James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

Norm said:
The definition of insanity is when you do the same thing over & over expecting different results?
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Not looking to side track @Norm 's blog

The exact reason why I'm moving on from my company. This place is the poster child of this statement. Immediate manager is retiring at the end of the year and I will be expected to do even more than I'm already doing.
Patrick said:
isn't that on a good manager ?
Find a way to get them recharged, and change things up? Find a challenge, and reward the good.
Be able to have an honest conversation about performance, where the lack is coming from.
ie motivation vs training vs work culture (was it ok to complain?)
Remind them it is about the customer, or the customer's customer.
In a public facing app, there could be 1,000s. or 1,000 times that, impressions.

In John's case, lives are on the line with the equipment he produced.
If a manager wasn't recognizing exceptional work every day, what was their job?
On the flip side, if work is rejected, it should be handled professionally, vs
Yelling that they weren't keeping to schedule? wtf does that do? why weren't they on schedule?
Rejected work? How about the schedule was wrong? not enough slack? Critical path issues?
Workers not showing up, cause it sucked every day, the crew doesn't even get together for a cup of coffee in the morning
to set up expectations for the day?

We had performance metrics (KPIs!) that were posted - hey the group did better this month, woohoo!
mostly because the top performers kept dialing it up. Then "accidentally" leak the detail - without names,
cause everyone knows who they are. Then do the performance reviews. Can talk about bringing them up to average.
Most people don't want to be below average.

In a billable hours situation, there has to be some combination of rewards.
Money, is good - flexible work hours is better. Bonus gift certificate that is well thought out for the recipient.
Esp in an environment where customers are scattered across time zones.



It is really nice that the clients see Norm as a partner.
Do you have walk-up music for when you join a zoom? This should be a thing.

Everyone should think about their song when setting to a task - work, play, event....

Remember my recommended reading for all things good/bad/or just is, until we label it is good or bad....

Tao of Pooh.
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I have spoken up about where things can improve. All I hear is "we don't have time to do that" or "it won't work". It's actually a joke around here, "we never ship anything on time." Amusing thing I've had occur almost daily since giving my notice, the president (who is a huge reason for me leaving) speaks to me about things and keeps telling me he really appreciates all I've done over the years, and thank you for staying on until the end of Feb.
 
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i have my own blog to update and i don't want to take over norm's blog but i think you can be a good employee, a well compensated employee, a recognized-for-their-work employee, have a good manager and manager's manager, get compliments/praise from clients, take the extra steps to make sure your product is the best it can be, make suggestions for improvements and actually be listened to... and STILL be completely burned out and sit there feeling like WTF am i doing this for?
 
Overly negative people with desk jobs do baffle me. Or people that put in super low effort. I can't imagine having to manage someone making more than the average household income into actually doing their job.

My hot take is there should be conscription out of high school...everyone hast to work a service type job...retail, restaurant etc. for a year. Also you should be able to fight customers when they deserve it but that's a different issue in itself.
 
@Norm knows my story, probably better than he’d like to, but I’ll share for fun here.
About 2 years ago, I had a brain child of creating a group at work- formalize the org structure, improve delivery of services, then move on towards value add propositions.

Started with some of the group intact, but folding into the new structure.
First year was a rough start.
There was hypertension, GI issues, ER visits, probably hair loss, as well as meetings with the offices of general counsel, the provost and semi-censure from the NIH.
It was a *wild* ride.

Year 2 has gone much better. I hired a cohesive squad that engages with, supports and collaborates with each each other. I’ve got a junior squad member that I’m mentoring, and a less junior member I was afraid to hire, lest she outshine me.
I just do my damndest to keep her engaged and interested. So far so good.
And I’m still a couple steps ahead.

I’m realizing that I may have done too well- I might have engineered my own obsolescence in achieving my vision for the team.
If that’s the case, I’ll leave proud.

It’s humming along right now.
It’s still work keeping things going, but hiring the right folks makes all, and I mean ALL, the difference.
Now the challenges and work are just what they should be, and not just in an effort to maintain some status quo.
Best part is I get to be the supervisor that is just me, and not the supervisor the situation or individual dictates I be.
Getting up in the morning is a fuck of a lot easier.
 
February 9: Stratton

I hate to leave so much good conversation on the table above, but a whole day has gone by and I have another item to catch up on. That would be an afternoon ski session at Stratton.

I'm not going to say this is my favorite mountain in the state. But it's a good place to stop on the way up to central/northern Vermont where the snow tends to be a little better. We dropped Simon off at school and we made it to the Sun Bowl lot at 12:00 exactly. This gave us plenty of time to hit enough of Stratton to check this one off the list for the 2023-24 season. It's a perfectly fine mountain. And we had a very clear day. In all, this was probably the best day we've ever had here. This isn't saying much, as it's usually -300 degrees and blowing at 30 mph. Today was nice.

This is our 5th time at Stratton and I'm pretty sure we won't hit #6 this year. It's not a bad mountain. But it's not exciting enough to keep you coming back. We did some tree skiing today (I know we like to call them glades but I feel like glades are when you can choose your own adventure and tree skiing is when 415,000 people have skied since the last snowfall). It was something different, and a testament to my progressing to the point I can ski in the trees without falling over. It was fine, though coverage here is getting pretty thin. They need snow.

I like skiing. I'm tremendously thankful that D turned me on to this. Total game changer in terms of getting through the winter mentally.

And instead of the usual nice picture of D on top of the mountain, you get the Friday Chairlift Fire at Stratton picture.

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February 10: Sugarbush

It's our favorite Vermont hill. The day started out sunny and ended with rain. None of these conditions made any difference on how the snow felt. It was above freezing, and moist. Mashed potatoes, I guess they call it. I prefer it over ice, but it's hard on the legs. Very heavy, heavy brother.

