
.
Ya I would say that boring people with travels is the best defence! I was chatting to a couple last night about this whole thing. I guess it’s nice to know there are plenty of people out there who think there’s more to life than slogging it out for faceless shareholders.