Dear Someone Else’s Dad,
My boss hates interrupters in meetings, so she has a stuffed rabbit that we have to pass to anyone who wants to speak. No one can interrupt when someone is holding the rabbit. If you want to speak next you have to raise your hand and wait until someone gives you the rabbit. I feel like 1) I’m in preschool and 2) I want to rip the stuffing out of the rabbit. Is this normal corporate behavior?
Thanks,
Reluctant Bunny Patter
Dear RBP,
I’m not sure you’re asking whether having a stuffed rabbit in a conference room is good corporate behavior or whether wanting to tear the stuffing out is. In either case, I don't know how to define “normal” corporate behavior. If I were running the world, er, sorry, a team, I’d care most about a commitment toward shared goals and responsibility and doing it with politeness and grace.
Yeah, the cynic in me understands why you think the rabbit trick is a bit childish (and also not a good role model on how to treat live rabbits), but maybe it’s your boss’s way of maintaining some civility. If things have been running very smoothly, I’d say just deal with the bunny passing. If you and your colleagues are collectively bothered by it (cruelty to fake animals), you could tell your boss that since you think everyone has now been trained on how not to interrupt, you could try a meeting without Fluffy and see how it goes.
Good luck,
SED