Author Archives: JohnDallas

Work

Man! Having work to do AND Ashley with me really puts a cramp on my writing! Who would have thunk it?

It has been an eventful week with new work to do, but some more friends that have left the company. Though I met with a former VP today and he is doing well. He is doing some consulting while he looks for something a little more stable. I am sure he will be fine.

Weirdly enough, I have not spoken to anyone who is REALLY upset about being let go. They seem to be taking it in stride and reveling in the freedom. I can certainly understand where they are coming from. With all the day to day stress taken away, I would imagine they are taking a bit of time for it all to sink in and be happy that they don’t have to be tied to their Blackberry all day and night. AND, all the long term pressures from work are gone. In a way, I envy them. Though, I would rather have the certainty of a job right now and continue to see what opportunities there are before I finally decide to stay with the company or not. Change is a great thing after all. 🙂

I hope you are all happy with your jobs. If not, start looking. You should be happy in a place where you will spend a lot of your time.

Stay interested and interesting!

PS: New Diggnation this evening on Revision3.com

John

Time for Fun!

Now that I have actual work to do, I am having less FUN time. This doesn’t mean I don’t like my job, but now I have less mindless time. However, I still make sure to MAKE time to have some fun. To this end, you NEED to check out Scam School, a Revision3.com Internet TV show.

This show is usually about 10 minutes long and gives you tips and tricks that you can perform in the bar scene to get free drinks.  They can be considered “magic”, but are generally quick tricks of the eye and a little misdirection.

A lot of fun!

Check out the other quality Revision3 shows while you are there.  Maybe you will even become a tech geek while you’re at it!  😉

Stay interested and interesting!

John

Networking

Don’t kid yourself. Of course it’s who you know. What you know is important too, but who knows what you know is even more important.

Living near the seat of the federal government, I know many people who are civil servants. Generally, they got their jobs through a contact, be it a family member, friend or previous business contact. Some would say that this reflects the unfair nature of government employment and the rampant nepotism we hear so much about. I used to share this opinion and would vehemently oppose anyone who obtained employment this way, in the government or in private industry. With age, some sort of bizarre feeling came over me. I will call it wisdom. It made me realize a few things.

First, when hiring a new employee, it is much easier to go with a known quantity. So recommendations from peers and friends go a long way in establishing the baseline for the person. There are always general things we want to know: Does this person work hard? Will they help me if a deadline is fast approaching and we need all hands on deck? Do they have the right skill set to help me? How do they compliment the team? Etc. All these questions could be asked and answered in an interview, but you would only get the applicants side of the story, which is usually very positive and tends to be on the “what I want to hear” side. A different perspective from people we trust helps build the profile a little better.

Second, knowing the person you are hiring makes it easier to build the working relationship. You have common points of discussion and, possibly, interests. A huge part of the employer / employee relationship is communication. Whatever makes that easier is an asset for both parties. We often hear that people don’t leave jobs, they leaves bosses. If you can set that part straight right off the bat, then you have a much better chance of long term success.

Lastly, if you think about some of the old world ways, we have to protect our people. People can be very broad and does not have to include anything like racism, nepotism or any other form of discrimination that is explicitly illegal. Protecting your people is as simple as an executive that leaves one company and brings his/her contingent over to the new company. They have a team they trust and that has had success in the past. They feel comfortable working together and have a good dynamic. Why give that up? Unless there is something prohibiting them from hiring their team in the new position, it is actually in their best interest to have the team follow.

It is interesting how are views change with time and experience. I am surprised with my view now given my past. I would certainly not agree with myself between when I was twenty and today. The world has moved on and so have I. Does it mean I am smarter? Probably not. But it does mean that I am adapting and learning. So should you.

Stay interested and interesting!

John

Different Definitions

Have you ever wondered about different definitions for words?  I was out to get some lunch today and saw a gentleman with a Wicked T-shirt on.  The tag line on the back was “Defy Gravity”.  In thinking about this, I starting thinking about alternate definitions of the word “Gravity”.   Given that the show is about witches, I assume this means that they want you to fly around on broomsticks and defy gravity in the physical sense.  But perhaps, just perhaps, they want you to defy serious or dignified behavior, which is another definition for the word.  Maybe the writers even MEANT this to be a double-entendre just to play with our emotions.  If so, the bastards!  How dare they play with my emotions that way!  I am incensed and obfuscated!  Hey, I got to use the words “incensed” and “obfuscated”!  😉  Following the general tone of this post, you may want to look those words up for their alternate definitions.  I may not be angy and confused.  Perhaps I smell good and got dark.  hmmmm…

I have to say that I am intrigued by the general notion that you could defy being serious.  Perhaps this is just the catch phrase we need around here!  It seems that every day is a little more serious and a little more boring.  Lets DEFY GRAVITY and start to live happily ever after!  We have to start somewhere.

