Lately, I've been in a bunch of meetings that were not very productive. Since the promotion, I seem to be in even more meetings than usual despite the fact I am trying to delegate more and more. One of the jobs I have tried to delegate, unsuccessfully, is to not run meetings anymore. I have tried to stay on the side and not get directly involved with running the meeting but I have had to step in and do it.
One thing that most meetings fail on is that not having a plan when you get there. This is not even about having an agenda. I can forgive that. But you absolutely need to understand why you called the meeting and what you hope to accomplish in it. Most of the time, if you are focused, you can get in and out of the meeting quickly. But when you just have a meeting where you have to talk about a problem, and you do not understand what you actually want decided, you are wasting time.
This is especially crucial for someone like me who has lots of meetings throughout the day. This has further importance if you call a lot of meetings. If you are someone who has this responsibility, believe me on this. You are being judged by how effective your meeting is. If your meetings tend to be scattered, if you are unprepared, or if you do not have control of your meeting, people are noticing. If you cannot demonstrate leadership of a meeting, how is anyone expected to believe you can lead a team?
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Finding Time to Exercise
As I write this, I am extremely sore from a workout I did last night. This is because I have not hit the gym in the last two weeks.
As I get older, I find more and more excuses to not work out. Last week, it was because my Fiancee was sick and I stayed at home to take care of her. The week before that, I was extremely busy at work trying to work through all the layoff issues. The week before that, I was busy at work with reviews. The funny thing is, I do not think I am any busier than I was a few years ago, I just think I got better at making excuses. I do not even play basketball anymore, and it used to be the case that absolutely nothing got in the way between me and some court time.
It really is too bad. I think staying in shape is an important thing and something that is highly underrated. When you exercise you look better, you feel better, you think better, and you are treated better. Yet when things start backing up, and life becomes busy, it is one of the first things to go even though it should really be the last. I never thought I would give up exercise. I enjoyed it so much growing up and I cannot believe I am now having to force myself to go do something I used to enjoy so much.
I have decided to carve out some time somewhere to work out. Most likely it will have to be during lunch. I am too lazy to get up early in the morning and I am usually wiped out after work. The only time that will work is sometime in the middle of the day, and that means I am working out at lunch.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Downside of Promotions
Part of the problem with rising through the ranks of the corporate ladder is that you have to start acting the part. I try and make it a point to be a model employee now. For example, I keep very regular hours. While I realize that a lot of people do this, it is not the norm in technology. At almost every technology company, hours are relatively flexible. People come in late or leave early; sometimes employees do both!
However, now that I am a director at my company, I do not really have the same luxury. It just would not be OK to keep odd hours when others look to you as the model. For the last 8 years, I have had the luxury of rolling in at ten o'clock if I had a late night. This is no longer the case and it can be hard to adjust to. Further, I force myself to stay somewhat more aloof. In most technology companies, there is usually some sort of amusement around. Maybe there is a TV, a video game system, or a foosball table. Being the competitive person I am, I would normally take part but I have drastically scaled this back. I have done this for a numbre of reasons. Part of it is that I have too much work now and do not honestly have the time. Some of it is that I do not want to give others excuses to goof off. And still further, and perhaps the saddest is all, is that it is important not to become too chummy with the people who work for you.
That does not mean I am not friendly with my staff. It just means that I have to be very careful about it looking like I play any sort of favorites. Since only some employees partake in the games, I have to be sure not to make it look like I am "too friendly" with that group.
Oh well. I am not really complaining. I enjoy my job much more now than I have ever have so it is not like I would trade these "perks" in. But still, being less visable sometimes really has advantages.
However, now that I am a director at my company, I do not really have the same luxury. It just would not be OK to keep odd hours when others look to you as the model. For the last 8 years, I have had the luxury of rolling in at ten o'clock if I had a late night. This is no longer the case and it can be hard to adjust to. Further, I force myself to stay somewhat more aloof. In most technology companies, there is usually some sort of amusement around. Maybe there is a TV, a video game system, or a foosball table. Being the competitive person I am, I would normally take part but I have drastically scaled this back. I have done this for a numbre of reasons. Part of it is that I have too much work now and do not honestly have the time. Some of it is that I do not want to give others excuses to goof off. And still further, and perhaps the saddest is all, is that it is important not to become too chummy with the people who work for you.
That does not mean I am not friendly with my staff. It just means that I have to be very careful about it looking like I play any sort of favorites. Since only some employees partake in the games, I have to be sure not to make it look like I am "too friendly" with that group.
Oh well. I am not really complaining. I enjoy my job much more now than I have ever have so it is not like I would trade these "perks" in. But still, being less visable sometimes really has advantages.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Don't Spend that Bonus!
I got my company bonus in the last week. It was not the full value of what my bonus should have been, but it was very generous when you consider the economic climate and the struggles my company went through in the last year. Truth is, I was expecting to get nothing. So were most of the people under me. Most were very appreciative of getting anything, however small it may have been.
