I have a better story than this one about making bad assumptions, but it involves the HP-EDS merger and that information is confidential.   I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you and I might get fired regardless.  So, I’ll save that for another time.

It’s relevant, though, because I made an assumption at work that almost got me into trouble when that assumption was wrong and then two days later discovered that another one did get me into trouble in my personal life.  In both situations, I was slammed in the face with the fact that assumptions can be bad, bad things when they are incorrect.
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Technorati Tags: assumptions, PODS

Note: This article originally ran on July 6 2007, is slightly edited for reprint in an effort to share previously published ideas with new readers.

Every once in awhile, it happens. You are in a review meeting of some kind with your boss or, worse, your boss’ boss. The topic is some contentious issue your group is having with some other group and inevitably the big question comes from the most important person in the meeting and is directed to you:

“Can you come to the meeting I have with the other high level manager on this as my back up?”

That knot you feel in your stomach as the question hangs in the air is the realization that you are pre-whacked out Tom Cruise as Maverick and you’ve just been ordered to go after Soviet MIGs as Val Kilmer’s wingman.

What this manager has asked you to do is come to a meeting with high powered people and make sure he or she doesn’t make a fool of themselves because you understand the details that nobody else does. While you can turn this into a positive, it puts you in a very difficult situation because the stakes are usually higher than you are used to in meetings like this and there is a probability you can inadvertently make somebody responsible for your raises look like an idiot. That’s bad.

Here are 5 tips to consider when being put in this situation to help insure your continued employment:
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Jeff Atwood had an interesting post over the weekend entitled “Quantity Always Trumps Quality” where he quotes a story from a book called “Art and Fear”, a curious scenario from a pottery class: (more…)

Technorati Tags: coding horror, learning, mistakes

You’ve finished your day’s work, about to leave your desk, only there’s a reporter in the hallway who has an audio recorder or maybe even a camera crew and wants a few minutes of your time. “How did it go today?,” she might ask. “Do you think your manager made the right decisions today to make your team successful?,” might be another inquiry. “What do you really think of your upper management and the company strategy?” And so it could go.

Among the reasons I like writing about pro sports in this space is that many of them rely upon cohesive teamwork in order to achieve desired outcomes, just like most project teams in other businesses. A big difference is that the interactions among the people in pro sports is extremely public. It’s one thing to trash your boss on an email where you accidentally press “reply all”, it’s quite another to have a poorly thought out sound bite replayed on SportsCenter for days on end.

It is from that perspective that I find the Brett Favre saga especially interesting because it asks a basic question that plays out in lots of other companies today:

Is there such a thing as loyalty between an employer and an employee?
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Technorati Tags: favre, loyalty, nfl

I realize I’m dating myself (again) but I thought it was very cool that somebody from half way across the world could get a job as a replacement lead singer for an iconic 80’s band through YouTube. The Monster Blog tells the story of how Journey found Arnel Pinedas, which is similar to the Mark Wahlberg 2001 film Rock Star (not worth the Netflix rental) only without Jennifer Aniston.

Some good points on self promotion and some nice links at the bottom make it worth a read.

Technorati Tags: arnel pinedas, journey, monster blog

In case you didn’t catch it, Randy Pausch died on Friday.  I will always be amazed that someone facing such a horrible truth could be so positive about it and inspire millions in the process.  I can’t imagine what his family is going through now, but they certainly have a lot to remember him by.  If you haven’t read his book or watched the video of his lecture, you need to find time to do it.   “The walls are there for other people.”

On a much lighter note, my friend Liz Handlin ran a piece last Thursday enlightening those of us that are Digg challenged to a hilarious post over at JobMob entitled “150 Funniest Resume Mistakes, Bloopers, and Blunders Ever“.  Aside from invoking my favorite Homer Simpson image (”insert brain here”), it brought some humor to what was a tough Friday for me.  I found these particularly funny:

• “Finished eighth in my class of ten.”
• “I am loyal to my employer at all costs..Please feel free to respond to my resume on my office voice mail.”
• Why Interested in Position: “to keep my parole officer from putting back me in jail”
• Work experience: “Two years as a blackjack and baccarat dealer. Strong emphasis on customer relations - a constant challenge considering how much money people lose and how angry they can get.”
• “Skills: Strong Work Ethic, Attention to Detail, Team Player, Self Motivated, Attention to Detail”
• Reason for leaving last job: “Bounty hunting was outlawed in my state.”

