Moths

In our business, the ambitious and aggressive types are often labelled as tomorrow's stars. But we all know about the ancient curse. These people never make it to the promising future. Instead, like moths running towards the bright hot light, they get fried, crisped, crashed and burned. Their destinies are written in the book; the moths are fools who refuse to believe it. However, there is an endless supply of these moths. The Firm convinces them they are different and they are the chosen ones.

You will make it; crack your whip a little harder; stay in the office a bit longer; treat your peers mean; lick your seniors more; and bully your subordinates a little tougher. Be nasty, be political, be shameless and we will reward you.

Do the dirty work. You are so close to becoming one of us now. To become The Firm. To bathe in our glory. To taste our nectar.

But the fact is the moths never make it out alive. They will be used, chewed up and spat out. Their early meteoric explosion to the sky is fast and ferocious. Like shooting stars, they command notice. And like shooting stars, the moment they enter Earth's atmosphere, the real world, they vaporise. They have destroyed too many people on the way up and on the way down, no one will lend a helping and sympathetic hand. We let and watch them fall.

"I won't even piss on him if he is on fire" is the common sentiment amongst us veterans.

I am looking at one of the moths taking his trajectory.

Arrogant, young, inexperienced, and big-headed.

He is in his mid-thirties and feels the need to remind people of all his academic credentials. He has accrued about twenty letters behind his name in his email signature and business cards; CFA, CPA, MBA... We laugh. A giant on paper. A one-dimensional giant.

Who the hell still gushes about his degrees after having been working for a decade?

The imbeciles.

And those who pretend to be bigger than what they are.

And those who overcompensate their inadequate past.

This moth is extremely proud of his consultancy background too. There is a saying among us that there are two types of suits whom we do not trust – the accountants and the lawyers. Now we have the third type – the consultants. Moths think that will impress us but on the contrary, we see them as leeches. They do not produce anything of their own. They are bloodsuckers. They know one thing and one thing only. They steal, regurgitate your ideas, and wrap them up in pretty graphs and presentation decks. They make the impossible sound possible. They paint a picture of a utopia filled with unicorns. And The Firm loves perfection. It strokes their egos, soothes their ears, and pleases their eyes.

"Our strategy is perfect. It is your execution that is the problem." We earthlings know we will never get the moon from the very beginning.

"You see, I have a consultancy background. I can honestly say there aren't a lot of graphs I have not done before."

We nearly all fall to our knees and weep as we do not realise that we are in the company of God.

The newly promoted Managing Director has been on his monologue for ten minutes non-stop now and still, on he goes, "You know it is all about chemistry with your boss."

He smirks.

Of course. Otherwise, how can anyone explain how the hell he got to where he is now?

I smile.

It is 3 pm London time and it is 11 pm in Hong Kong. Why is he still on the conference call?

"…the fact that you are asking this question now shows you don't know how to play the game."

He stares at the camera with such intensity that for one second, I think he is turning into the girl in The Ring and crawls out of the screen.

Fifteen minutes earlier, I asked if I take on more work, would I get a promotion? Fair enough question, no? There are two questions any employee would ask if they are given half a chance: can I have more money and can I have a promotion? The fact that you said something like this, Moth, shows you are well below what your title suggests.

I have two choices here: one is to continue smiling and admit it is stupid of me to even dare to ask such a question or…

…"so how should I play the game then?"

Play like you do?

No, thanks.

#adayinthejungle #moths #thefirm #workculture