So how did I spend this windfall? I am not doing anything I would not have done otherwise. I have never ever decided to do a little more spending just because I got a bonus. Ironically, there is no real need for me to do this because I honestly have quite a bit of savings. It is true, I will have lots of expenses this year. There will be the wedding and I want to buy a house sometime soon if housing prices continue their precipitous decline. I have my eye on a new Home Theater receiver, but if I buy it, it would have been something I would have done regardless of my bonus situation.
Now my advice now is the same as my advice would be regardless of the economy; you should not do any extra spending just because you get a bonus. If you want to celebrate, do it in a small way. But under no circumstances should you buy something just because you happen to get more money. This is how people become poor. Their pockets are like sieves. As soon as money comes in, it goes out the other end. Most people do not have money problems because they do not earn enough, they have problems because they spend too much. It is easy to spot these people. These are the same people who get upset that there might not be a bonus. They are upset because they have already spent the money!
So do yourself a favor and ignore the fact that you got a bonus. Believe me, saving it will bring you much more happiness than anything you can possible buy.
So how did I spend this windfall? I am not doing anything I would not have done otherwise. I have never ever decided to do a little more spending just because I got a bonus. Ironically, there is no real need for me to do this because I honestly have quite a bit of savings. It is true, I will have lots of expenses this year. There will be the wedding and I want to buy a house sometime soon if housing prices continue their precipitous decline. I have my eye on a new Home Theater receiver, but if I buy it, it would have been something I would have done regardless of my bonus situation.
Now my advice now is the same as my advice would be regardless of the economy; you should not do any extra spending just because you get a bonus. If you want to celebrate, do it in a small way. But under no circumstances should you buy something just because you happen to get more money. This is how people become poor. Their pockets are like sieves. As soon as money comes in, it goes out the other end. Most people do not have money problems because they do not earn enough, they have problems because they spend too much. It is easy to spot these people. These are the same people who get upset that there might not be a bonus. They are upset because they have already spent the money!
So do yourself a favor and ignore the fact that you got a bonus. Believe me, saving it will bring you much more happiness than anything you can possible buy.
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Double Journey Stimulus Plan
Before I write this post, I will admit I have not read in detail the plan in front of Congress. Part of this is my cynicism. I know I will not like any sort of plan that comes out of Washington because it will be filled with special interest or policies that have no real chance of doing what they meant to do. If they do happen to have a positive effect, it will be almost completely by accident. Worse, it will put our government even further debt. Debt that will eventually be paid by you and me.
The plan, as far as I can tell, revolves around two main goals. Create new jobs and stabilize the housing market. Most of the plan seems to revolve around these key points
Let us forget for a second I think it is a completely idiotic thing to try and stabilize the housing market. The best thing to do would be to let housing find its natural equilibrium and we would get to the true price of housing sooner rather than later. Why people think high housing prices, higher than is justified given national income levels, is a good thing is beyond me. But nothing in the plan that I can see actually will do what the government hopes to accomplish.
The housing problem is almost intractable. You cannot, over the long haul, create artificial demand for an asset. That is all the government will do if it tries to prop up housing prices. But lets just say they really want to do this. Rather than just give money in the form of a tax credit, they should make the long term value of owning a home very attractive. They could do all sorts of things with the tax code to encourage the long term viability of owning your home. They could make it such that anyone who buys a home to live in over the next two or three years could write off DOUBLE the interest that they pay on the mortgage. While it sounds radical, and it is, it would certainly spur demand for housing.
Any who on earth would you try to create jobs by giving individuals tax cuts and business tax cuts for investment. Rather than that, why not do this. For any business who increases their workforce over the next two years, they can write off certain percentage of that employee's salary based on how large they actually increase their workforce. This would be a tremendous incentive for companies and would directly address the issue of employment. Why try to be cute with the plan? Why not just get to the heart of the matter and create a direct incentive for the behavior you want to see? Want more jobs? Make it very attractive for companies to hire more workers.
The plan, as far as I can tell, revolves around two main goals. Create new jobs and stabilize the housing market. Most of the plan seems to revolve around these key points
- Give tax breaks to individuals to encourage spending
- Business tax cuts for capital investments
- Increase the tax credit for home buyers
Let us forget for a second I think it is a completely idiotic thing to try and stabilize the housing market. The best thing to do would be to let housing find its natural equilibrium and we would get to the true price of housing sooner rather than later. Why people think high housing prices, higher than is justified given national income levels, is a good thing is beyond me. But nothing in the plan that I can see actually will do what the government hopes to accomplish.
The housing problem is almost intractable. You cannot, over the long haul, create artificial demand for an asset. That is all the government will do if it tries to prop up housing prices. But lets just say they really want to do this. Rather than just give money in the form of a tax credit, they should make the long term value of owning a home very attractive. They could do all sorts of things with the tax code to encourage the long term viability of owning your home. They could make it such that anyone who buys a home to live in over the next two or three years could write off DOUBLE the interest that they pay on the mortgage. While it sounds radical, and it is, it would certainly spur demand for housing.
