commentary

Step Away from the Problem

A few days ago, I was working on a small application for some people at Work. Part way into the project, I went out briefly on an errand.

Driving down the street, I suddenly realized that I could (and should) make a simple change to the user interface that would result in less risky code as well as a better experience for the users.

Later that day, I found myself banging my head against some JavaScript. No matter what I did, it was not working. I'm not a master JS programmer, so I figured it was probably just something I didn't understand yet about the code. Still frustrated, I stepped away for lunch.

When I returned to my desk, the first thing I saw was that two forms on the same page had the same name. Oops. That's not going to work. I renamed one and the JS code worked as planned.

When you're in the middle of a problem, it can be difficult to step away. Your brain wants to Solve This Thing Right Now. But many times, stepping away is just what is needed.

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Re-orgs Hazardous to Teams

On Monday, my manager said "We're having a re-org. But don't worry. it doesn't affect anyone in my group."

She was partially correct. There is no immediate, direct, acute effect. However, the longterm indirect effects are demoralizing. We're losing three people from the Team.

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Four Walls and a Door

In 1992. I was working at Apple. Apple had recently completed and opened a new R&D center — 6 large buildings, across the road from where I worked. Our group wasn't moving but we'd heard the rumors. Everyone in the R&D center had an office with a door.

In 1993, I went to work for Taligent, the Apple-IBM Joint Venture. Taligent was about to start construction on new office space. They studied what Apple had done, then proceeded to follow the same model — a hard-walled office for every employee, complete with a door.

The space wasn't large; it had less floor space, frankly, than my former cube. But it had real walls and a door, a door I could close (and often did). It had its own lighting controls.

It was private. It was conducive to thought and productive work.

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Empowered Teams

Companies fear empowered teams. Employee empowerment represents the end of management as we have known it. That cannot happen too soon for me.

I have been privileged to have worked in an empowered team. Without a full-time "official" manager, they were self-managed. Proponents of the corporate management hierarchy might fear anarchy. Instead, this team was democratically run. They were independent, innovative, professional, and accountable; they shared responsibility and ownership. They got things done.

Being a part of an empowered team is a heady experience. Once you've experienced that, you want it again.

The team still exists, but it's "under new management". In other words, there's a "real" full-time manager now and he's taken charge in the way of all managers. There's hope, however, if not for us, for others.

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Commute Time Management

I've been reading various Time Management books lately, comparing and contrasting methods and recommendations. One book seemed pretty reasonable (if I discounted the fact that the author thought his audience consisted primarily of managers). Then toward the end, I tripped over a disturbing contradiction.

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Business Communication

There is a popular belief, generally put forward by human resources departments, time management consultants, and other "experts", that formal communication and discussion between people in the workplace should never be handled by email (i.e. written). "Important" communication should be handled by voice.

Preferably, they say, this communication should be in a face to face meeting. If that's not possible, they recommend using the telephone. The rationale that is typically given is that written methods of communication (i.e. email) don't convey tone and facial expression.

A recently published study would seem to support this view.

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Managing by "Piles"

Originally posted to Slightly Off Kilter.

Most Time Management books argue against managing paper by "piles". They advocate making decisions as soon as the paper appears - respond, hand it off to someone else, file it appropriately, or throw it away.

Personally, I find a fifth category to work well. That category is managed as a pile (a stack, a box, a tray...).

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Where Do You Prefer to Work?

My preference is to work from home as much as possible. I have a large, airy, quiet home office, ergonomically comfortable and optimally configured for working productively. I have a Power Mac G5 with 4 monitors, a Balans kneeling rocker, a keyboard table at a comfortable typing height and distance, printer and scanner close at hand...

And have I mentioned that it's quiet?

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