HSC English: Julius Caesar

Transcript: Blogspot

The scenario

Today I want you to imagine you are a disgruntled worker.

You hate your job. You are working for a large web technology company and feel you are not getting the recognition from management you deserve.

Working in the accounts section you have established a network of contacts and decide to leave and start your own business. To make your new venture work, you'll need the talents of three of your work colleagues.

You have a dilemma:

Do you recruit your colleagues and persuade them to quit to start with you on your new venture? Or, do you quit and take your chances and recruit them after you resign?

When I present this scenario to executives in seminars, about 90 per cent say they would recruit their colleagues before resigning!

Their justifications vary. They say things like:

  • If management doesn't recognise you for your good work and it's clear they don't trust you, why do them any favours?
  • There's no such thing as loyalty in big business anymore.
  • You could lose your job anytime, so you'd better make a move in your own self-interest.
  • You suspect unethical behaviour by management and therefore owe the company nothing.

And perhaps the most common:

  • Everybody does it.

The other 10 per cent usually say things like:

  • I value my employees and treat them as equals.
  • You earn loyalty by setting a good example in your business dealings.
  • Some just shrug their shoulders and agree that some people do it.

My question is: what would you do?

Conspiracy

I want to pose another scenario, this time from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The return of the triumphant Caesar and the growing calls for him to extend his power and become king has some people deeply concerned. Cassius is motivated by his deep hatred and jealousy of Caesar. Cassius believes he is the equal of Caesar and has been ignored by him after saving his life.

Do you see the disgruntled employee in this scenario?

From the beginning, Cassius is man on a mission. Cassius know his prey and is ready to lure Brutus to his plan. He knows he must recruit the 'honourable' Brutus to his cause to kill Caesar. For Brutus the mere thought of Caesar as king is enough to cast the dark shadow of tyranny over the free and democratic Rome.

But Cassius is missing evidence, the reasons to justify his plan to murder Caesar. So strong is Cassius's hatred for Caesar that it drives his justification and strategies to enlist Brutus to the conspiracy.

Like our disgruntled employee, there is no evidence to suggest the management is involved in ignoring him or that he is in danger of losing his job.

Even Brutus admits that it is mere speculation that Caesar will become king. Brutus points out that Caesar is a friend and has no personal reason for killing him. Shakespeare shows us how a man can justify murder with no evidence in 26 lines!

Like our disgruntled worker, Cassius has hatched a cold, calculated plot to achieve his aim.

The spin

How to recruit your co-workers to your new business? Is it the appeal to their personal interest? You can tell them that they will be valued and appreciated employees. And there is always the lure of money. Above all you need to persuade them that it in their best interests.

Cassius also knows how to get what he wants. The aside here, the innuendo there, the secretive plan of deception: they are all strategies he uses to influence Brutus to his campaign of personal revenge. Cassius is cunning enough to know that he needs influential friends. Cassius ironically appeals to Brutus’s ambition and good character. Cassius calls him, 'good', 'noble', 'gentle', and says he is a man of 'virtue and honour'. Brutus is a man of honour but his loyalty is confused.

However, Cassius is driven by his jealousy of Caesar. The story of saving Caesar's life while swimming across the Tiber is a masterly description by a bitter and vengeful man. Cassius's motivation for his 'new' venture is clouded in intrigue, deception and opportunism. He is prepared to do whatever it takes.

Our disgruntled employeejustifies his actions by his own perspectives of management and their perceived 'unethical' behaviour.

When all the employees leave to form the new company the boss would be entitled to say Et tu Brute! The next step would be to get on the phone to the company lawyers.

Conflicting Perspectives: Julius Caesar.