Any who on earth would you try to create jobs by giving individuals tax cuts and business tax cuts for investment. Rather than that, why not do this. For any business who increases their workforce over the next two years, they can write off certain percentage of that employee's salary based on how large they actually increase their workforce. This would be a tremendous incentive for companies and would directly address the issue of employment. Why try to be cute with the plan? Why not just get to the heart of the matter and create a direct incentive for the behavior you want to see? Want more jobs? Make it very attractive for companies to hire more workers.
Thriving in a Crisis
About two weeks ago, my company just went through a second round of layoffs. This is happening about six months after we already had one round of layoffs.
Most people in my situation would probably be very concerned right now. I am not. I have been through layoffs before, and these are not quite the same. This round was truly a right sizing of the company. The company is still profitable and there are very few situations which would cause that to change. Now, we have not been making as much money as we had forecast a year ago, but the fact is that we are still making money. This is contrast to my experiences at a former company where we were bleeding cash and were doing everything possible from going under. That was a pretty miserable experience as there was very little chance of turning that company around.
This is not the same situation. There is very much some good opportunities for the company and for its employees. How can I say this? Some of the best opportunities are created when things look their worse. One can just look at Warren Buffet's strategy, buy assets when they are distressed. Right now is a great time to invest in the market if you can buy the right things at the right price. While it can be scary to double down when things look so awful, those are when the best opportunities arise.
The same is true during layoffs. For those individuals who step up and do more, the opportunity is great. During most layoffs, it is not as if the work just disappears. The work has to get done somehow. In fact, most of the time, there is more work to do as the company must better execute on a plan if it hopes to return to the "good" times. During this round of layoffs, I have had to take on much more responsibility. I had originally come in as the senior Program Manager on the team. Shortly after the first round of layoffs, I inherited the responsibility of managing the development staff on a temporary basis It was a responsibility I took reluctantly even though many saw it as a step up (I did not see it as a step up but that is another discussion). After this round of layoffs, I inherited even more responsibility and am now in charge of another development group as well as the entire testing organization. Along with the additional responsibility came a promotion to a Director level position. While I would have achieved this promotion in due time, it was much easier to obtain given my additional level of responsibility and the current organization structure.
My career growth has been quite fast and most of that has been through hard work and a good attitude. But I've been lucky at times because I have been in the middle of turbulent and often difficult situations. If things do not change, new opportunities are not created. This is why change is good. This is why I am not panicking even though my portfolio has taken a huge hit in the last year. I planned carefully and was prudent when I should have been. Because of this, I can now take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.
Most people in my situation would probably be very concerned right now. I am not. I have been through layoffs before, and these are not quite the same. This round was truly a right sizing of the company. The company is still profitable and there are very few situations which would cause that to change. Now, we have not been making as much money as we had forecast a year ago, but the fact is that we are still making money. This is contrast to my experiences at a former company where we were bleeding cash and were doing everything possible from going under. That was a pretty miserable experience as there was very little chance of turning that company around.
This is not the same situation. There is very much some good opportunities for the company and for its employees. How can I say this? Some of the best opportunities are created when things look their worse. One can just look at Warren Buffet's strategy, buy assets when they are distressed. Right now is a great time to invest in the market if you can buy the right things at the right price. While it can be scary to double down when things look so awful, those are when the best opportunities arise.
The same is true during layoffs. For those individuals who step up and do more, the opportunity is great. During most layoffs, it is not as if the work just disappears. The work has to get done somehow. In fact, most of the time, there is more work to do as the company must better execute on a plan if it hopes to return to the "good" times. During this round of layoffs, I have had to take on much more responsibility. I had originally come in as the senior Program Manager on the team. Shortly after the first round of layoffs, I inherited the responsibility of managing the development staff on a temporary basis It was a responsibility I took reluctantly even though many saw it as a step up (I did not see it as a step up but that is another discussion). After this round of layoffs, I inherited even more responsibility and am now in charge of another development group as well as the entire testing organization. Along with the additional responsibility came a promotion to a Director level position. While I would have achieved this promotion in due time, it was much easier to obtain given my additional level of responsibility and the current organization structure.
My career growth has been quite fast and most of that has been through hard work and a good attitude. But I've been lucky at times because I have been in the middle of turbulent and often difficult situations. If things do not change, new opportunities are not created. This is why change is good. This is why I am not panicking even though my portfolio has taken a huge hit in the last year. I planned carefully and was prudent when I should have been. Because of this, I can now take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Why You Should Not Spend Money on Your Pets
One thing I have learned over the years is to not try to spend money on my cat. When I first got my cat, I used to go to the pet store and try and find things he would like. I spent lots of money on toys, and bedding in an attempt to make him happy. The thing I quickly learned was that my cat often did not like anything that I spent money on but would instead prefer the scraps off other things.
I first learned this lesson the first Christmas I spent with my cat. I got him a few catnip toys and a few fake mice. His favorite gift? The ribbon and paper that everything was wrapped in. Just to make sure that I learned my lesson my cat decided that he would make as his new bed the cardboard crate that the new dartboard I bought came in. I am not sure why he likes it, it is not particularly soft and is kind of noisy with the plastic wrap, but he sleeps in it pretty much every chance that he gets. So save your money and instead just give your cat the refuse off of the things that you buy. I promise you, your pets' tastes are probably pretty different from yours.
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