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History's Great Redundancies
History is strewn with redundancy and ruin. Though some falls from power are more graceful than others, there is something to be learned from each one. Here are a selection of great collapses to entertain and inform.
Mussolini is overthrown
Ousted from power and arrested in the summer of 1943, Mussolini discovered that his enforced redundancy policy offered no protection, benefits or future within politics whatsoever. Liberated by Nazi Germany, maintained as a puppet ruler to keep fascism alive in Italy and later executed by Communist partisans, his career could quite rightly be said to have been destroyed when he was confronted by the Italian state.
A success for redundancy procedure?: Not entirely. No matter how brutal and incompetent an employee may be, can you ever justify his subsequent execution?
Society abandons the Tram
The elegant and environmentally sound Tram... what could possibly force the king of the road into unsought redundancy? The gas-guzzling, road-ruling, steam-belching automobile, that's what.
A success for redundancy procedure?: If you can call traffic, smog and road rage a success then yes, this was the greatest success of all time.
Zeus, King of the Gods, makes way for Christianity
Worshipped as supreme ruler of all things by the ancient Greeks, Zeus' career could really only head one way... down. Redundancy came slowly for Zeus as his popularity slowly waned from the advent of Christianity in the 3rd century CE onwards. Temples, sacrifices, oracles and fellow gods all waned into obscurity until nobody was left to worship him as the mightiest of all deities.
A success for redundancy procedure?: Yes. Slowly and gently let go by the world, Zeus had every opportunity to get the ball rolling on new plans and win over new followers, the fault for failing to do so lies squarely with him.
The MiniDisc, cut down at the hands of the Mp3
"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh", says the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, in this case it was the iPod generation. How revolutionary the MiniDisc seemed when it was first released in 1992; it combined the audio quality of a CD player with the versatility of a tape. Run, jump, skip, dance and your home-recorded discs would keep on playing without interruption. But as the Mp3 format was adopted and CD burners grew ever cheaper redundancy was inevitable for Sony's offering. With writeable CDs so cheap you could even use them as frisbees, the tough little MiniDisc was destined to be the Eight-Track Tape of the 90's.
A success for redundancy procedure?: Not particularly. It may be a dog-eat-dog industry, but the MiniDisc never reached its prime and can rightly feel cheated of the respect it deserved.
The Israelites leave Egypt
It was a complex situation. Though, as slaves, the Israelites weren't technically employees, Pharaoh was in no position to deny them voluntary redundancy. It was that or endure a seemingly endless cycle of ruin and pestilence. But what of the presumably thriving slave management industry in the Nile Delta? What of Egyptian jobs for Egyptian workers? Is the ability to whip an indentured worker a transferable skill?
A success for redundancy procedure?: Justified though Moses and the Israelites were, job security is a two way process. Blackmail your way out of every obligation and you'll soon find yourself blacklisted.
About the Author Iain Mackintosh is the Managing Director of Simply-Docs. The firm provides over 1100 UK documents covering all aspects of business from holiday entitlement to comprehensive redundancy documents .
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