Rousseau said this in the Midwestern Schools thread, and went on to describe the school’s “sledgehammer” approach to discipline. How if one person acts up, everyone is punished, etc.
(I didn’t want to hijack that thread.)
The company where I work is doing pretty much the same thing. Starting Tuesday, there will be no more food or drink allowed on the production floor. This draconian measure is being instituted in response to a small, nay, miniscule problem.
Apparently “stuff” accidentally ends up where it doesn’t belong – inspection doesn’t always catch it and a customer in Assboink, Iowa might open the box with our product in it and lo! and behold, a Snickers wrapper leaps up and bites their face off.
Okay, I understand the concern, quality and the customer are #1, yadda yadda, but the way to address it is to improve inspection (and watch out for the slobs), NOT to forbid our hard-working (and 99% tidy) people from chawing down on a Frito or sipping a Coke while they’re waiting for the next unit to come down the line.
The new policy is going to piss everyone off, and will contribute to the “us and them” mentality similar to what Rousseau described in her school.
The more petty rules are instituted, the more people want to rebel. Especially when they see themselves as good, hard workers who are being treated like children.
It sucks donkey dick.