let's just say you're an egomaniac (which is a euphemism for God-less) and they hire you at their company to be the new ceo and since you're an egomaniac (i mean, "egomaniac"), you want your new employees to worship you but they worship the water cooler instead.
with me so far?
ok, so these new employees of yours love their water cooler. they - and generations of employees before them - depend on it for everything - not only for water but also for relationships. it's where they blow off steam, talk about life, console and comfort one another, get their reality checks, get their priorities straight, hit each other up for a few bucks when things are tight, offer to help move 'em into their new apartment this weekend, get their batteries re-charged, and go back to the cold, hard world of work, renewed and strengthened.
without their water cooler, these people would die.
or so they think.
enter you, the "egomaniac," who has a better idea. how about if they worship you instead?
so, ok.......you want them to worship and depend on you instead of their water cooler to whom they have had devotion and allegiance since before anyone (even you) can remember. so, whatta ya do? you get rid of the water cooler, that's what.
but you're smart. you don't just one day waltz in there and rip out the water cooler. besides flooding the whole place, you know what a mess that would cause.
so, you do it slowly, albeit methodically. maybe the first thing you do is start telling them that the water really isn't good for them after all. that studies have found all sorts of impurities in it and eventually, if they keep on drinking this stuff - or even keep on being in close proximity to it - they're gonna die.
pity, pity......what's a poor ceo who cares about his people to do? (sigh)
maybe you tell them that yes, you care about productivity and yes, you care about the bottom line, but what you really care about, bar none, is the health and welfare and happiness of them.
you tell them all sorts of things. you pull out (or make up) as many "studies" as you can - not only about water but about everything they thought they believed in - and you propagandize the hell out of 'em.
pretty soon, you're ready to pull the plug. or, in this case, the water cooler.
it starts to flood, but you expected that. you have your peeps lined up and ready to go, mops in hand. (you're so smart. you line up such good peeps. the best peeps in the land.)
and now, when your employees get thirsty (and in a few years, as your plan progresses, hungry or in need of a few bucks, or homeless, or cell phone-less, or birth control-less), all they have to do is come to you, with their pre-approved voucher which your peeps issued to them in the last quarter of the last fiscal year, and ask for a "drink." except oops, their voucher has expired. didn't they read the fine print?
but, not to worry. you, the wise, wise "egomaniac," foresaw this. of course you did. you know everything. you have a whole department set up and ready to handle expired vouchers. you won't let your people go thirsty! never!
you won't let your people go, either.
