Bob Parsons, The CEO Culture, and Therapy

Bob Parsons is a Fucking Idiot

There are really no better words to describe the guy. It's the year 2011 and everyone is Tweeting or Facebooking, or what have you; and this asshole decides it would be a good idea to a. ambush and kill an elephant, and b. post the video of said elephant-slaughter as a “vacation log” on his hugely popular, domain providing website. It is almost as though Parsons actually hates his own company, and all who work for him. If the blogosphere is any indication, there is presently an exodus of website owners who are moving their domains from GoDaddy to wherever the hell else.

I've heard Parsons' explanation of the affair and there is a sort of twisted logic to it; but it is so wrong. Parsons claims he was acting at the behest of the local tribal elders, who needed to be rid of an elephant, because it was destroying the village crops. This is a very valid concern, as an elephant can destroy an entire season's worth of crops in a single go. So yes, I will grant Parsons that simple point – that, for the sake of the villagers, the elephant had to be kept away from the crops. But that is where our agreement ends. Now, of course, to a relatively austere tribe, the most feasible way to get rid of a rampaging elephant is to destroy that animal. But Bob Parsons is not a member of an austere tribe – he is one of the richest men on the face of the planet. He is capable of gathering numerous resources that could be used to, oh, I don't know, BUILD A FUCKING FENCE. Jesus. All it takes is an electrified fence and the elephant is not going to get to the crops. Heck, Parsons has enough dough he could have flown the elephant first class to the San Diego Wildlife Reserve. I don't know, but I do know that killing the elephant and bragging about it on-line was not a great way to boost business. If I were a GoDaddy employee I would be royally pissed; particularly if I worked in customer service.

It really makes me wonder about these assorted CEOs living in their ivory towers. I mean, you get your Tony Hayward crying about how he “wants his life back” in the midst of a catastrophe that has left 11 men dead and thousands out of work – the guy is still pulling down millions and yachting to boot! Do these people have anyone around them who is even remotely grounded in reality? Aw whatever, it's enough to drive you into...

Therapy

That's right, yours truly has started seeing a therapist (I can hear a collective “about time!” out there). So far I am digging it – for an hour a week this poor man is forced to listen to me talk about myself. Really though, it is good. Left to my own devices, my thought patterns can get very circular – the therapy helps me straighten some of those paths out a little bit. If you're thinking about doing it, go for it – the stigma is long gone on this one. Happy sailing!

madbob@madbob.com