Editor's Letter

Apr 1, 1998 12:00 PM, Larry Anderson

Sitting in the auditorium, I saw in the program the name of the next speaker, who I knew to be a long-time employee of a well-known company. He was a successful employee - a member of the middle management team - at a company whose name is a household word.

But I noticed as he was walking to the podium to make his presentation that his title in the program book did not mention his affiliation with the well-known company.

In fact, I noticed as he was adjusting the microphone, his title was listed as "independent consultant."

I was wondering why a prominent member of a well-known company's management team would decide to become an independent consultant. My mind was wandering as I wondered about the life of an independent consultant. Who does he consult, and independent from who? Is any of us really independent?

My reverie was interrupted as the former middle manager began his presentation, and he addressed my questions within a couple of minutes with an answer that was simple in its bluntness.

"I was downsized."

Blunt, and a common euphemism for a common phenomenon in business today. Downsized somehow says it all, without belaboring the less comfortable aspects of why a company would no longer wish to employ someone who had given many years of loyal service. (Oops, there I go with that loyalty word, the one that business articles say no longer applies in "today's global marketplace.")

Downsizing is not new, of course. It has been around for more than a decade now. Use of the word has even fallen in and out of fashion several times. For example, several years ago one business philosophy suggested that "downsizing" isn't really the right word; the word should be "rightsizing."

I emphasize the use of the word because as a casual student of such things, it never ceases to amaze me how words and phrases make their way into the business lexicon and then become so common that you hear them all the time. (Another such word is "paradigm," the meaning of which my sometimes impractical brain can't quite grasp. I'm not sure how many people know exactly what it means, but I have heard it enough times at business meetings over the years.)

I understand the meaning of downsizing, and I appreciate the monumental effect its implementation has had on American business, and our way of life in general. It's a phenomenon that is so prevalent that even my sometimes impractical brain can see its impact.

In the security industry alone, the effects can be seen every day - and not just in the changing titles of participants at industry conferences.

For example, respondents to a survey we did last year about the changing industry mentioned "downsizing of staff" as a challenge they have to deal with. The specifics of the challenge include "keeping costs down and meeting requirements with a smaller staff."

Business managers who see beyond the challenges that downsizing presents can also appreciate its benefit: tightly run, "fat-free" companies. Some point to our current economic good times as a payoff of corporate America's recent downsizing regimen.

Just how big a part of our lexicon and way of life the idea of downsizing has become was emphasized recently when I went to a restaurant with a group of about 15 people. Some of our party were late arriving, and the maitre d' asked us to wait until we were all present before we could be seated. We waited 10 minutes or so, and it looked like some of our party might not show up.

Anyway, the maitre d' agreed to seat us, conditionally, at three tables pushed together. He asked us to sit at one end, leaving the third table free, in case the others didn't arrive.

"I may have to downsize your table," said the maitre d', and we all knew exactly what he meant: fewer seats at the table, but the food would be delicious.

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