Stay interested and interesting!

John

My Past Fear of Writing and Public Speaking

Some would have you believe that there is nothing to fear, but fear itself. Maybe they are right. For the rest of us, we have our rational and irrational fears that sometimes paralyze us and other times motivate us to improve. I was thinking about my formative years (crap! I am getting old…) and particularly about high school. I had fears of having to write more than two hundred and fifty words at once and, like 99.9% of all angst filled teenagers, a great fear of public speaking.

I have always read quite a bit, but before I finished high school, I was not what you would call a prolific writer by any means. Any assignment that required me to write more than a page was pure torture. I spent more time figuring out how I could possibly fill a page and less about the subject I was supposed to be writing about. Generally, this resulted in less than inspiring treatises on uninspiring subjects like my love for basketball or football. These are certainly noble athletic pursuits and I am still a fanatic today, but, in high school, we had not yet developed the philosophical view of the hardwood or the gridiron. Through college, I learned to structure my writing a little better and moved to longer endeavors, though the fear was still there.

My breakthrough in writing came during my work life. I found myself finally realizing that most people have no idea where to start and can not string together the few sentences in an email. To find someone who can write with clarity was a difficult task. It was from this realization that I starting practicing the creative writing techniques I had learned in college and finally all the lessons I had learned all came together and it dawned on me: I can write! Though I will let you be the judge of just how well… 😉

Public speaking was a fear that followed a parallel line to writing. If I was given five minutes to talk, I needed A LOT of filler. I was petrified to be in front of the class and say something stupid. I needed the approval of my peers. All the while, I failed to notice that most other people were just as afraid, or more, than I was. What’s more, not many people were any better than I was.

Once I started working, I had an epiphany. These skills, writing and speaking, are the key to success for many people and they are in short supply. I knew I had to improve and would force myself to practice whenever I could. My mantra would no longer be about filling time, but cutting back because I had too much to say. I would become the voice for those that could not find theirs. I would ask the questions everyone else had on their mind, but did not have the courage to utter. I would become the hero to the teeming masses! Ok, now I am getting carried away… 😉

Through all my trials and tribulations, I figured out that most people are not even willing to try. They back away and figure they will never be able to do it. They are afraid of looking stupid and what other people may think. My attitude changed first to defiance. I was angry about what other people thought and would prove them wrong. I was there to be better than any of them. It helped that I already had a good job and could console myself with the fact that I probably made double the money any of my classmates earned. Another argument I could pull out if backed in to a corner.

Finally, I saw that defiance was not what should be motivating me. I knew that I wanted to improve myself so that I could have more influence. I wanted to be the person people listened to and realized they would not do so through my force of will alone. They needed a reason and craved clarity and honesty. This brings us to the present day. I no longer fear writing or speaking in public. Preparation and knowledge are my allies, and very strong ones they are. Give me twenty minutes to speak and I will ask “is that all?”. Ask for fifteen pages and I will ask if I can have twenty. Just in case a clever idea comes up. I don’t need to prove to others that I am better than them anymore. I just need to prove it to myself.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. But know that I will keep writing, even if you didn’t. 🙂

Stay interested and interesting!

John

PS: For those of you counting, there are 800 words in this post. There is nothing to fear.

Work

I really need to continue writing my book: “Taking the toil out of work”  (Working title.  No pun intended…).  I want to have enthusiasm for the work I do.  Part and parcel in gaining this energy is being able to do something that I am interested in and makes use of my knowledge.

Early in life, my mother really ingrained the maxim that I could do anything I set my mind to.  Apparently, I took it to heart, because I still believe it.  The only thing in my way is myself.  If I really want to do something, I will make time for it and improve myself through education and research.  Does thing mean that I am overconfident?  I don’t think so, but then I am biased!  🙂

With work, we find ourselves in a society that values work over many other pieces of what makes us who we are.  I find myself asking the traditional question “what do you do?” any time I meet someone new.  My expectation is that they will tell me how they make a living.  I would be very surprised to hear someone tell me they watch football and love popcorn.  I would wonder how the hell they make a living at that and where to sign up!  I expect them to tell me that they are an accountant, construction worker or engineer.

