Futher Musings on Self-Interest

In continuing the vein of my searching for a new and/or better position, I'm increasingly amazed at my current boss' complete immunity to reality. Make no mistake, I'm a huge believer in fantasy myself, and will go the great lengths to avoid substantial work or responsibilities, but the simple fact of the matter is that at some point, self-preservation must inevitably force us to face facts. People are almost always remarkably adept at convincing themselves that they're right - and the more intelligent we are, the more elaborate and convincing our lies to ourselves become - but human survival instincts almost always pull us out of our delusions before the situation becomes untenable. Our psyches, after Milena of practice, have evolved into a form where we easily believe the lies we tell ourselves to maintain our day-to-day happiness, while at the same time not holding to those lies so dearly that we cannot abandon them the moment that a greater need must be served.

Truly remarkable, how dynamic we can be when necessary, isn't it?

But I've recently been disappointed at how slow on the uptake people can be when presented with impending disaster. One of the attorneys recently left my firm for a much more high-paying job, leaving three of us. The response from On High to those of us remaining was that the job he took wasn't as good as he thinks it is, couldn't possibly pay as well as he claimed it did, and you really should stay with us and build this place into a firm that can afford to pay you more. By the way, Young Associates, we have been inundated with resumes and been very impressed with people we've interviewed. In light of the number and quality of applicants for the opening left by the recent departure, we consider you guys to be interchangeable, and replaceable. (It's merely an aberration that the first three offers we made to prospective hires were refused, in favor of better offers.)

Presented with this, I made a call or two, and now have an offer to move to another firm, do exactly the same type and quantity of work that I do now, and earn myself a 25% to 50% pay raise (depending on how bonuses play out), simply by reporting for work at an office further down the street. I'll be giving notice tomorrow, leaving my current firm - which had four active attorneys a month ago - with only two full-time litigators. I know for a fact that another of my current co-workers, who is even more soured on the situation than I am, will be following me out the door with roughly the same expediency that I'm following the former departure out the door (about four weeks between departures).

What I wonder is if my current superiors are going to be able to pull their heads out of their collective asses to stop to bleeding? There is simply too much work here to be managed by two (soon to be one) persons, and the hiring process - even after several weeks - appears to be going nowhere, no matter what the bosses are telling themselves and each other. Barring immediate action, the Las Vegas office is going to bleed out. Will that immediate action be forthcoming? For my part, I don't greatly care about all this one way or the other; my loyalty to this firm is exhausted, and I've already decided to leave. It's largely academic, and an excellent example of behavior I should watch for in myself. But I'm curious if my bosses are going to have the realization a la Don Quixote, that they've been acting insane for the last year or so, and have nothing more to show for it than the chamber-pot they've been using as a helmet. Will they snap out of it in time? Will their need to have attorneys to handle the 120 active cases in Las Vegas be strong enough to overcome the delusions they've formed?

If nothing else, it should be fun to watch.