Monday, May 19, 2008
The Last Concert of the School Year!
If you eat asparagus just before going to you kids orchestra concert and your pee already smells funny when you get home, the concert was too long.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Would Anyone Really Want to Do a Bad Job?
Pride in workmanship. We've all heard about it. Usually we hear the phrase in relationship to some situation where it's apparently missing or is considered a "thing of the past." I can't imagine why anyone would WANT to do a poor job (of anything). I believe that there is a human element that drives us to do our best. It's inate. If left on our own, we would all do marvelous work (in our chosen fields of interest).
I worry however that there are factors that drive us to compromise on that drive.
- Schedule constraints
- Dollar constraints
+ Less capital
+ Less investment in training
- Poorer communication between teams (despite all the tools we have)
- Largely geographically dispursed teams (because of all the tools we have)
- Increasing complexity (nobody can really understand the whole job)
- Lack of visibility to actual results (we produce bits instead of atoms).
- (marginal) Team accountability instead of personal accountability
- this list could go on and on. We probably all have our favorites.
Are those factors getting stronger today than "in the old days?"
Are corporations today spending more and getting less?
Are corporations headed down the path of spending even less but expecting more?
It seems that the answer is "yes" to all of the above.
Can those factors that be reversed? Not easily. The lure of getting something for nothing is extremely strong. The "advanced" world today is geared to optimize everything; to squeeze a bit more "productivity" out of the system, unfortunately even if it's at it's own expense.
The old saying "you get what you pay for" isn't true today. You get way less than you pay for. And you're gonna get even less tomorrow.
At the end of the day, the guy who really wants to do a good job must feel a bit cornered by all these factors and a bit helpless. All (s)he wants to do is a good job but doesn't have the time, materials or talent to do what is being asked of them. It becomes a survival tactic to "let go" of that "I want to do a good job" drive and "settle" for a paycheck. But just a good paycheck won't do anything for keeping you alive. Once you've lost your drive to "do a good job," it's over. It's over for you, for your employer and your customers.
Go to work tomorrow and "do a good job." Your boss isn't as smart as he thinks he is. He doesn't know nearly as well as you, what you're capable of (you probably don't even know what you are capable of). Look for the things that make you want to give up your drive to do a good job. Get angry about those things. Demand that those things be altered. The good paycheck will follow but more importantly, your pride in workmanship will return.
If you've always had that "pride in workmanship," congratulations. Go help someone else discover and develop it for themselves. Teach your children that the most imortant thing they can have isn't the latest video game but their own abilities in which they can take pride for the rest of their lives.
The factors that deprive us from our pride were made by mankind.
They can be managed by us as well.
I worry however that there are factors that drive us to compromise on that drive.
- Schedule constraints
- Dollar constraints
+ Less capital
+ Less investment in training
- Poorer communication between teams (despite all the tools we have)
- Largely geographically dispursed teams (because of all the tools we have)
- Increasing complexity (nobody can really understand the whole job)
- Lack of visibility to actual results (we produce bits instead of atoms).
- (marginal) Team accountability instead of personal accountability
- this list could go on and on. We probably all have our favorites.
Are those factors getting stronger today than "in the old days?"
Are corporations today spending more and getting less?
Are corporations headed down the path of spending even less but expecting more?
It seems that the answer is "yes" to all of the above.
Can those factors that be reversed? Not easily. The lure of getting something for nothing is extremely strong. The "advanced" world today is geared to optimize everything; to squeeze a bit more "productivity" out of the system, unfortunately even if it's at it's own expense.
The old saying "you get what you pay for" isn't true today. You get way less than you pay for. And you're gonna get even less tomorrow.
At the end of the day, the guy who really wants to do a good job must feel a bit cornered by all these factors and a bit helpless. All (s)he wants to do is a good job but doesn't have the time, materials or talent to do what is being asked of them. It becomes a survival tactic to "let go" of that "I want to do a good job" drive and "settle" for a paycheck. But just a good paycheck won't do anything for keeping you alive. Once you've lost your drive to "do a good job," it's over. It's over for you, for your employer and your customers.
Go to work tomorrow and "do a good job." Your boss isn't as smart as he thinks he is. He doesn't know nearly as well as you, what you're capable of (you probably don't even know what you are capable of). Look for the things that make you want to give up your drive to do a good job. Get angry about those things. Demand that those things be altered. The good paycheck will follow but more importantly, your pride in workmanship will return.
If you've always had that "pride in workmanship," congratulations. Go help someone else discover and develop it for themselves. Teach your children that the most imortant thing they can have isn't the latest video game but their own abilities in which they can take pride for the rest of their lives.
The factors that deprive us from our pride were made by mankind.
They can be managed by us as well.
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