We each spend in the area of fourty hours a week, some more, some less, working to pay our bills.  Some people are betting at living simply and putting emphasis on other pursuits, such as travel for example, over wordly goods, but they are certainly the exception.  Others balance life outside of work and at work by seperating them completely.  If it is after four o’clock, don’t ask them about work, that is their personal time!  Finally, there are those who seem to have mastered the blend of both and have made their passions their work.   This leads them to WANT to work and takes the “toil” part out of it.  I am still trying to find how I can get to that point.

There is more to this story and I will certainly add to it as we go along.  Hopefully, there will be a few more of you around to read it!

For now, stay interested and interesting!

John

Leadership Rant

Take responsibility and be a leader!

If you are in a role where you are called a boss and or are in charge, you should be a leader.  This means many different things to different people. There are a few things is does NOT mean.  It does not mean to give orders and make people do the boring parts you do not like.  It does not mean that your opinion is the only one that matters or that you always have the answer.  You don’t.  Admit it.  Let the truth set you free!

Being a leader means knowing your people and what motivates them.  It means listening more than talking.  It means taking the time to make sure that the person you are leading feels like there is nothing that can upset your conversation.  They are the most important person.  A great example is to tell them that they have an hour and it is all theirs.  If the President calls, tell the person you are leading who is calling and that you will call them back later, they are more important.  If the President is a true leader, the President will understand.

Being a leader also means admitting your mistakes and learning from them.  Do not be afraid to tell your people that you are fallible and you need them to point out your mistakes so you can learn from them and not repeat them.  “Those who can not remember the past are doomed to repeat it”  -George Santayana.  George has it right.  Get to know the history and reasons why people made the decisions they did.  The timing and players may be different this time around, so do not be afraid to try again if the circumstances seem right.  The risk may well be worth it.  BUT!!!  TELL YOUR PEOPLE WHY YOU THINK IT IS RIGHT!!!  And for God’s sake, let your people take risks and fail without threatening to, or actually firing them!!  Nothing risked, nothing gained.  Remember that!

Being a leader means being honest.  You have to be honest with your people and, more importantly, with yourself.  Only by living your values and beliefs will you give the best of yourself.  And only by being open and honest with your people will you gain their trust and insight.  Only by being someone they have absolute confidence in will you be able to get their true potential to shine and with it, yourself.

In conclusion, I have my point of view on what makes a great leader.  I have tried to put these values in to practice with my own teams.  So far, feedback has been positive, but I know I still have a lot to learn.  Hopefully, I am learning quickly enough to have a positive impact on my team’s work and personal lives.  I certainly strive to.

Goodbye Friends…

Over the last few weeks, I have been hearing about many friends of mine that have been laid off in the ongoing restructuring of the company I work for. I will not pretend to understand the rationale behind at least half of the people being let go. For all I know, they may be pulling names out of a hat and I have been lucky. It is unfortunate that I, and many others, have been living in a communications black hole for the last two months.

If you studied psychology or human resources, you have heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The one where your primary needs are food, clothing, shelter and sleep. Then, you get in to the secondary needs, which have to do with personal security, financial security and morality. So, in essence, we are talking about a higher level of stress due to uncertainty in our situations. Next, you will notice that the third level has to do with Love / Belonging. So, to sum up with my life as it is now, I am uncertain about my job, so a secondary level of need that is not entirely being met, and a third level need not being met, because I do not know which team I belong in and how I will belong.

Overall, I know the reasons for all the secrecy surrounding who will be let go and when, but for those of us who remain, we are being stressed in several ways that will have to be dealt with when all is said and done. I think it would be reasonable for senior management to assume there will be an adjustment period for everyone. It will be interesting to see how the new leadership deals with this. It will also be interesting to see how the team pulls together or apart as a result.

Well, back to “work”.

Stay interested and interesting!

John

Still Bored…

I am still bored…

In the absence of real work AND lottery winnings, I find myself looking for stuff to do without actually planning anything that will last more than a week. This blog is a good diversion, but, so far, lacks the depth that I am looking for.

About the blog: I still do not have the overall confidence in my writing skills to say this will be anything but a hobby. But, I think that, with practice, I will improve and be more apt at spilling my thoughts out on the virtual paper. We shall see!

Right now, I am listing to This Week in Tech (www.twit.tv) with Leo Laport, John C. Dvorak and Kevin Rose. They are talking about HDTV and that we should be calibrating our new LCD televisions so they look better.  I will have to do some research and report back!  😉

Well, I guess I will have a look at the Customer Value Metrics and see if anything is amiss…  blah.

Stay interested and interesting!

John