Order of the Star of Volta

I don’t doubt your importance at your office, I don’t doubt the fact that your whole organization seems to revolve around you, I don’t even doubt that currently, if you’re sick or unable to turn up for work, everything grinds to a halt. I don’t have a shred of doubt that you’re crucial, invaluable and of critical importance to the very pulse of your organization, and I don’t fault you for feeling a bit grandiose about that. In fact you deserve to pat yourself on the back, not many people make such impact in their places of work.

What makes me laugh to the point of peeing is when you actually believe that you’re so indispensable that the organization will collapse in your absence, or that you’re so skillful or so brilliant that in your absence no one else can function. That’s when you’ve moved from neurotic to psychotic.

Your organization doesn’t need you to move on, the office will continue to exist, business will go on, they will even do better in fact, minus you. They may feel your absence for a couple of days, but that’s about it. Organizations are run by an invincible hand that utilizes, drains and glorifies you whilst you’re present and quickly dumps your memory and wipes you out of existence once you’re no more. They may give you a lifetime achievement award someday to encourage another misguided youth to kill themselves to be you.

Whoever thought that the National Cardiothoracic Center at Korle-Bu will continue to exist, do research and perform cardiac and thoracic surgeries without Prof. Frempong Boateng? Prof. Frempong Boateng was the Cardiothoracic Center and the Cardiothoracic Center was Prof Frempong Boateng. Yet here we are, he was fired one hot afternoon like he was nobody, people did demonstrations, doctors refused to work for some days because the star of cardiac surgery was gone. Well I sat in a conference the other day to listen to the new director boast of the massive innovations and strides they are making!

I always say be wise at work, perform your duties diligently, put in your best, but don’t break your back, so the hunchbacked can stand up straight. Do what you can and can’t what you can’t. And always remember they can dispose of you like a wet rag any day, so make hay whilst the sun is up.