And you are here why?

What’s your response when you’re handed stuff that somebody else did? Specifically, when you’re the New Person, brought in to clear up the mess — real or perceived! — that the Previous Administration created? Mind you, let’s get the “Everything Is Irretrievably F**ked Up” scenario out of the way. Oh yes, these situations do exist, but then again, unless you’re The Wolf (Pulp Fiction. Movie. 1994. Now I feel Old) this doesn’t apply to you. Odds are that you’ve been brought in to deal with a “mess”, (Hint: Not An Actual Mess). For any number of reasons, the existing system/structure/processes just didn’t cut it any more, and the Powers That Be decided that a change was necessary. And you’re that change. So  fine .  You’re the change.  And the million dollar question is — “ What do you do? ” Step 1 :  Blame The Previous Administration Th is is the single most common pattern out there (admit it, you’ve probably done this yourself!). And it’s an easy one too — after ...

You're young, fresh of heart, recently graduated and out to conquer the world. It's your first job, and you're oh-so-excited because you get to Contribute! You get to Be Part Of Something Big! You're on your way! And then BAM!  you run into workplace politics 🤬, and there go your dreams, running smack-dab into the brutalist wall of reality.  Mind you, this is the easy version, when you're fully aware of what's going on around you. It's even worse when you get caught up in it, and don't realize what you're doing 🤯. We, as humans like being part of something larger than ourselves, something that gives us a sense of belonging,  that can help us be rooted amongst all the chaos that is swelling all around us. And our workplace is one of the most natural places to find this. Yeah, yeah, the obvious comes to mind - company songs (hello Japan), group activities (trust falls!), and oh so much more. But, in this case, I'm actually referring to something...

  Cynicism is pretty much in vogue. Mind you, I suspect it's always been in vogue, well before the Marquis of Cynìcse famously remarked " mon élicotère est plein d'anguilles " in response to a question about the monarchy (etymology of "cynicism", in case you're wondering). This is particularly relevant when it comes to one's workplace - witness pretty much anybody's response to an exhortation to do good by the company. I mean, " The company doesn't give a s**t about me, why should I give a s**t about the company " is pretty much is a fact of life these days, isn't it? The thing is, it is all too easy to mix up the Company with the People That Work At The Company. If anything, that's pretty much the job of whoever is doing brand-management at the company, that's their job, and they tend to be very good at doing so! But, and this is important, don't fall into that trap . Oh, by all means, be cynical about the company t...

  Stock photographs are the *worst* Are any of the folks that you work with your friends? And no, I don't mean "folks that I'm happy to get coffee/beer with after work" - I'm referring to folks that you deeply care about, grew up with, went to college with, etc. Or even folks that you met at work, and eventually got pretty close with (after all, you can't spend 70% of your waking hours with folks without developing some  sort of relationship with them. Then again, that relationship might be deep antipathy - depending on where you work 🙄) Anyhow, back to friends that you work with, the thing is, there is always the underlying possibility of things going south, of your work responsibilities getting in the way of your friendship. There are so many scenarios here You're both up for the same promotion - a classic movie-plot scenario that is all too common in real life You're working for rival teams (Hello Ballmer-era Microsoft !) You work for your friend, ...

Let’s set the scene. You’re at work, and there’s one of  those things happening, where Alice (or Bob) have come to a decision that is  self-evidently dumb  as far as you’re concerned. You  know you’re right, and you  know  they’re   wrong. Or, it could be a bigger thing. This could be a design meeting, and the rest of the team is going down a road that you just don’t agree with. Or even worse, it could be the tech-lead (or product-manager, or your boss) handing down a decision from on-how to do this  clearly  stupid thing. Soooo, what do you do? • “ F**k-it, it’s not my problem ”? If so, you’re probably seriously burned out, in which case you should move on. Or, you might be in a “collecting a paycheck” kinda place, in which case the rest of this post really isn’t for you. • “ Yup, let’s get it  on ! ” Ok, maybe not quite this phrasing, but it does bring up the question of how forcefully you should argue, and/or get into the f...

What does “ Professional Management ” mean to you? It’s not an idle question, because the answer can have significant impact on your workplace environment. Think about it this way — if your company has had any degree of success, then, at some point, it’s probably going to bring in a “grownup” to deal with the inevitable issues around growth. These may be current issues (“ we need to scale our sales and marketing efforts ”), or upcoming ones (“ we’ll need a *real* customer support organization ”), but regardless, you’ll need to bring in someone who has learned from their mistakes elsewhere  . In this situation, there are typically two different approaches that can get taken here. You can bring in someone who has cut their teeth in  StartupLand, and has experience growing small companies into larger ones, and can do the same for you. Or, you can bring in someone from  EnterpriseWorld , who has seen how things work at scale, and can apply those lessons to your organiza...

You’re smart, you’re talented, you know what you’re doing, and  you don’t agree with Bob’s decision . Or, maybe, there is an ongoing discussion, and  you don’t agree with Alice’s position . Do you stay quiet? Do you object or argue? If so, how forcefully? The thing is, when you’re on a team, you don’t operate in a vacuum (yes,  even if you’re a  #CowboyDeveloper ). Yeah, “black and white” situations do exist, but most of the time you’re operating in a morass of gray. And within this morass 1. You might not have all the facts . There might be business pressures to go in a particular direction, sales opportunities, and a whole bunch more. Yes, you should, ideally, be privy to all the information necessary to make an informed decision, but sometimes (most of the time?) that is simply not efficient. it’s easier to delegate responsibility to the tech lead, manager, business lead, whatever. 2. This might be necessary for consensus . Yes, this may not be the wise...