Higher Together. People Build Tomorrow.
The message is magnificent.
It occupies an enormous illuminated billboard above Times Square, delivered by a successful gentleman who appears to have mastered both leadership and professional dental care.
He smiles.
He waves.
He promises a brighter tomorrow.
Beneath him stands an exhausted operator whose remaining energy would barely register as an accounting discrepancy.
The contrast is unfortunate.
But progress occasionally requires sacrifice.
The billboard explains that people build tomorrow.
It does not specify which people.
Nor does it explain who owns tomorrow once construction is complete.
These details will presumably be addressed in a subsequent shareholder presentation.
Throughout history, institutions have presented advancement as a collective undertaking. Organizations become families. Employees become partners. Customers become communities.
Everybody belongs.
Everybody contributes.
Everybody rises.
The organizational chart, however, suggests that some participants are considerably better positioned to appreciate the view.
This is not necessarily evidence of conspiracy.
Hierarchy is a familiar feature of complex organizations. Responsibilities differ. Authority is distributed. Resources are allocated.
The problem begins when a system confuses loyalty with competence, compliance with contribution, and the preservation of authority with the pursuit of progress.
At that point, the promise changes.
It no longer describes what the organization hopes to accomplish.
It describes what participants are expected to believe.
Our operator looks upward.
His systems are failing.
The billboard insists that the future is bright.
Both statements may be technically accurate.
He has simply misunderstood his relationship to that future.
Perhaps the most powerful systems are not maintained through fear alone.
Perhaps they endure because participants can imagine themselves eventually occupying the position of the smiling gentleman above them.
Someday.
After another promotion.
Another sacrifice.
Another extraordinary demonstration of commitment.
The executive waves.
The crowd continues moving.
The billboard remains illuminated.
HIGHER TOGETHER.
It is a beautiful promise.
Especially from the top.
Saboteur Labs — Experimental Editorial / Hierarchy & Progress