Management is now where the medical profession was when it decided that working in a drug store was not sufficient training to become a doctor.
- Lawrence A. Appley, American Management Association, 1959
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Loaded Dice
A friend of mine who is a management consultant once mentioned that he'd spent a sizable amount of time preparing and submitting a response to a request for proposal from a large employer.
When he later learned that the firm that got the project had a lock on the deal from the beginning, he asked the purchasing officer why they'd asked him to submit a proposal. The purchasing officer replied, "Oh, we needed to get at least three bids."
You can spot some recruitment notices and RFPs where there are hints that they are going through the motions. Here are a few things to look for:
When he later learned that the firm that got the project had a lock on the deal from the beginning, he asked the purchasing officer why they'd asked him to submit a proposal. The purchasing officer replied, "Oh, we needed to get at least three bids."
You can spot some recruitment notices and RFPs where there are hints that they are going through the motions. Here are a few things to look for:
- Short response time. This favors the person who's known of the project or has worked for them before.
- Abnormally narrow project requirements. Same as above. You can find job announcements that are so designed for a specific person it is surprising they left out the birth date and name.
- Arcane pre-bid requirements. These too can weed out competition from new firms.
If all three are present, alarm bells should be ringing.
Wisdom for the College Bound
Cultural Offering provides some great advice to those who are going off to college. An excerpt:
Surround yourself with good people with good attitudes - In learning as in life, these people will be the ones to succeed. Hang around with them and you will be challenged to be better. Hang around with the cynics and negative people, and you will be debased.
Surround yourself with good people with good attitudes - In learning as in life, these people will be the ones to succeed. Hang around with them and you will be challenged to be better. Hang around with the cynics and negative people, and you will be debased.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Taking Real Breaks
You will take a break whether you realize it or not.
Stay at your work long enough and your mind will go AWOL.
Unfortunately, that type of faux break won't be as refreshing as taking a real one - one where you get up and walk around and ask Tom why he believes Big Top Pee Wee was superior to Citizen Kane - but it will sort of resemble a break while producing neither fun nor effectiveness.
Napoleon, who was known to go days without sleep and then collapse for an equally long period, said, "If you're going to take Vienna, take Vienna."
He was probably thinking about breaks.
Stay at your work long enough and your mind will go AWOL.
Unfortunately, that type of faux break won't be as refreshing as taking a real one - one where you get up and walk around and ask Tom why he believes Big Top Pee Wee was superior to Citizen Kane - but it will sort of resemble a break while producing neither fun nor effectiveness.
Napoleon, who was known to go days without sleep and then collapse for an equally long period, said, "If you're going to take Vienna, take Vienna."
He was probably thinking about breaks.
Behavior and Attitude
While reading about the Soviet show trials in which clearly devout Communists were forced to confess "errors" and worse before being sentenced to the Gulag or execution, I still manage to be surprised at the importance placed on confessions.
There was, of course, the idea that even if most observers knew the trials were a sham, a confession would trigger just the slightest doubt that perhaps, just in that case, there was an element of guilt. Also present was the totalitarian state's desire that people not simply comply, but also believe. They wanted to reach the mind as well as the body and achieve total conformity.
I was reminded of the show trial technique while watching some executives at a meeting a few years ago. They weren't satisfied with employees who followed the rules. They wanted the employees to believe. They sought to change attitudes.
Big mistake. First off, how a person thinks is no one else's business. How the person behaves, however, can be of enormous concern to an employer. Strive to change attitudes and the employer risks becoming a unit of the thought police. [Many a politically correct diversity workshop has been half-jokingly called "the re-education camp" by cynical employees.]
The secret is to change behavior. That may eventually lead to a change in attitude but, then again, it may not. In the southern part of the United States, attitudes toward racial integration shifted after, not before, behavioral changes.
A frontal assault on attitude will justifiably encourage resistance. An employee who is clearly complying with policies should not be pressured to change his or her way of thinking.
Some of the most oppressive actions in the history of mankind came from people who sought to control thought. It is rather chilling to see such zealotry in the workplace.
There was, of course, the idea that even if most observers knew the trials were a sham, a confession would trigger just the slightest doubt that perhaps, just in that case, there was an element of guilt. Also present was the totalitarian state's desire that people not simply comply, but also believe. They wanted to reach the mind as well as the body and achieve total conformity.
I was reminded of the show trial technique while watching some executives at a meeting a few years ago. They weren't satisfied with employees who followed the rules. They wanted the employees to believe. They sought to change attitudes.
Big mistake. First off, how a person thinks is no one else's business. How the person behaves, however, can be of enormous concern to an employer. Strive to change attitudes and the employer risks becoming a unit of the thought police. [Many a politically correct diversity workshop has been half-jokingly called "the re-education camp" by cynical employees.]
The secret is to change behavior. That may eventually lead to a change in attitude but, then again, it may not. In the southern part of the United States, attitudes toward racial integration shifted after, not before, behavioral changes.
A frontal assault on attitude will justifiably encourage resistance. An employee who is clearly complying with policies should not be pressured to change his or her way of thinking.
Some of the most oppressive actions in the history of mankind came from people who sought to control thought. It is rather chilling to see such zealotry in the workplace.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Biking Down Memory Lane
The incomparable James Lileks gives a slide show of classic bike ads.
Be sure to read his commentary.
Be sure to read his commentary.
Bankers Eat Garbage
So is there a better way? Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank that has weathered the credit crisis better than most, created an ingenious and gratifying solution to the problem of outsize pay for Wall Street failure. It decided late last year to pay out part of its bonuses in toxic assets. On Wall Street, the old saying is that you “eat what you kill.” In this case, Credit Suisse is making its employees eat their own garbage.
Read the rest of the Portfolio article here.
Read the rest of the Portfolio article here.
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