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Manager's Schedule vs. Maker's Schedule

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the gtg-i-have-a-mtg dept.

theodp writes "Ever wonder why you and the boss don't see eye-to-eye on the importance of meetings? Paul Graham explains that there are Maker Schedules (coder) and Manager Schedules (PHB), and the two are very different. With each day neatly cut into one-hour intervals, the Manager Schedule is for bosses and is tailor-made for schmoozing. Unfortunately, it spells disaster for people who make things, like programmers and writers, who generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour, says Graham, since that's barely enough time to get started. So if you fall into the Maker camp, adds Graham, you better hope your boss is smart enough to recognize that you need long chunks of time to work in. How's that working out in your world?" Ironically enough, I have a meeting to attend in three minutes.

6 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Meeting? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ironically enough, I have a meeting to attend in 3 minutes.

    Please, oh please, tell me it's about firing your web developer!

    --
    Comment of the year
  2. Documenting your time by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Funny

    Awhile back, we got a new head of our department. He decided that he needed to see how everyone used their day so he required everyone to fill out a form to track our time. I joked that my time tracker would look like this:

    8:00am - 8:15am - Checked/Answered E-mail
    8:15am - 8:30am - Entered time tracking for 8:00am - 8:15am
    8:30am - 8:45am - Entered time tracking for 8:15am - 8:30am
    8:45am - 9:00am - Entered time tracking for 8:30am - 8:45am
    9:00am - 9:15am - Entered time tracking for 8:45am - 9:00am
    etc.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    1. Re:Documenting your time by VAXcat · · Score: 5, Funny

      When this happend at a place I worked at long ago, I wrote an application to generate plausible sounding time log entries - worked like a charm! Once a week I updated a list of phrases it needed to keep it sounding currnet, ran it, and was done. Bosses never figured it out.

      --
      There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
  3. Re:What is it with meetings? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    You couldn't just put a dummy there with a voicebox repeating "No", "No way" and "We can't do that"?

    Or was the one in your company already employed as a SAP programmer?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Re:Single biggest frustration for many coders by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 5, Funny

    e) Meetings need to have rules forbidding the adding-on of endless afterthoughts and sidenotes.

    --
    I am not a crackpot.
  5. Re:Single biggest frustration for many coders by lauterm · · Score: 5, Funny

    as do slashdot threads. :-P