The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
How to Become a Great Boss, by Jeffrey J. Fox
Book 12
I picked up How to Become a Great Boss, by Jeffrey J. Fox as a reference book for my first paper this semester. Turns out it is pretty readable with short, illustrative vignettes.
One memorable moment came with “Don’t Check Expense Accounts”. Last month, my boss happened to be in town as I was completing an expense report, so I asked him to sign it while he was there. He signed it and handed it back to me. I hassled him – said that he should review it first. He refused. I didn’t ask if it was that he didn’t bother to review mine or if he didn’t bother to review them in general.
So when I read in this book that we as managers are to trust our people’s expense reports, I started to groan. The logic is that if people are cheating on them, Accounting will figure it out and we will have to fire them. Our job is to communicate what is allowed and not allowed, so that “misuse”, which is a less dastardly offense than outright cheating, doesn’t happen. Apparently, we ought to run occasional “audits” to be sure of that.
So my boss was back in town and I said, “I learned something in school..you were right and I was wrong.” He told me to circle the date on the calendar. When I told him the story, he confessed that he wasn’t actually aware that was a “good boss” thing.
Anyway. There were two other pieces I found interesting:
“7s Hire 5s.” The idea here is that we had better hire the best people. Because if we hire mediocre people, they will hire less than mediocre people because mediocre people are intimidated by high achieving people.
“Spend 90% of Your Time with Your Best People” pointed out that sometimes we spend huge amounts of time with mediocre people, trying to get them to be great. The book suggests that they are not going to become great because we push them. They will become great if they really want to do so. We should spend the bulk of our time with our great people because it is a better investment.
This isn’t the best management book ever, but it is a quick and interesting read that gave me a couple of things to think about. And a couple of quotes to cite in class. Two thumbs up.
Grrrr
I took a vacation day so that I could sleep late, wake up, read my notes one more time and take my midterm. Because today is Day 5 and the window to take the midterm is Day 5 – Day 7.
The midterm does not open until 5pm.
I am going to get a facial now.
The 24 Hour Rule
My boss is a huge proponent of the 24 Hour Rule. He has drilled into my head that there are not all that many decisions that have to be made instantly. While he was talking about workplace decisions, Lou Carlozo at the Chicago Tribune wrote about the 24 Hour Rule as it relates to spending money:
“Here’s how it works: When mulling any purchase over a certain amount, say $50, put it off for at least a day. Then ask yourself: Do I need this? Or do I want this? Can I possibly live without it for a while? Can I drop it? Can I search for a thriftier alternative?”
I love this. But I wonder. Does $50 mean $50 on one thing? With sales the way they are, I could go to Carson’s and find a $20 shirt…and then another…and then another…
Right. As if I ever found three shirts that I liked in the same day.
Anyway – good advice here.
Poor Pathetic Dog
Poor Shadow. My mother had a business dinner tonight. 9:43 p.m. and she isn’t home. He won’t come into my room, because he hates the wood laminate. So he is sitting at the top of the stairs. Waiting.
Salary Administration
MSN Careers had a great article called, “Everything You Should Know About Your Salary“. Here is my favorite part:
“Wages and salaries are set according to a unique blend of external market competitiveness and internal equity considerations at each employer, Brennan says. Every organization has its own way of paying people, and many variables — such as organization revenue size, number of employees, profitability, pay history, corporate culture, geographic location, competitive labor analysis, benefits and perks, and ease of commute — are factors.”
In my experience, people tend to think, “I work harder” or “I do a better job than the guy next to me, so I should get more money”. First of all, that is your perception. It may not be your supervisor’s. Second, the truth is that the market determines our salaries. Sure, there are other factors, like seniority, that are involved. But mostly it is the market. Third, I have a pretty good idea of what the market averages and medians are. Because my employer spends an awful lot of money paying experts to survey our industry, our geographical area and our positions. So don’t quote salary.com to me.
Hm. I didn’t mean that to be a rant.
Ridiculous Sunday.
7:30 a.m. I head downstairs to feed the birds and give Eloise the Foster Grey her meds. There is a drop of blood on the paper in her cage. I give her the meds, and as I move to pick her up and look for any feathers that might be bleeding, she jumps to the floor. I pick her up. She flaps her wings and splatters blood all over my face, hands, refridgerator, floor, counter… Clearly, the feather has to be pulled. I take her to the bathroom.
I am not great with blood feathers to begin with and Greys are harder and Eloise is a particularly scary case. I call Rich at the Refuge. He is walking out the door to go back to the Pet Expo. I tell him I will give it a try myself.
By the time I get back to the bathroom with the supplies, she has flapped her wings some more and the bathroom looks like someone was murdered. (Have you ever seen the mini-series of Stephen King’s It? Think young Bev’s bathroom sink.) I stretch out her wing and see a big broken blood feather. And what might be a second. And a third. I call Rich and tell him I will meet him at the Expo.
