Thriving in the 21st century workplace
My first day at work, according to the EMC HR department, was January 7, 1996. Fifteen years ago today. I think the date is wrong, since that day is a Sunday. But the week is certainly right.
I remember the day very well … because it was my first day of “real work,” and it was a snow day.
A while back I made kind of a big deal about getting back into the technical arena and putting away my manager hat.
Fortunately, I didn’t toss it too far aside.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in almost 15 years at EMC it’s that change isn’t disruptive to the status quo, it is the status quo.
Everything I said I was doing before, I’m still doing. I’m wearing a lot of hats right now. My small development team has grown as it takes on more responsibility, and I find myself playing the roles of Scrum Master, Technical Lead, and Development Manager. Somewhere in all that I’m trying to individually contribute technically as well, but that is at the bottom of the list.
The other thing that keeps falling off the list is contributing to “the conversation” (both internally at EMC and externally on twitter and in people’s blogs). I’m afraid that is going to be an uncomfortable reality while I try to wrap my arms around all these roles and make sure my own commitments aren’t being missed. Try not to do too much without me 
.
It’s a great place to be, in the thick of the action, surrounded by good people. I’m never bored, I’ll say that much!
February 4th, 2010 — Life
I’ve been busy lately, here on the SRM team within Ionix. My calendar fills up fast, and I’ve been logging in nights and weekends to sneak in work on my day job, never mind my blog (which explains the real gap in activity here!).
Why the sudden burst in activity? Why am I letting my day job run away with my life?
January 26th, 2010 — EMC, Life, Social Media
When I saw the emails start floating by about EMC’s ON Magazine’s special issue about 20 years of the web, I flagged them for later attention and promptly moved on. That may have been a mistake. Recently, I cracked open the PDF and paged through it. Something on every page caught my attention. Except for a few times, I forgot I was reading something written by people at EMC. I guiltily asked myself, “are we really this cool?”
So here, as requested by Natalie, is my version of the web at 20…
November 24th, 2009 — Corporate, Life
As we enter the week of Thanksgiving, and head into the core US holiday season, we’re supposed to be thinking about giving thanks and being generous. Of course, we’re also entering the final stretch of the quarter and the year, so we’re over-committed at work and trying to balance our obligations at home as well. It’s a tricky time to be an effective employee.
It’s worth noting, however, that managers are also soon going to be working on annual performance reviews. And while we all know reviews should cover the entire year’s work, often times a high-impact event at the close of the year gets some extra mental attention during this busy time. So what can you do at work to bring a little bit of what the holidays are supposed to be about into your routine?
A simple “thank you” goes a long way. A more complex “thank you” goes a little further. “Thanks, Bill, I wouldn’t have thought of looking there, you made my day a lot easier.” It takes 15 seconds to type that, and whoever you are thanking probably saved you more than 15 seconds. So send the email. Better yet, drop by their cubicle, or say something when you spot them in the hallway.
Sitting in your inbox is that simple request. It’ll take you a couple minutes to process it, and you have so much else going on, but it’ll really make a difference in that person’s day. So ttop putting it off. Set aside 5 minutes this morning to be helpful, and then go on to your “real” work.
You can also be generous with your praise. Saying “thank you” is great, but copying the boss is generous as well. It wins on so many levels it’s hard to even list them. I’m not suggesting every single “thanks” needs a cc: line, but once in a while it’s a powerful tool.
It doesn’t need to be a “thanks” either. Sometimes you can just directly tell someone about great performance by a team member. I recently sent an email to a senior director letting him know about a great moment with someone in his organization. His response was that he rarely receives that kind of direct feedback. Flood your management with emails and you’ll get ignored. Target a couple moments of high performance, though, and you’re playing with powerful tools.
It’s crucial now to remember your work-life balance, and that of your teammates. Tensions may be high, and small things leap into significance. Don’t forget that for some people, the holidays are a time of joy and pleasure … while others are on an emotional rollercoaster.
As for yourself, be present at your family dinner; put down the Blackberry and enjoy the blackberry pie instead. That email will still be there after the kids are in bed.
