Got a message from a friend yesterday.  A mutual friend had crashed an otherwise serviceable career (I know, not exactly a ringing endorsement..) by getting absolutely hammered at a company event, talking like Dr. Dre on a CD with two (not one, two) parental advisory stickers to some folks who worked for him, and generally making an #$# out of himself.

With that lead, you might think I'm against people drinking at company events or drinking with co-workers in general. 

You'd be wrong.  I'm for people drinking as much as they want at company events or with co-workers after hours.   AS MUCH AS THEY WANT...

Here's why: The decision to drink in any capacity involving your company is evolution at its best, regardless of your beliefs about God (I'm a believer, btw...here's my favorite t-shirt). Why is it an evolutionary test?  Because the decision to drink involves judgment.  You have to decide to drink at a company event or not.  Same with any situation involving co-workers.

Once you've made the decision to drink, you have to decide to stop at one.  Or stop at 10.  Whatever, you get the vibe. 

The decision to drink is about judgment - you can either handle a drink or you can't.  You can either make a good decision about whether to have 5 Miller Lites or you can't.  Somewhere in between, you can either sense whether things are going in your best interest or not and adjust accordingly.

This is where the evolutionary part kicks in.  If you can't make good judgments about whether you should drink or where to stop, your company probably doesn't want you handling all or some of a 100 million dollar line of business.  Or being on the customer service desk for that line of business, for that matter.

So, a form of natural selection/herd thinning kicks in.  If you make poor judgments about when or how much to drink in a company social setting, it can and will be held against you.  You might not get canned, but trust me, people will remember.  It's fair, don't whine.  Otis wasn't given a lot of career opportunity on the Andy Griffith Show, and YOU won't be on the succession plan.

Tagline in the HRMS (if it held all the information that was real in your company): "Can't hold his liquor. Acted like a fool after hours on multiple occasions with co-workers, and hurt team chemistry and trust as a result.  Do not promote".

Who moves forward in the corporate world (think of it as natural selection in office towers) is based on many things, including decisions with booze.  Drink responsibly.

And stay thirsty, my friends.