First Paragraph

In an ideal world, your job as a manager would include setting goals and acquiring the resources to achieve them. But you don't live in an ideal world, largely because there are people like you in it.

- From Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook by Scott Adams

George Costanza, Architect

Those of you who followed the Seinfeld sitcom will recall that hapless George Costanza liked to impress people by telling them that he was an architect. George liked the idea of being an architect. He liked the prestige.

He just didn't want to do the work to become an architect.

So it goes with many of us. We like the idea of being in a position but we don't want to dedicate the evenings and weekends that are necessary to achieve and maintain the position.

If seats in the United States Senate were always filled by appointment, there would be a very long line of applicants. When considering our dreams, it would be wise to ask, "Is this a real goal - one for which I am willing to work extremely hard - or is this a Costanza goal?"

Of Course It is Gray

Of course it is gray. That's why we hired you. If your job were only to make choices between black and white, we might as well use a computer program.

No, it is not clear. Your responsibility is to sense which rules are in stone and which can be ignored. It is to create and not simply follow precedent. It is to make command decisions when facts are missing and time is short; all the while knowing that a legion of second-guessers may stroll in later after a good dinner and question why you did one thing and not another.

That's why you were hired: to handle that gray stuff.

Can you do it?

Quote of the Day

Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.

- Harold Geneen

First Paragraph

Something dead strange has happened to Christmas. It's just not the same as it used to be when I was a kid. In fact I've never really got over the trauma of finding out that my parents had been lying to me annually about the existence of Santa Claus.

- From Adrian Mole: The Lost Years by Sue Townsend

Very Slowly

Take a job that would normally be stressful and rushed and slow it down. Approach each component with care and deliberation. Appreciate the skill of the moment. Take some joy in the doing and keep your mind from drifting to the next task.

When finished, you may discover that you did not spend much more time than usual; indeed, you may even find that you spent less and yet the pleasure was so much greater and the stress was gone.

Sometimes, our worst boss is ourselves.

30 Good Mood Films

If you were to pick some films to boost the spirit of someone who is down (or yourself), what would they be?

My own quick choices:

1. Local Hero



2. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World



3. The In-Laws (the version with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin)



4. A Night at the Opera



5. Strictly Ballroom



6. Cinema Paradiso



7. The Muse



8. Moonstruck



9. Radio Days



10. Harvey



11. Napoleon Dynamite



12. Animal House



13. A Shot in the Dark



14. My Favorite Year



15. A Day at the Races



16. Bell, Book and Candle



17. The Egg and I



18. Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines



19. Groundhog Day



20. Sideways



21. Galaxy Quest



22. O Brother, Where Art Thou?



23. Other People's Money



24. The General



25. The Freshman



26. The Secret of Santa Vittoria



27. Play It Again, Sam



28. The Full Monty



29. Bowfinger



30. Arsenic and Old Lace
    

Others?

Confessions of a Non-Techie

When I first heard of an ice cream sandwich tablet - after having flashbacks to childhood and wanting to search the freezer - I assumed that it must describe something to do with the tablet's design. After reading this definition and the following excerpt, I guess not:

Ice Cream will follow a number of earlier updates for Android, including Cupcake (v1.5), Donut (v1.6), Eclair (v2.0), FroYo (v2.2), Gingerbread (v2.3) and Honeycomb (v3.0).

Hotcakes

"They really need this. It will sell like hotcakes."

"Do they know they need it?"

"They should."

"Should and do are two different things. There are unrecognized needs and recognized ones."

"Well, we'll just have to show how much they need it."

"That's good. That's appealing to their logic. But there is another item to consider since need can be dependent upon something far less tangible."

"What's that?"

"Do they want it? Look, if you say I really need something in order to be a good supervisor - and let us grant that you are correct and the product works wonders and that I even recognize that it would help me to become a really good supervisor - your pitch will only connect with me if I want to do what it takes to be a really good supervisor. Perhaps I don't want to expend the energy. I just want to be an average supervisor. My goal is to get through the day. I'm not in search of excellence. This product sounds like more work. Will I still need that product?"

"Hmm. We have to find another angle."

Quote of the Day

The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong at the broken places.

- Ernest Hemingway