A new series debuted on CBS tonight (Feb 7), called Undercover Boss.
Basically, it’s about bosses who go undercover into their workforce to see how things are going, to know and appreciate what things are really like, how tough and/or bad things might really be, etc. As far as I’m concerned, it’s management in large organizations learning about reality in a way they should far more often than happens. I think the premise of the show is great for that reason. How it’ll be done in the coming weeks will have to be seen.
What I want to know, though, is if you think bosses should go undercover to be more in touch with reality in their organizations? The poll is at the end. This could only apply to large organizations where bosses might not be known to most people at some lower level, of course. Otherwise, their cover would be blown easily.
Me, I work for provincial government, and I can tell you my answer to that question is a definitive “yes”. I don’t think the general public would disagree with me on that, but I think the public might be surprised that some of us do. Personally, I’m nobody’s boss as an analyst. However, I’ve gone “undercover” numerous times just to learn how some things work, or how some things are, rather than call up people and ask. It’s not I think my colleagues would be dishonest with me. I just need the view and experience from the other side. I need to know what the public has to face the way they face it, not the way it’d be described to me from someone on the other side where the perception can be drastically different. I can also tell you all of my undercover stints have been very enlightening, too, though I’m not going to disclose what and where I did this.
And yes, I know I should be very careful about blogging on work related stuff. In my view, though, this is a good thing I’m sharing, not a bad thing. Notice how I did not comment on whether or not I thought we went undercover often enough in government, though. 
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 7.8
