Seth Godin Quote Post

A refreshing outlook on "My boss won't let me". You have to overcome this attitude to do something useful.

When we say, "my boss won't let me," what we're often saying is, "my boss wants great results, but she's not willing to let me take initiative without responsibility."

I'd be shocked if any smart boss took a different approach. Who's going to give you authority without responsibility

Thanks for the daily inspiration Seth.

Coding is Art

Programmers are sometimes a difficult bunch to work with. I'm no better.

We fancy ourselves as uber-logical like Spock and uber-analytical like Data from Start Trek and Star Trek TNG respectively (we also revel in a little nerdification mixed in for good measure).

Truth be told we are much more like van Gogh than we care to admit. Idealistic, anxious, frustrated, and misunderstood.

But honestly, when you think of individuals (real or imagined) with boat loads of talent who comes to mind? Spock or van Gogh? The tragedy of the talented?

Favorite Workplace Quote

I heard a quote from a friend of mine the other day. Not sure who originated it. Maybe his boss, maybe it's someone famous and this is a well known one.

They keep fuckin' it up, so we have to fuck it back down

Besides being hilarious maxim it's an organizational imperative that no matter who fucked it up, in the end, it has to be fucked back down.

The Hump

It's easy to go in early and home late when things are going your way. You're learning, your producing, progress is made. It's exactly the opposite that makes you a winner. Go in early and home late when things aren't the greatest. You should be there figuring out how to change it.

Fiefdoms And Their Leaders

Seems like there's a natural tendency in workplaces to cloister, close, confine, protect. That's the default mode for many workers, their supervisors and management. I like to think of this as a little medieval fiefdoms that are carved out of an organization. I think the idea is that you want to keep solitary that which makes you unique and at the same time control how the organization judges you and your fiefdom (sometimes fiefdoms are single person entities).

When you get good at something, it's natural to try and protect what you know and use it to your full advantage. For a worker, I think the attitude is a little forgivable. Their job is not to maximize department output, decrease inefficiency, increase output. But what about managers that have this attitude? Sometimes managers are just longer term employees that got promoted up. I guess it's possible for them to bring their attitudes with them into the more senior roles.

The leaders are also not beyond the scrutiny of their managers in turn. So if a persons natural tendency is to spin, massage, or deflect the information used to judge their performance, likewise they will protect their departments or divisions in the same way.

The problem is that in this environment, creativity is stifled, fear is at maximum warp factor, mistakes are not forgiven, so everyone is really wearing professional handcuffs. The mantra - in the fiefdom, there is safety, let's all retreat to the fiefdom.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to change attitudes instantly from petty fief to benevolent and potent leader? Well, there isn't one; stop dreaming. It's hard work to change your attitude. A daily grind fighting your own worst enemy. But you have to do it if you want to get off the fiefdom and do something fulfilling.

Be Generous

My favourite blog is Seth Godin. He's marvelously insightful and often when I read his blog I think he's writing a letter directly to me.

One of my favourite sethisms is that you should be generous with your ideas and knowledge. You should be giving that away for free. It does no good to pinch every piece of information you have with both hands hoping to hold on to it and through that, make yourself indispensable.

That's not how indispensable works.

The great thing about generous is that once you've done something once, you tell others, then they can do it, and you can figure out something new. That's the part of working that I love. The new and exciting, not the brainless and repetitive.