When I arrive, Rich and Karen take her to the bathroom behind the Refuge booth. I can hear that it isn’t pretty. It is more than one feather, and Karen has to hold her for several minutes to get the bleeding to stop. Chuck the dog in the next booth is still there. I talk to his volunteers for a few minutes. It is almost 9:30 before I am satisfied that she is done bleeding and settled down enough to take her home.
I run some errands, including a trip to the Library to pick up some books for my first paper. I still can’t believe the Library doesn’t open until 1pm on Sundays. Although, budgets being budgets, I suppose I shouldn’t complain. Oh! But I will complain about this:
I stopped at Oberweis for a scoop of ice cream while waiting for the Library to open. Oberweis is a dairy that does old fashioned milk in the bottle. It sells to grocery stores and also has ice cream shops. I ordered a small scoop in a cup. $3.28. Is that remotely reasonable? It’s good ice cream, but I wouldn’t call it spectacular. I should have gone to McD’s for a Shamrock Shake.
Anyway, I checked out my books and came home. Eloise didn’t eat anything, so I brought her out on a table stand and gave her an almond butter sandwich. And a mini-rice cake. And apple. She ate while I watched Return of the Jedi on Spike TV and did some homework. Kiwi the Grey flitted around, as usual.
Sometime after five we tried a new crock pot recipe. Same as the first couple: it was fine, but for the effort of cooking, it didn’t seem worth it. Eloise ate some rice. I gave her the evening meds, and brought the birds back to their cages with some snack. And oh damn, I just realized that it is 9:30 and I haven’t “put them to bed” yet.
See ya.
Anne’s Day Off
I took a vacation day to go downtown and see my financial advisor. I yelled at him for making me look at my 401(k). To make a long story short, he patted me on my little head, told me I was fine and said that I should go refinance my mortgage now.
Alrighty then.
So I headed out to the Chicagoland Pet Expo. The Pet Expo is a place for vendors to introduce pet products and an opportunity for the rescues to introduce adoptable animals to the public and raise some funds. The Refuge had a booth there, with several of the birds to meet the public. I stopped and chatted for awhile, then wandered around to shop for my zoo.
Yeah.
Anyway, I always carry around a lot of singles at the Pet Expo so that I can drop a dollar in the pockets of vests like Chuck’s. The last couple of years, one rescue had a dog that would take the dollar from your hand and put it in a bucket. I didn’t see him this year. But I saw the Dobermans, the German Shepards, the White Shepards, the Greyhounds, the Border Collies…you get the idea.
Sham-wow had a booth. I bought a set of those. You laugh, but you have no idea how many paper towels I have gone through with Eloise the Foster Grey in the house.
And then I went home to do my homework. Because that is what I do on Friday nights these days.
A Good Night at the Library and other stuff
I haven’t posted about the Library in awhile. The construction has made the parking situation unbearable, but at least it is progress. And we currently have 554 books listed on our Amazon Storefront. We’ve had to clear out shelf space and it still isn’t enough:
I can’t wait until we have our new space.
Anyway, I listed several books, including an Oprah book that sold in the first hour. In that same box, I found a Ward Just novel that I haven’t read yet that isn’t worth a thing, so I bought it myself for a dollar. As if I have time to read novels right now.
I caught some of the AU vs. Villanova game on espn.com. It looks like they had a great first half and then collapsed.
I got some homework done.
And I finally had a good payroll conversion day at work. So I am happy.
In the Continuing Mission…
To find the perfect hand cream…I am trying The Body Shop’s Almond Oil Daily Hand and Nail Cream:
First, it does not smell like almonds. Or Amaretto. It didn’t promise to smell like almonds, and it doesn’t smell bad. Just sayin’.
It absorbs pretty quickly, which is good for the office. You can’t type right that second after applying, but it isn’t all greasy, either. The down side of that is that it doesn’t quite last as long as it might.
A long two hours is about how long I go between potty breaks and washing my hands. So re-applying that often is standard. This product doesn’t quite last that long.
Bottom line: Decent, if expensive pick for the office. I wouldn’t use it at home, and certainly not for an overnight cream.
It’s All My Fault
When my nephew was born, and my brother asked me to be his godmother, there were jokes aplenty about how children inherit traits from their godparents. Whenever Alex exhibits something…odd…it is pegged on me:
Bossy/Stubborn/Doesn’t share toys
Fits of temper
Hates to be woken up
Picky eater
Stuff like that.
My niece, Ainslie, (age three months) has no early warning signs of these traits. She is very easy going except for a couple of non-negotiables. She does not tolerate dirty diapers, for example. But she is very patient, particularly with Alex who gets in her face a lot.
I am not Ainslie’s godmother. But this weekend, I was still pegged:
We asked how she was doing in daycare. “Daycare” is a neighbor’s house, where there are a few other young children. Alex was there until he started pre-school. Daycare lady said she is very pleasant, and doesn’t cry a lot, but she likes her “alone time”. What does that mean?
“Sometimes, she just wants to be left alone. She doesn’t even want to be held.”
My brother announced, “She gets that from Aunt Anne. Aunt Anne doesn’t like to be touched too much.”
Oh, fine.
The Next Dark Age 