I did more moguls today than ever before. With the soft snow, it makes it a lot easier as compared to the ice mounds that usually form. Hopefully when we come back in March a) the snow is good, and b) I remember how to do this. Thing about skiing so infrequently is that I do several days in a row, get better each day, then stop for 2-8 weeks, or until next year. Each year is a bit of a resetting process. Would love to winter somewhere I could ski 4+ months.

Anyway, it's been nice so far. Now time to eat up some of the dinner we earned today.

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February 11: Killington

The Super Bowl is a great day to ski, but an even better day to drive. Coming home on 87 was as free & clear as if it were Xmas. You could make the very real argument that today is just as much of an American holiday as any other. Based on the number of people on the road today, it's hard to argue.

Killington was icy this morning. It dipped below freezing so the soft mashed potatoes that were the last 2 days started as ice on ice, ice squared, Vanilla Ice on speed. By the end it was better, but still underpinned by a layer of ice in many spots. In all we had a good day, though yesterday at Sugarbush was better. And in all, it was a great weekend with lots of visibility. While the conditions were generally weird for the dead middle of winter, it was a good weekend.

Now excuse me while I pack for my next trip...

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February 12: Rhode Island

Did I mention it was going to be a bit hectic for a bit?

We got home last night at 8pm and I arrived at the office in Rhode Island just before 9am this morning, right as the first of 4 days of workshops was starting. I didn't expect to actually make it in time. But I woke up just before 5 and left just after, and managed to hit almost no traffic along the way. While I don't generally encourage that sort of travel, it worked out well this morning. I still dislike 95.

Then I sat in an 8 hour workshop, which was long but not too bad. By 7:30 the dinner and such was done, and I was holed up in my hotel room, which is just as well because I could use a solid few hours to do nothing. It feels pretty good to do nothing sometimes. I'll enjoy that nothingness for now. I may go to bed shortly.

Today triggers the Facts of Life theme song in my head.

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Norm said:
We got home last night at 8pm and I arrived at the office in Rhode Island just before 9am this morning, right as the first of 4 days of workshops was starting. I didn't expect to actually make it in time. But I woke up just before 5 and left just after, and managed to hit almost no traffic along the way. While I don't generally encourage that sort of travel, it worked out well this morning. I still dislike 95.
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Day after the superbowl. #1 day people call out sick.
 
Santapez said:
Day after the superbowl. #1 day people call out sick.
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Last year’s Super Monday I was scheduled for an invited lecture at 9am.
I would have needed to step it up to achieve phoning it in.
That will never happen ever again.
 
February 13: JD Power

It snowed today in Rhode Island. But it snowed in NJ so I'm not going to show you a picture you haven't seen already. It was nice, and of course I wish we were out there skiing. But we weren't. So here we are. Rhode Island. Did I mention Rhode Island? It's awesome.

Instead I shall show you this little wall of fame where the company keeps their JD Power awards. This is pretty legit, gotta say. I guess if you zoom in you can see what org I'm working with. I don't think I'm not allowed to say, or anything like that. Also, I have no idea what JD Power Awards actually mean. So there's that.

Did I mention I'm in Rhode Island?

I'm going to the team dinner soon. As if spending 8 hours per day with these people for 2 days isn't enough, I now get to spend another 2 with them while they all get drunk. In Rhode Island. Did I mention...never mind.

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Norm said:
February 13: JD Power

It snowed today in Rhode Island. But it snowed in NJ so I'm not going to show you a picture you haven't seen already. It was nice, and of course I wish we were out there skiing. But we weren't. So here we are. Rhode Island. Did I mention Rhode Island? It's awesome.

Instead I shall show you this little wall of fame where the company keeps their JD Power awards. This is pretty legit, gotta say. I guess if you zoom in you can see what org I'm working with. I don't think I'm not allowed to say, or anything like that. Also, I have no idea what JD Power Awards actually mean. So there's that.

Did I mention I'm in Rhode Island?

I'm going to the team dinner soon. As if spending 8 hours per day with these people for 2 days isn't enough, I now get to spend another 2 with them while they all get drunk. In Rhode Island. Did I mention...never mind.

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That’s a lot of Power.
 
Norm said:
February 11: Killington

The Super Bowl is a great day to ski, but an even better day to drive. Coming home on 87 was as free & clear as if it were Xmas. You could make the very real argument that today is just as much of an American holiday as any other. Based on the number of people on the road today, it's hard to argue.

Killington was icy this morning. It dipped below freezing so the soft mashed potatoes that were the last 2 days started as ice on ice, ice squared, Vanilla Ice on speed. By the end it was better, but still underpinned by a layer of ice in many spots. In all we had a good day, though yesterday at Sugarbush was better. And in all, it was a great weekend with lots of visibility. While the conditions were generally weird for the dead middle of winter, it was a good weekend.

Now excuse me while I pack for my next trip...

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Was even better when the Pats were perennial contenders too! Way less people than a normal VT Sunday even.
 
They got a Malcolm Baldridge ?
Is that a thing anymore?
 
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February 14: Under the Weather

The highlight of my day was pretty much going to CVS and getting some DayQuil. That alone probably got me through this day. We're on day 3 now, and I have a solid cold now. While it is more annoying than debilitating, it sucks nonetheless. Being front & center on these days is ok normally. But when you add in a cold, it sucks. I am pretty much eagerly anticipating my taking NyQuil and going to bed. I have cranked the heat up in my hotel room to 72. I may go to 75 because it still doesn't feel warm enough.

We did go out for ramen tonight. It wasn't bad. Broth was passable, meat was pretty good, and the egg was good.

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