I'm probably one of the cheapest bastards around. Spending money frugally, put simply, is stupid. It's bad enough when we do it to ourselves. Do we need a new car or do we want a new car. If we're honest with ourselves, most of us can answer that as "want." Really... who needs a damn Mercedes for Christ sake. Want? Oh hell ya! Need? ... Not only no, but !@#$ no...
How about the workplace. Do employees tend to be wasteful? Damn straight. Management wastes the most. Maybe because they're usually the last to approve, therefore, the buck stops with them. Spend or not spend... Need or want. A few know the difference, others don't have a friggin clue, and the majority will say, "Hey, not my money... spend it!"
Scenario 1: One supervisor has a dozen employees, another has two dozen, and another has an even ten. One employee says, "Boy, sure could use one of those metal extendable binder units. I could put all this reference material right in front of me." And they do a little research and present the idea to their supervisor. Supervisor says, "Great! Order one." And one is ordered. The employee sets it all up nice and pretty on their desk and the rest of the group says, "I want one." Supervisor says, "Buy another eleven." And the order goes in. Group two and three now see it and tell their supervisors. Before you know it, the entire department has one.
Scenario 2: Basically the same as scenario 1, except replace that metal extendable binder unit with (how about) another computer monitor. Seems an employee from another department saw these metal contraptions and came up with a better idea. Sells the thought to the supervisor and supervisor says, "Good idea! Buy one." Next thing you know, every employee now has two monitors.
Scenario 3: Go back to scenario 1. This department catches wind of what the department in scenario 2 did and the manager says to themself, "Self, all reference material is available on-line. Trash those metal extendable binder units and give everyone another monitor. Now they can have any reference material on one screen and work the issue on the other." The Golden Goose agrees with the two-monitor scenario, and bada-bing bada-boom... all the monkeys in the zoo now have two monitors. So, what happens to the extendable units and all the reference material the unit was holding? The supervisors come up with a great idea... pile them up in corner of some room and maybe no one will notice. Guess what... NO ONE NOTICED! Until the entire department moved out and another moved in to ask the question, "Why is all that stuff piled up in our room?" Duh.
Now, think about these scenarios for a minute. Were the metal extendable units to hold reference material really needed? No. Wanted? Yes. Did the supervisor think to ask what the cost involved for these units would be? No. Did they care? No, wasn't their money. Did the manager even know what was going on? Probably not. How about the Golden Goose? No clue. Did anyone stop to think all the reference material they could possibly need was available on-line? Obviously not. The "want" syndrome over-rode the "need" syndrome. And when someone did stop to think about it, a lightbulb came on this time and figured maybe we should give the idea to the Golden Goose and the flock, see if we can sell the idea to them. And of course they jump on it because the idea is a very good one. Yet no one mentioned what was currently in place... that being the metal extendable binder units and all the reference material they held.
So, there's the scenarios. Now, apply them to the following items: Cell phones, labelmakers, whiteboards, flipcharts, subscriptions to web sites, printers, air cards, encrypted flashdrives, laptops, sets of reference books, etc etc etc. Are these items needed? For the most part, maybe. Are the items wanted? Damn straight. It's not our money... so, do they get these items? Bet your sweet bippie they do.
And a few months before the end of the fiscal year arrives, we find no funds! "We're BROKE!!!
Sure hope the next fiscal year gets here soon.
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