The company owner who hung this poster in his boardroom says that people with no sense of humor will not appreciate it.
I probably have no sense of humor because I find the poster disturbing. I don’t think that fear of being fired is motivating. Are you motivated by fear?
Clarissa's Blog 
I don’t think it’s supposed to convey a fear of being fired. Rather, it appears to be saying that if an employee doesn’t want to work, then they will probably be fired.
I don’t think it’s really appropriate for a boardroom, though. In that scenario, it sounds almost like a threat.
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I just imagine this poor employee going, “Need to fake enthusiasm! Need to fake enthusiasm right now or they’ll let me go”. And that wasn’t a pretty picture.
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Fake enthusiasm is what business runs on. That’s why prostitution is referred to as the oldest profession.
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Are you motivated by fear? No, demotivated.
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I think this is how it works for all normal people. Fear paralyzes you and can never be productive.
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Not all fear paralyzes all people. In fact, the fear of the tiger running at me definately motivates me to run faster. 😉
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What little Russian I know I learned from Alexander Lipson’s textbooks, so please forgive me for bad usage, grammar, i t. d.
Your motivational or demotivational poster (as the case may be) reminded me of this:
http://accidentalrussophile.blogspot.com/2006/10/russian-course.html
http://www.ogoniok.com/4942/31/
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This is absolutely hilarious!!!! Thank you for the links! I know many of such funny/scary little poems and I wish I could share them with my readers. 🙂
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I laughed when I read the poster.
Then again, if it were sitting in a boardroom or hanging over my boss’ desk at work, then I think I might have a different reaction.
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I don’t think it is supposed to be an actual motivational poster. Check out:
http://www.despair.com
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As I said, I have no sense of humor. 🙂
LOve the link.
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http://www.thisnext.com/item/1192AEB3/Tumbleweed-Ashes-of-Problem
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Scary!
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Yes, but maybe there’s something in it for you. They also have an urn for the ashes of problem students. 🙂
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Also, since when is “enthusiasm” the most important quality for keeping one’s job? One would think it would be competence.
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Very true. Who needs a super-enthusiastic ignoramus?
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If my boss thought that was funny, I’d be looking for another job. Luckily, I’ve had the luxury of working for people who trusted me to get the work done in my own way with little to no supervision.
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What, no stories of how this is actually true in the workplace? At my workplace, some of my colleagues always show up early in the morning. Then they proceed to talk on the phone, chat with each other, have protracted conversations about films, actors, and musicians — except when the boss is around.
My job is about meeting deadlines, not being present so much. I meet all my deadlines well before time, get given the job of fine-tuning the work chatterboxes have turned in because they could not bother to do — or were incapable of doing — a good job of it. Even when I am in the office, I am bent over a computer, working. And then my boss rips into me because I don’t show enough ‘enthusiasm’ for the job while I am at office.
People, Clarissa, are strange.
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“People, Clarissa, are strange.”
-That’s what I always say. When I revealed to a colleague that I hated departmental meetings, she was very relieved. She also hated them but didn’t think it was possible to share this feeling with another colleague.
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A meeting is that which seconds minutes and wastes hours.
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You need a new job!
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My reply was to Rimi, not Clarissa…my brain is not firing on all cylinders this morning.
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It motivates me alright- motivates me to remember no amount of money is worth a job where I’m expected to humiliate myself and make a lot of money for someone else, and also expected to be grateful for the opportunity to do so.
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LOL, at first I mistakenly thought “Fired With Enthusiasm” meant “being shot bullets at”, as meaning “being criticized”. It would definitely frighten rather than motivate me, which imo would be detremental rather than helpful to work results. And, more importantly, bad for my health.
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That is precisely what I thought too, el. Worse, I thought it was a military metaphor.
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I don’t understand why your boss says you lack enthusiasm. When he is present, others start working, but you’re working too. How come *you* are singled out in his mind as “unethusiastic”?
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Fear, fear, fear… the most powerful political weapon ever invented can be use for everything nowadays!)
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I was vastly more impressed with the visual image than with the silly attempt at verbal humor. I see a starkly negative image of a man, but I am uncertain about the cause of the negative impression. Is he hitting his head on the table in frustration at the stupidity of his colleagues? Is he dead? Is he asleep? Behind him I see 4 Stepford Wives (hopefully Clarissa is familiar with that film) paying rapt attention to a vague fuzzy image of a male. I see no enthusiasm, rather only terrifying conformity.
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