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The Business Lessons Of Ralphie Parker

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There’s one Christmas movie that always sucker punches me right in the face: More popularly known as “A Christmas Story,” I like to call it “The Tragedy of Ralphie Parker.”  Ralphie is a classic cultural symbol of disappointment.  The stuff about the rifle is nowhere near as tragic as the subplot of the Little Orphan Annie decoder ring:

Ralphie eats so much cereal
And watches the mail so patiently
And so obsessively works on the code all to reveal the (dumb) secret message:

“Be sure to drink your ovaltine.”

I resonate with his disappointment on three levels:

  1. Ralphie’s trust, expressed in working for the prize is totally betrayed.
  2. Their “Decoder ring” was just a gimmick to get him to view their ad campaign
  3. It demonstrates the impersonal and self serving nature of lots of management

I think it affects me so much because even thought that’s so common, I’m convinced that work doesn’t have to work that way.  If you resonate with Ralphie, it may be time to work in a system that is directly designed to make you money.  There’s no big business here, just intense focus on you, your development and your success.

Toss the ring and click here.