Quarterly Awards. Please... kill those.
I was able to avoid all of the nonsense involved with that almost my entire career. However, one day, the commander asked me to attend in his stead. I couldn't believe the level of the production. People jumping up and down, ringing bells, using noise makers... it was like I was in the audience for "Let's Make a Deal".
As I left, I realized something: in just a few days, they will start the process again (nominations, interviews, boards, etc...) so that they have the next one 3 months.
What an incredible waste of man-hours.

p.s. yes, "man-hours". Not "person-hours". Deal with it.