Well, one definition of "really focused" would be planning my productivity from the start. (Also, my definition of "death" is "dead", not "laid off by 28 year-old snot-nosed CEO"). I work in Silicon Valley and searching for my current job I took the time to be sure my prospective employer was not completely screwed up. It's easy to get caught up in the goofy hype of this article and overlook reality, but you need to stay focused when looking at an employer. Do they really, really, know what they are doing? Look at that article again. Staying late because it is more fun than going home to a family? Going to a ocean side vacation house in order to work there on the weekend? Hoping that the worker has a crummy apartment so they will want to stay at the office?
Oh, but they failed to figure out how much space they would need for 2 21-inch monitors on the office desk? And Microsoft was smart to give their workers offices (don't know if this is true), but Mr. Management settled on optimal cubicle size and distance between desks. Look at the article again, it is either parody, or stupidity.
I think a lot of people have just decided that all employers are nuts or stupid, and just plan on getting a big salary for a big work life. Except the only guaranteed part is the work life.
Actually the hype is easy to use to your advantage when looking for a good job; managers will BRAG
about the stupid work conditions and work rules, or you can see that their plans don't match their situation. Of course, lots of kids don't recognize these contradictions, and that is one reason young people are "fueling" these companies.
I preserved my productivity by avoiding these kind of loser companies after the first interview, but the search was 3 months long and very depressing.
Now, you might say that those companies wouldn't have hired me anyway. Don't know, don't care, I've got a real life. (Maybe I will check on how many of those places are still in business).
Where I am now, I work 40 hours a week, my young manager and young and old co-workers appreciate my knowledge and productivity. In turn, management is organized so that there are a mininum of planning and status meetings and there are genuine quarterly performance reviews, no crazy, inaccurate scramble at the end of the year. Yes, I have time to check on Slashdot (although I don't put that on my performance review).
For the individual it is the same as the software company: you have to have a plan in order to succeed. Because then you know what is important, and that's the stuff you do.
If you have no overall plan you can have everything organized (a la Palm), but the fact is, you can't get it ALL done, anyway. You know that.
You can't just have records and lists that you simply prioritize, because if you are any good at what you do, everyone will want to be one of your top priorities. You probably know that, too.
I'd always had a plan, uh, sort of. But it didn't come together until I took a Franklin-Covey time-management class and used the Franklin Planner (paper version, the software sucks).
I learned about having real, meaningful plans, so that when I choose an action, it gets results that really matter in my life.
You can learn a lot about this with the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven R. Covey but I'd recommend that you take one of the
Franklin-Covey classes. Get your company to send you to the "7 Habits" class, which is fairly expensive.
I hope that doesn't seem too preachy or think "oh, that never works." If you are in software, you know that prioritized lists just barely let you keep your sanity, and you really need something more. And most of the people around you, heck entire companies, don't have a clue about getting beyond some endless lists.
Yes, I was at a company that send all the executives to some time-management class, and things still remained screwed-up. Don't confuse the ingrained habits of highly INEFFECTIVE people (who constantly missed the cluetrain) with these learnable habits for highly effective people, like you.
I manage my time so I have a 40-hour work week, I'm appreciated and rewarded, and still can sneak a peek at slashdot.
When I see a company brag in an article or ad about having ping-pong tables it goes on my list of places where I'm not going to apply for a job.
Nothing wrong with having ping-pong tables, but something is messed up if that is considered worth mentioning in the PR or job ads.
Re:i saw solaris once on PBS
on
Solaris
·
· Score: 1
That was anti-pledge night. They promised to immediately stop the film when they received enough pledges.
Eventually they did stop the film, but no one could tell whether that was the end or not.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, one definition of "really focused" would be planning my productivity from the start. (Also, my definition of "death" is "dead", not "laid off by 28 year-old snot-nosed CEO"). I work in Silicon Valley and searching for my current job I took the time to be sure my prospective employer was not completely screwed up. It's easy to get caught up in the goofy hype of this article and overlook reality, but you need to stay focused when looking at an employer. Do they really, really, know what they are doing? Look at that article again. Staying late because it is more fun than going home to a family? Going to a ocean side vacation house in order to work there on the weekend? Hoping that the worker has a crummy apartment so they will want to stay at the office? Oh, but they failed to figure out how much space they would need for 2 21-inch monitors on the office desk? And Microsoft was smart to give their workers offices (don't know if this is true), but Mr. Management settled on optimal cubicle size and distance between desks. Look at the article again, it is either parody, or stupidity. I think a lot of people have just decided that all employers are nuts or stupid, and just plan on getting a big salary for a big work life. Except the only guaranteed part is the work life. Actually the hype is easy to use to your advantage when looking for a good job; managers will BRAG about the stupid work conditions and work rules, or you can see that their plans don't match their situation. Of course, lots of kids don't recognize these contradictions, and that is one reason young people are "fueling" these companies. I preserved my productivity by avoiding these kind of loser companies after the first interview, but the search was 3 months long and very depressing. Now, you might say that those companies wouldn't have hired me anyway. Don't know, don't care, I've got a real life. (Maybe I will check on how many of those places are still in business). Where I am now, I work 40 hours a week, my young manager and young and old co-workers appreciate my knowledge and productivity. In turn, management is organized so that there are a mininum of planning and status meetings and there are genuine quarterly performance reviews, no crazy, inaccurate scramble at the end of the year. Yes, I have time to check on Slashdot (although I don't put that on my performance review).
For the individual it is the same as the software company: you have to have a plan in order to succeed. Because then you know what is important, and that's the stuff you do. If you have no overall plan you can have everything organized (a la Palm), but the fact is, you can't get it ALL done, anyway. You know that. You can't just have records and lists that you simply prioritize, because if you are any good at what you do, everyone will want to be one of your top priorities. You probably know that, too. I'd always had a plan, uh, sort of. But it didn't come together until I took a Franklin-Covey time-management class and used the Franklin Planner (paper version, the software sucks). I learned about having real, meaningful plans, so that when I choose an action, it gets results that really matter in my life. You can learn a lot about this with the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven R. Covey but I'd recommend that you take one of the Franklin-Covey classes. Get your company to send you to the "7 Habits" class, which is fairly expensive. I hope that doesn't seem too preachy or think "oh, that never works." If you are in software, you know that prioritized lists just barely let you keep your sanity, and you really need something more. And most of the people around you, heck entire companies, don't have a clue about getting beyond some endless lists. Yes, I was at a company that send all the executives to some time-management class, and things still remained screwed-up. Don't confuse the ingrained habits of highly INEFFECTIVE people (who constantly missed the cluetrain) with these learnable habits for highly effective people, like you. I manage my time so I have a 40-hour work week, I'm appreciated and rewarded, and still can sneak a peek at slashdot.
I think the first poster was trying to be sarcastic.
When I see a company brag in an article or ad about having ping-pong tables it goes on my list of places where I'm not going to apply for a job.
Nothing wrong with having ping-pong tables, but something is messed up if that is considered worth mentioning in the PR or job ads.
That was anti-pledge night. They promised to immediately stop the film when they received enough pledges. Eventually they did stop the film, but no one could tell whether that was the end or not.