It’s a great list that the folks over there took a lot of time to assemble, take a look.

Technorati Tags: funny resumes, last lecture, randy pausch

Note: This article originally ran on July 31 2007, is slightly edited for reprint in an effort to share previously published ideas with new readers.

Often times, when interacting with a new group of people it can be difficult to decode the roles and responsibilities that have already been established among them. Inadvertently directing comments to the wrong person can spark insults or waste time, generally yielding poor results. Taking the time to ask about who is in charge of what can make a big difference for everyone involved.

When my maternal grandfather (inventor of concussion grenade fishing) died in 2002, my Mom went back to Oklahoma City before Dad and I could join her for the services that would be held. My grandmother wasn’t up to planning the funeral so her 3 daughters and son did the job.

My Mom (back left) with her siblings and parents, circa 1982.

As much as we all love them, it’s a known fact that my Mom and her sisters all got the family “bossy gene”. They have a need to be in charge. Don’t get me wrong, all of them use their powers for good instead of evil. When any of them are on the case, stuff gets done and you don’t have to give it a second thought.

As a result of being raised in a house with these people, my uncle is an extremely laid back guy. He’s a very hard worker, but he’s always had other people around him to do the worrying so he doesn’t do a whole lot of it himself (and, by extension, he was more fun to play with when I was a kid, a comment I’ll surely take flak for from my aunts). If you had three people barking orders at you all the time throughout your childhood who weren’t even your parents, you’d be the same way.

So, the four of them are sitting in the funeral director’s office planning how the services would go. The conversation quickly fell into a pattern. A gentleman in his mid 50s, the funeral director would address his questions directly to my uncle, who would say nothing when eventually the silence would be filled by one of his sisters interjecting the answer. Not understanding the dynamic, the funeral director continued to address my uncle almost exclusively, presumably because he’s male and the assumed leader of the group despite evidence to the contrary. After awhile, my uncle couldn’t stand it any more and with his gentle drawl, politely said:

“Excuse me, sir, but are you under the impression that I’m in charge here?”

Needless to say, the format of the conversation changed for the better after that and helped them all achieve a much swifter resolution to the issues they were there to discuss.

The next time you find yourself confronted with a new group of people with a prior relationship, take a minute to assess who is playing what roles. If you can’t figure that out for yourself, ask. Knowing who is interested in what is half the battle.

When having a dispute with someone, I like to think of the situation in two parts:

1. Make sure everybody has the same set of facts
2. Try to understand what in the other persons perspective is causing them to have an opinion different from yours despite #1

I spend a lot of time in this space writing about #2, but was reminded recently that you can’t forget #1 in the process.
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Technorati Tags: argument strategies, dispute

Most people reading this will never meet me in person, but I’m quite tall.  My 5′4″ mother and 5′9″ father produced a 6′6″ son (who subsequently married a 5′ wife) so I kinda stick out in family pictures.  As a by-product of my height, I played a lot of basketball in my youth.

We’re staying at my parents house while we await our new house to be ready for move-in, and I was greeted with this picture for the first time in years.  It sparked memory about a lesson I learned at the time about how not to inspire people:

My senior year of high school, I was co-captain with the other two seniors on the team and learned the hard way that you can’t inspire people with aggression.  We’re all smiling in the picture above (I’m on the far right with a lot more hair than I have now and the ’80s short shorts), but those guys hated me and with 20 years of hindsight I have to agree they had a good reason.
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Technorati Tags: bridge burning, leadership

There’s always a reason for why someone does something. Your challenge is to figure out why. That’s true of a business meeting just as it is of a married couple. Figure out why and you get a better understanding of the other person’s perspective and can find a better common solution.

Case in point:
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Technorati Tags: perspective, psychology, relationships