The great thing about gestures like this is that they multiply. You are essentially increasing the positive climate, and as a colleague of mine recently put it, when the tide rises all ships rise with it.
August 17th, 2009 — Life
So much has changed about the workplace, so many of our social interactions take place in new ways. Clearly our old communication skills are going to be less important, and we’ve got to learn new ones, right? What’s the most important communication skill you can develop these days?
What if I told you it’s the same one it was a hundred years ago?
Listening.
Hearing (or reading) comes naturally, but listening requires active investment. Active listening, empathic listening, listening with intent … these do not come naturally.
August 4th, 2009 — Life
I often joke with my wife that you shouldn’t ask anyone with an engineering background “what’s the worst that could happen?” We get paid fairly well to come up with really scary answers to that question. She’ll often come up with something bad, only to have me top it in terrible ways. “The worst that happens is we go to the party, don’t have fun, and go home.” “No, the worst that happens is we’re in a car accident on our way home, which can’t happen if we don’t leave the house.”
Touché.
July 27th, 2009 — Corporate, Life
A few years back, I was trying to improve my poker game (as a real geek if I start doing something I have to research it; I can’t just experience it). I read a few books and one of the pieces of advice I received (probably from author Larry Phillips in his book of Zen advice for poker) has stuck with me well into other areas of my life.
Simply put, it’s this: don’t make yourself into a character in a story.
In the game of poker, this basically means that you shouldn’t let yourself see patterns in the randomness of the game which influence you. After something improbable happens a few times, you might begin thinking “That always happens to me,” and next time there’s a chance of that happening, you back off, frightened. Your ace-high flush bested by a full house twice in one night becomes “I never win with flushes,” and next time you get a flush, you fold the winning hand.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look for situations where you misread the game — perhaps you are “always” losing with the second-best hand because you aren’t evaluating the probability of the winning hand being present accurately. But that’s not what Phillips is talking about.
This advice carries over into the professional world as well. How many times have you encountered people who claim “I just don’t get that kind of stuff,” when faced with a new problem? “Oh, I’m no good at writing,” or “I don’t get all this social media stuff,” or even “I’d never make a good manager.” These individuals have written themselves into a story; instead of seeing all their options, they are living life like a character in a book, their reactions predetermined by the plot they’ve built in their head.
Not only are these people missing out on their own potential, they are advertising their closed-mindedness to their colleagues, customers, and managers.
I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t be self-aware. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses, knowing where to invest your energy and where to cut your losses: these are vital skills to acquire. But do it knowingly, by choice, and carefully. Don’t project the “oh well it’s not meant to be” attitude of the two-dimensional character in a pulp novel.
June 22nd, 2009 — Corporate, Life, Social Media
Have you read my disclaimer? Over on the side of my page? These are not my employer’s opinions, I don’t speak for EMC, EMC doesn’t speak for me, and so on?
That might protect EMC if I were to go off the deep end legally. They might be able to fire me, disavow all knowledge of my actions, and prevent themselves from getting in too much trouble themselves. But if I were to do something legal but just plain stupid, do you think that disclaimer would prevent the EMC brand from being damaged in your eyes? Of course not.
June 1st, 2009 — Life
May 25, 1961: President John F. Kennedy tells the world that America will send a man to the moon within a decade. July 20, 1969: Man walks on the moon. Eight years.
The day after EMC World 2009 ended, I spent several hours touring Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s eastern coast. It’s easy to take our space program for granted, but as I walked among the incredible reminders of the challenges and victories of the Apollo Program I couldn’t help but be moved. The nation came together in pursuit of this Big Idea, thousands upon thousands of men and women combined their expertise and their passion and the result were honest-to-goodness human footprints on our moon.
This is my personal blog, and the opinions expressed here are my own, not EMC's. My posts are not read in advance or approved by EMC. Though I am employed by EMC and EMC is aware of and publicizes this blog, I am not compensated by EMC for my blog posts, and all costs associated with this blog are paid by me, not EMC.
