Hi Susan--
I've read this poem many times now. My first instinct was to just walk on past, but you've always been generous in providing me feedback for my poems (both positive and negative), so I wanted to respond generously to yours as well.
I have enjoyed many of your poems for their wit and playfulness (that poem about couplets!), their clever craftsmanship (the "O" poem), and their distinctive metaphors (the flowers/Marilyn Monroe). For me, this poem is not on par with these and others you've shared here. "Management" is a monolith in your poem--a faceless force of capitalism at its worst. But isn't "management" just a bunch of individual people? I'm not sure why it's okay to launch an attack on a class of people like this, many (perhaps most) of whom are just trying to do the hard job of balancing the needs of the corporation against the needs of the individuals on their teams. Surely we've all, at some time, had a great work experience on an effective team led by a compassionate and inspiring leader? I certainly have.
It also just lacks any sense of humor or wit. The jabs are all just sad. (And also not true--of course we can monetize experience!) As always with your work, the poem is crafted well, but it's just not hitting anything I recognize. As a proud owner of an MBA degree--who has worked extensively in private and public companies led by other MBAs--I firmly deny the premise of this poem. We are not soulless profit calculators. Some of us (gasp) even write poetry in our free time.
Since HBR was raised elsewhere in the comments, I'll just point to this article in this month's issue:
https://hbr.org/2024/10/how-to-compa...rminal-illness. We MBAs talk all the time about the balancing act. Team building, aligning incentives, building shared vision, getting the best fit job for every employee... all core parts of an MBA education.