#198: The modern Trojan Horse
Last month I was told to update my thinking. Specifically, my thinking about the Trojan horse.
I had explained to a group that at least one senior person in the hierarchy of Troy was suspicious of that horse, but he was ignored.
When you consider a Trojan horse incident in your organization, you can tell with hindsight that one of the following situations existed at the time: 1) No-one spotted the threat.
2) Someone did suspect something, but kept quiet.
3) Someone did suspect and did speak out, but was not heard.
4) Someone did suspect and was heard, but was ignored.
Obviously, it is difficult to do anything if no-one spotted the threat. But a key aspect of leadership is to make sure that every voice is heard and heeded. If not, then be ready to welcome a Trojan horse into your organization.Well, that’s when I was told to add a fifth point. Someone did suspect, was heard... and was fired for speaking out.
Ouch!
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#197: Passing time at work
How did your time go this past long weekend? Fast or slow?
As you know, time is not constant. It expands and contracts, depending on what you’re doing.Do something that you don’t like and time expands. It seems to take forever to get it over with. But do something that you do like and time shrinks. How long is a week’s vacation compared to a week at work? Not the same is it?And when you get engrossed in something that you really, really enjoy doing, then time disappears and you with it.Einstein showed that time, as we commonly know it, is man-made. Not only that, but your experience of time makes unique sense only to you. It is not the same as my experience of my time.Here’s what this means: If your time at work is a drag, then find something to like at work. The more you find to enjoy, the faster your work-time will pass. Remember, you are in control of your time.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#196: The vacated holiday
I have been here in the USA long enough now to understand that Memorial Day and Labor Day mark the beginning and the end of the summer holidays in the USA.
But I still don’t understand the American version of ‘holidays’. As far as I know, a holiday is one day when the law or custom dictates that you don’t have to go to work.Here’s the bit I don’t get. Why do most Americans treat a holiday like a vacation? To me, a vacation is what happens when you spend many consecutive days away from work and, hopefully, away from where you live.A vacation is a time to rest and recharge, fully, so that when you get back to the office, the office knows that, yes, you are back, all of you!What I do get is that the brief and frantic holidays-as-vacations seem to leave most people stressed, tired and relieved to be back in the relative calm of the cubicle.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#195: Judging a culture by its covers
Americans are truly strange. At least, that’s what I thought on my first Memorial Day in the USA.
But I had forgotten something very basic about culture. Simplistically, culture is simply the way we do things here. I had forgotten that there is always a reason for the way we do things here.You see, I thought it completely weird behavior that swimming pool covers come off on Memorial Day and go back on after Labor Day. What about all the other hot days of the year, for Pete’s sake? I asked an American friend.She politely pointed at some pollen and said, ‘See all that yellow stuff? Gone by Memorial Day. See all those leaves on the trees? They fall after Labor Day. Swimming pools don’t like them.’It’s very easy to pass judgement on unfamiliar behavior without taking time to understand it. It is also incredibly stupid to do so.
I should have known better than to judge a culture by its covers.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#194: The parking lot as measure of performance
Why do some executives prize an office that over-looks the parking lot? Some simply want to know when it’s time to go home.
I recently sat in on a discussion about a junior executive. One senior executive complained that although his own car was always one of the last three remaining at night, junior’s car was always long gone.
Excuse me? That’s a measure of performance?Answer this and then decide: Do you feel obliged to create the impression that you work hard (for example, by arriving early and leaving late)?Now answer this one: Do your colleagues reward those who work hard, while suspecting those who work smart of being lazy?Oh when, oh when will organizations stop rewarding people for their physical presence and reward them instead for their contributions!Here’s when: when we finally shrug off the management practices that were developed during the industrial revolution... long before the parking lot was created.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#193: The lobsters holding you back
Do you have lobsters on your team? For your sake, I hope not.
A couple of weeks ago I suggested that you must fill your position if you want to keep it and more than fill it if you want to be promoted.
A listener responded with this tale of woe. He worked in union shops where if you even got close to filling your position, you would be told to slack off. As he put it, ‘it’s a real morale killer’.
That reminded me of a fisherman’s tale from my youth. A fisherman, walking along with a bucket of lobsters, is stopped by a friend. The friend asks if the lobsters won’t escape by climbing out of the bucket. ‘No’, replies the fisherman, ‘You know what lobsters are like. When one gets near the top, the others pull him back down’.Now you know why those climbing the corporate ladder often behave badly. Sometimes that’s the only way to kick free of the lobsters holding you back.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#192: Time to be demoted
I recently read about senior executives who removed themselves from the payroll to keep their construction company going. This got me thinking... what’s so wrong about being demoted?
Dr Lawrence Peter is famous for pointing out that people are promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. In other words, if you are good at your job you will be promoted. If you are not, you won’t be.Here’s the catch. If you are rewarded with a promotion only to struggle at the higher level, you will be fired. The company loses your skill and you lose your salary. Surely, a better option would be to demote you back to where you were a star performer.The same should happen in times of trouble. Better to be demoted in terms of salary than to be fired. The company retains your skills and you keep most of your income.After all, that’s what a recession really is - a shrinking, not a vanishing.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#191: Why working from home is impossible
Have you wondered why so many people treat coffee shops as workstations? I’ve finally figured it out.
According to statistics and experts-in-the-know, more and more people are working from home. And according to Jeffrey Hill, associate professor of business at Brigham Young University in Utah, working from home increases performance. I don’t believe it, not for a minute.Here’s why.
One of the basic laws of physics is that work equals force times distance. Now, if you work from home, then distance becomes zero. We all know that if you multiply with zero you get zero. Therefore, working from home means that force times no distance equals zero work.In other words, it does not matter how much you force yourself to get work done at home, you will get no work done unless some travel is involved, even if only to the coffee shop around the corner.I should know, I work from home.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#190: On the sunk-cost treadmill
During a recession, competition increases. That’s common sense. What is not, is the automatic merger mentality it spawns.
I think this mentality stems from a belief that size beats all. In business, size is having the capacity to produce in volumes large enough so that your product becomes the cheapest.
Here’s the rub: 'sunk costs'. Once you have invested millions in a merger or a facility that can churn out huge volumes cheaply, you will be very reluctant to write-off that investment to produce something different, even if your customers demand it.You're sunk in more ways than one, because an obvious side-effect of increased output is the need to find more customers. The outcome? Increased competition! And increased competition means that you must invest to become more efficient than your competitors. Or merge with them.Am I the only one who smells a treadmill here?
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#189: Positions must be filled
Do you fill your current position?
When a company needs more people to get the work done, it announces that it has positions that must be filled. If you have a job, then answer this: Do you or don’t you fill the position you’re in?
Some people more than fill the position - these people are soon promoted or move on to something bigger.
Some people fill it exactly - and stay where they are.
Some people don’t quite fill it and if they don’t develop into it, they are soon asked to empty it completely for someone new who might fill it better.
If you like your job, then fill it exactly and you will keep it. If you want more, then more than fill it so that you expand into something bigger. If you don’t really want it, then don’t really fill it and it wont be yours for long.Whatever you decide, positions must be filled.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
