Friday, June 13, 2008
Teamwork == forced labor??
Let me preface this by saying: I am not making this up.
In the breakroom at my former place of work (a large tech company), hangs one of those "Successories" posters. I've always thought the Successories posters to be trite. Who doesn't? The funny thing is that this particular poster features the Great Wall of China with "Teamwork" inscribed across the top and the uplifting tagline: "Many Hands, Many Minds, One Goal".
For anyone that knows anything about the history of the Great Wall, to associate it with Teamwork in a corporate setting shows either:
In the breakroom at my former place of work (a large tech company), hangs one of those "Successories" posters. I've always thought the Successories posters to be trite. Who doesn't? The funny thing is that this particular poster features the Great Wall of China with "Teamwork" inscribed across the top and the uplifting tagline: "Many Hands, Many Minds, One Goal".
For anyone that knows anything about the history of the Great Wall, to associate it with Teamwork in a corporate setting shows either:
- Ignorance of Chinese history
- A really twisted sense of humor
If your Chinese history is a little fuzzy, here a few tidbits that will let you in on the joke:
- The Great Wall was long viewed by the people of China as a symbol of tyrannical oppression.
- Ancient records report that at least one million slaves and prisoners of war were used to create the wall.
- Many laborers died from exhaustion and starvation while working on the wall, their bodies added to the rubble and masonry as the quickest means of disposal.
Personally, I'm really hoping that whoever ordered the poster was in on the joke.
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