# Wanting the Unlikely By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-10-05 People within organizations can spend a great deal of effort wanting the unlikely. When people are wronged, they have been raised to want an apology since childhood. Those in power frequently wrong those within organizations. Certainly, by the rules of society, the people who have been wronged deserve an apology. When one is not forthcoming, those people devise elaborate gestures to provoke what they desire. They may draft and send a letter of no confidence to the executives in which they give voice to the transgressions of those in power. This symbolic action suggests that those wronged think the apology has not been forthcoming because those in power are unaware of the situation and that if they only knew, an apology would surely be offered. Rest assured, they know, and the apology will not be coming. To apologize is to admit that one was wrong. Those in power tend to rest easy, feeling that whatever they do is completely justified and justifiable. They also understand that they need to offer no justification. They are in power. A central function of power is the ability to act without permission or rationale. To apologize will make them fallible, undermining their privilege's legitimacy. This they will not do. They would rather be disliked than to be constrained. Wanting the unlikely is understandable but ultimately a waste of attention. Workers should focus attention on what they can do. Change those things within one’s sphere of influence. If inadequate, attempt to enlarge the area over which one has control. It is more likely that workers can take action to improve their situation than it is that they can cajole an apology from aloof executives. The symbolic gesture of letter writing, either a vote of no confidence or an apology given under duress, is valued by those who prefer rhetoric to action. Neither is necessary or even inherently beneficial to progress. Understanding pressure points, blind spots, and zones of indifference within the system is essential. Focusing one’s attention and effort on those areas is more productive than wanting the unlikely, writing letters, and taking votes as to people’s opinions. #### Related Items [[Power]] [[Executives]] [[Attention]] [[Authority]] [[Organization]] [[Influence]] [[Progress]]