“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
-Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
Living in New York City during an election year, the phrase “A Tale of Two Cities” has been prominent in the media. Candidate for Mayor, Bill de Blasio used these words quite effectively as a campaign slogan. And that got me thinking…
Companies are like A Tale of Two Cities. There are “the haves” (management) and “the have nots” (employees). Like the aristocracy in Dickens’ book, management is indifferent to the plight of their “people,” the employees. They have no concerns or qualms about “throwing them (the employees) under the bus” in pursuit of personal gain. The employees feel repressed and try to undermine attempts by management to change the status quo. They resist change and find ways to disrupt these initiatives in order to make the company pay for the injustices they believe they have endured.
Fortunately, change can, and does happen without bloodshed. Like the book’s character, Sydney Carton, we all want a life full of meaning and value. Management and employees are really one and the same. By changing places with one another we find “…the best of times…,” and “…the spring of hope…” “…with everything before us…” Engaging employees at all levels “…is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done…”
