Anti-Management

Why silos are good

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:11:35 +0000

Every business should try and improve its operational processes, but when you do that, inevitably you end up streamlining processes and eliminating a lot of inefficiency. This, of course, is not in your best interest, since it will be clear that

a) you are basically doing nothing and can be shot, or

b) you can do a lot more.

Both options are unfavorable, but obviously you want to stay employed. So what about the silo? Well, it is paramount to protect the silo – there are unique business needs that your business has that are not easily identified in those simple minded process flows, and the culture of the company is dependent on change occurring over time, so you must recommend or support solutions which respect those silos and paint a picture of the new process being a big improvement over the old way of doing things, but really, only a small amount of improvement has been implemented, and the net impact on your job is slim to none.

Fight Change

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:12:14 +0000

Directly or overtly, always fight change. Most new processes have the anticipation of showing improvement in the first few weeks or more, so this is the critical period. Assuming that you have been putting up roadblocks as the implementation plans were being made, the new process may be struggling to achieve success. This is your opportunity. At every sign of weakness, or better yet failure, work to build consensus that the old way of doing things was better, and that the new process should be put on hold until the “kinks” can be worked out of the new process. It will take a lot of management support to endure a prolonged period of failure, so seize the opportunity when it presents itself.

Create an “Inverted Pyramid”

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:01:26 +0000

Imagine that you are stuck in a dead-end job in a company that is going down – sounds like you’ll be hitting the unemployment line quickly right? Well, there is a solution that may help you outlast even the top performers. The key to the inverted pyramid is to take a job that is basically simple and straight-forward and to create noise and complexity, so that no one really understands what you are doing. Look for any opportunity to take a simple task or assignment and blow it up to be something that is perceived as complex or strategic. If there is anyway at all to develop “value propositions” or “joint business plans” you have found yourself a winner. Create enough complexity and when it comes round to job cut time, there will be some apprehension to lopping off your head.

Work two jobs

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:17:33 +0000

OK, times have certainly changed and it is not as easy to find a job, and even then you may have to do the bankers hours and be there 9-5 or similar, so this may not apply, but if you have a job where you have the flexibility to work from home … This is the dream situation, and usually this only applies to professions such as sales on consulting. If you are in the enviable position of mostly doing your work over the phone or via email, you should consider getting a second job. During the dot com era, I knew of several people who had 2 six figure jobs at the same time. You could of course go to the beach with all the spare time you have, but a second job might not be that much extra work!

How I spend my day

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:55:45 +0000

Maybe I am just lazy, but I do not enjoy my job. I did enjoy it at one point, but not now. The economy has gone south, and I am making good money, so I am just sucking it up, for now. I would surf the web all day, but my office monitors web sites, so I have to occupy myself in other ways …