AMMONNEWS - By Abdulillah - It seems we are having an epidemic of self-imposed dumbing in our work places these days. The young it seems have resorted to dumbing themselves down so their bosses can feel comfortable in the fact that they are not there to steal his precious job or to subvert their boss’s orders.

This phenomenon is not new; bosses have always used their positions of power to take advantage of the newer workers, either to establish their own fiefdoms of power or to break the will of the younger employees such that they will fall in line with their way of thinking or policies.

This wouldn’t be so bad if the boss actually knew what he was doing, however I am repeatedly being told by the younger working class in Jordan that they are being stifled from expanding and innovating or introducing newer methods and thinking to their work places.

They state that their older bosses who are used to antiquated procedures, unfamiliar with newer methods of communication and unable or unwilling to impart any knowledge to their newer workers for fear of losing their jobs to them, are so insecure that these employees spend most of their day unproductive. That when they voice their desire to do more, or express new ideas are told to keep quite or are pushed aside by their boss and or replaced by someone who will tow the boss’s line.

How shameful can this be; instead of forcing newer employees to dumb themselves down, bosses should be the ones looking for and teaching their future replacements. This insecurity on their part can only lead to the lack of growth and prosperity of the company, where it is essential for them to be affective in mobilizing change and incorporating innovated ideas.

Newer generations of workers bring with them new ideas of what the newer generations are looking for in products and services in the near and far futures.

Who would have thought that 25 years ago we would have the internet, that sales of products and commerce will be conducted on-line and not over phones. That hard wired telecom will be the way of the past and that house phones will be replaced by mobile internet phones, where someone can hold a meeting while he is sitting at his home office or kitchen table with those in other countries in real-time.

These and many other innovative ideas did not come from old bosses stifling the younger generations but by encouraging , teaching and knowing when to leave things in the hands of those that they have taught and entrusted to manage the company into the future.

If one cannot do this and understand the need to do this is paramount in our society, we will only fall further backwards, with others leading the future and obtaining the prestige and wealth for their nations.
The CEO’s and company owners should be looking carefully at those in leadership positions to see how they are managing the neweremployees. If they see insecurity or outright stifling or discouraged employees, they must be prepared to either educate or remove that person from a leadership position. Otherwise their company will never grow and the future will look dim for those who will rely on the company later to pay for their pensions.

This country cannot afford and continue to push the young aside. These younger generations will look elsewhere. They will feel left out of our society and will leave to those nations who do appreciate them and their newer ideas and enthusiasm. Jordan cannot afford the continued brain-drain, we are losing the best to other nations, and newer innovated ides will never be generated here but elsewhere by these same individuals.

No I for one cannot accept that we must continue this stupid behavior in our work forces and society forever. I cannot stand the fact that when meeting with these individuals I find that they are so frustrated they do not even want to look in our society for work but elsewhere. Worse, their parents are telling them to leave so they can actually learn and grow their ideas elsewhere.

My brothers and sisters, if we love our nation, we cannot stand in the way of our youth and future generations. We must learn to teach, encourage, pushing them to stay, give them the best tools to take us into the future and being their best supporters.

Its that or we stay where we are, lamenting our lack of growth, our low standing among other nations, and our lack of wealth and the continued brain-drain and lack of future.
May God Bless Jordan and its People