African Proverb about Life

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running.

Don’t mistake activity for achievement.

“Don’t mistake activity for achievement.” -John Wooden

People seem to forget that being busy doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re achieving something… One must be busy working towards the goal in mind!

Wage cut or wage freeze?

Source : Sticky Wages

Check out the above story… It refers to the term “sticky wage” where companies didn’t cut wages in recessions. They just made them “grow slower”… Yet lately there have been actions where wages were cut and it’s an odd move when thinking of the following statements (which are quoted from the article).

• 1. Employee Morale: Truman Bewley found out that pay-cuts affected everyone’s morale, while firings only affected the minority. I am sure all of you, who have seen layoffs agree that the people left behind, are much more productive than they were ever before. When you see your colleague getting fired, you work extra hard to make sure that you are not next in line. Pay-cuts don’t have the same effect, as everyone is on the same boat, and there is no shock effect to spur employees.
• 2. Fear of the best people leaving: The job market has slowed down in the recession, but there are still plenty of firms that are hiring. If an employer cuts salaries across the board, it is quite likely that the better workers will find work elsewhere. So, firms which implement across the board wage cuts, risk disgruntling their better employees and have them leave for greener pastures elsewhere. This factor is a major contributor to sticky wages.
• 3. Get rid of Wally: Not all employees are created equal; some are more efficient than others. In all companies there is some deadweight. Some of your employees will be like Dilbert, some like Alice and then you will have a Wally. If you kept Dilbert and Alice, and fired Wally – your team will still do well, if anything the overall productivity of your team will increase. Even the Pointy – Haired boss knows that it is far better for him to fire Wally, than to take a chance by cutting the salaries of Alice and Dilbert, and risk losing them to Elbonians.
• 4. Preparing for the turnaround: Another factor that contributes to sticky wages is the hope of a turnaround. I know several people who are hanging around in companies without any work or pay – cuts. While there isn’t much demand for their skills now; their employer doesn’t want to take a chance. The employer is worried that if they let this person go, the competitors will build a strong team in this particular area, and drive them out of business when the market eventually turns.

Quote of the day

“If you provide the servers and workstations and applications for an organization, that’s IT. When they cut your budget and make you responsible for the ‘phones as well, that’s ICT.” posted at “IT Job Satisfaction Plummets To All-Time Low” on ./

Apart from that quote, I do see a lot of truth’s buried in the (other) comments.

• “As you get older, your priorities shift. Putting in extra hours is something you do because you have to do it in order to do your job well, not because you are enthusiastic. You have other demands on your time, and other responsibilities such as family. So the fact that the IT boom is long gone, job security is low due to outsourcing, and respect for the industries that pay most is at an all time low means you’re not attracting as much new blood.”
• “So, being an IT guy ain’t what it used to be… at least to the public at large. And I think that lack of respect/not being appreciated for the kind of work that we do/etc is what’s causing a disconnect and a need for professionals to become *consultants*. Because, once you bill at several hundred dollars an hour, people start listening to you a lot more, and respecting you significantly better.”
• “How many IT jobs today involve compliance? How rewarding is compliance-related work? I bet that some of the lack of willingness to suggest process improvements is somehow tied to the process baggage of IT compliance.”

On the long run, I see a future where IT is seen as a full business aspect where it should belong “process integration”. At the moment I think IT is mostly seen as the “maintenance” departement of companies who should fix the machines when it’s broken.

A little motivation

Where did I stumble upon this?

Programming languages as religions

What if programming languages were religions… Aegisub’s point of view!

Become the IT top striker

The IT hat-trick
IT is a service oriented group within the company, yet they often see themselves as a separate entity. Yet some IT staff manage to get noticed in all the right ways. What are the secrets of their success? Cio.com featured an article called “Four Secrets to Becoming a Rising IT Star”. The basics to start with are energy, enthusiasm & passion. But the difference can be made by scoring the following hat-trick:

• Be good to your end users : You might be the next upcoming tech guru, but remember who your customer is… Do not make people feel stupid! People might not be that technical, so present the information in a manner that they understand the technology and it’s importance to the company. When you go to the doctor, would you appreciate it that he started laughing at you because you didn’t know what that medical term meant?
• Business Intelligence : Is your IT department leading your company, or doesn’t it even seem to be able to follow? Get to know your organization & business. What do they do things, and how can you help them to improve?
• Communication & Trust : Trust is the glue that binds relationships together inside and outside of work. Without it, moving up is virtually impossible. And honest communication is a huge part of building trust with your manager. Share the good news—and the bad. Information sharing, when it comes right down to it, translates to respect.

Did you say manga?!?

Stay hungry, stay foolish!

Lately I’ve encountered two speeches I would like to share with you. Both are brought by great men who have been celebrated for their accomplishments. The reason I’m sharing them with you; is because I found both moving & insightful, where I bet you’ll feel the same way after viewing them. The first one is about 15 minutes, yet the second is 76 minutes long. If you want the “management summary” of the second one, click here. But trust me on this one, make time to view the long one! I know it’s lengthy, but I ensure you that it’s an interesting time spent!

Steve Jobs’s Speech at the Stanford graduation of 2005

Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture”

References
Six Minutes : about Steve
Presentation Zen : about Randy
Geek & Poke : for the kickass cartoons

Character

“Character is like a tree and reputation, like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” Abraham Lincoln