Are these the rules that Ms. Slaughter uses to treat her underlings? Like her secretary or the lowly word processor? What Ms. Slaughter prescribes is for meetings at a certain corporate level. Because her series of steps takes valuable time and energy, when the dissemination of the Party Line is what most of these meetings are about. The Boss will lay claim to any good ideas that others produce in these meetings: no one, who has lasted in a corporate setting, for any length of time, knows that this about the power of the Boss! Ms. Slaughter’s strategy is still based the authoritarian power of the Boss! Her strategy, in sum, is really about politeness and the recognition that everyone might have some valuable input, regardless of gender identification! The ‘as if’ here is that the corporate setting is about  some notion of freedom of expression. My second grade teacher, Miss Cheever, at Lindbergh Elementary, taught us and helped us to practice politeness, in the classroom and on the playground. I’m sure I’m not the only reader who can look to teacher,mother, father and the school setting, as our training ground for recognizing the value of the expressions of others. If only we will will recall these lessons as primary!

StephenKMackSD

https://www.ft.com/content/b09e7f2c-fea0-11e6-8d8e-a5e3738f9ae4