Oz, Wonderland and the Downsized Organization
Frank J. Navran

For many people downsizing is the organizational equivalent of a the tornado that carried Dorothy from Kansas to Oz. It is an unpredictable and uncontrollable force that destroys everything in its path with a random and wanton disregard for the many lives it touches.

For others downsizing is more like Alice’s entry to Wonderland, a seemingly never ending freefall down a rabbit hole, frightening and life threatening, an extremely personalized experience.

But downsizing is unlike either a tornado or an extended freefall. It does not appear to be a natural event. It is not seen as the inevitable consequence of the laws of nature. It is a human phenomenon and supposedly under human control. Because downsizing is so human, there is a widely held belief that the results of downsizing must be somebody’s fault.

When the tornado picked Dorothy up and transported her from Kansas to Oz she came face to face with her nemesis, the Wicked Witch of the West. The bad things that happened to Dorothy in Oz could be blamed on the Wicked Witch.

Amid all the confusion of Wonderland, Alice’s life was most threatened when she came face to face with the Queen of Hearts who was crying, “Off with her head.” Again, a clear personification of the threat.

The bad that comes from downsizing cannot be blamed on some wicked witch or mad queen. But bad things do happen to good people when an organization downsizes and it must be somebody’s fault. Someone has to be blamed. In our search for a nemesis, for someone to point the accusatory finger at, we have settled on a vague collective sense of the people we imagine to have been in control: the managers, the leaders, the decision makers. they did it. The bad is their fault.

Oz provides many people with a model for understanding how it is that they are to blame.

Some base their understanding on the Scarecrow argument: if only they had a brain. Downsizing is all about incompetence. they should have seen it coming. they never should have hired all these people in the first place. they should have anticipated the increased competition, the technological change, the deregulation of the industry. they should have known. After all, they were at the head of the organization so they should have been responsible for the thinking.

Some base it on the Tin Woodsman argument: if only they had a heart. Downsizing can be blamed on men and women who substituted personal greed for compassion. If they cared about us and the people like us they never would have chosen to downsize. they would have found another way to save both the organization and our jobs. they would have shared in the pain, taken less for themselves so that, at least in the short run, we could have had our share for a little longer.

Some base it on the Cowardly Lion argument: if only they had courage. they could have told their constituents, the unions, the government, the stockholders, “No”. If they had had the courage to do the right thing, whatever that might have been, then we wouldn’t be in this mess now. they chose to take the easy path, made the convenient decision, they decided to cave in to the pressure. they buckled under to the internal politics, afraid to stand tough.

In Wonderland the basis for assigning blame on the Queen of Hearts is that she is “as mad as a hatter”. For some the image of leaders who are out of touch with reality makes the downsizing decision more understandable. they must have been crazy to do this. Maybe they will snap out of it and set things right before its too late.

Buit notice that Dorothy and Alice are never to blame. They are victims, much like the victims of downsizing. Dorothy just wants to find the Wizard so he can tell her how to get back to Kansas, where everything is the way it is supposed to be. Alice wants to follow the White Rabbit back to the “real” world. They want to be magically transported back to their reality.

Both the victims and the survivors of downsizing also want to be transported. They want to be taken back to a land where downsizing never comes, where jobs last forever and where every year they get a cost of living adjustment, a raise and, in the good years, a Christmas bonus.

Well boys and girls, there is no Wizard, There are no ruby slippers. The White Rabbit does not exist. And there is no one to blame. Downsizing is a reality. It occurs because change, like the tornado, like falling down, it is an uncontrollable and unpredictable force of the nature of organizations.

They are not villains. they are people, most of whom were simply doing the best they could do with the what they had.

But weren’t they incompetent? Some were. And so were we, sticking to time honored practices and work rules long after they had lost their utility. Letting inertia carry us along rather than seeking and embracing innovation.

But, weren’t they greedy? Some were. And so were we, insisting on raises and job security, benefits and pensions, long after reality told us the organization could ill afford them.

But weren’t they cowardly, heartless, all of those things we desperately wish they were, so we could blame them for our hard times? Some were, and so were we.

Weren’t they just a little bit crazy? Even if they were, it doesn’t matter.

There were no effective, intelligent, compassionate, courageous, mentally stable managers in charge of either Oz or Wonderland. There were only the native inhabitants of these special worlds, knowing no other life, unaware of how bizarre their worlds could seem. And then there were Dorothy and Alice, strangers in these alien and sometimes hostile environments. Like many survivors of downsizing, both began their adventures bewildered and uncertain, fearful and upset. How was it then that they survived?

Four keys were common to Dorothy’s and Alice’s adventures:

• Goals - Both heroines knew what they was trying to accomplish. They each had a clear a specific set of long term goals.
• Persistence - Neither Dorothy nor Alice ever lost sight of their long term goals despite the many short-term distractions which Oz and Wonderland held in store for them. .
• Adaptation - Alice and Dorothy continually changed their approach, their tactics, Alice even changed her size, to meet the challenges of the current version of reality facing them.
• Responsibility - Both girls came to realize that they could not depend on anyone else to solve their problems. The wizard, the good witch, the White Rabbit, all helped in whatever ways they could. But the ultimate responsibility for attaining their goals was theirs.

Today’s survivors of organizational downsizing need to understand the inherent commonalties and differences between the metaphors present in Oz and Wonderland and their real lives.

In Oz and Wonderland blame is easily assigned. Oz was a bad dream never to be repeated. A world to escape. Wonderland was also a dream, but it was a place of ongoing adventure for Alice to revisit. But both were unreal.

The downsizing organization is not a dream. Neither are the lessons of goals, persistence, adaptation and personal responsibility as four keys to success. We need to move beyond assigning blame to brainless, heartless, cowardly and crazy leaders. We need to understand that survival is the issue. Pointing to organizational leadership and fixing the blame is a futile distraction.

Survivors of downsizing need to get on with the business of fixing the problem, of success. They need to set life goals. They need to persist in striving to achieve those goals. They need to try new ways of succeeding when the old ways fail.

Most of all we all need to understand that success is a personal responsibility. they do not run our lives. While they may make decisions that impact on us, ultimately we have to deal with those situations. We need to accept that we do not live in Oz or Wonderland, but even if we did success would still be our responsibility.