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Demotivators

gav on 2004-01-03T16:45:14

This year I bought two calenders from Despair, one for home and one for work. They provide me with much amusement, especially as one of our clients sells proper motivational posters.

My MacSkinz also came in the post. I love it. It fits perfectly and for just $30 makes my iBook look even cooler than I thought possible.

Poster

mako132 on 2004-01-04T04:22:00

I have a Demotivator poster in my office, "Ineptitude".

A couple of weeks ago, someone interviewing for a programming position in our department knocked on my door and said he wanted to check something. He went up to the poster and said, "Just checking. Wanted to make sure it was that type instead of the other [motivational] ones." He seemed pleased.

Re:Poster

gav on 2004-01-04T05:11:46

I never want to work somewhere where they have "real" motivational posters. It's a sign that management have gone beyond a dilbertesque level of crazy and reached Twilight Zone crazy.

If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job.

Re:Poster

Louis_Wu on 2004-01-04T09:14:32

I never want to work somewhere where they have "real" motivational posters. It's a sign that management have gone beyond a dilbertesque level of crazy and reached Twilight Zone crazy.
While I agree that motivational posters are quite silly, I don't think out-of-touch management is the only cause. At my work, it seems that many of the posters are motivated by legal fears, legal CYA, or PR concerns. Like the motivational posters related to Ethics. Maybe those posters were part of a settlement, or some CYA in anticipation of future legal action.

Or maybe my brain has been sucked out of my ear by the PHBs.

They Do Indeed Exist

mako132 on 2004-01-08T21:24:25

The company that supplied our firewall has those motivational posters up on nearly every wall in their suite of offices. I felt so sorry for the employees.

The general feel of the office area was drab: as if no one really cared any more how it looked, and therefore cut the cleaning contract to once a week.