Category Archives: Work

I’ve got the number three on my mind.  Partly, I think, because I just got invited to interview number three for a new job (same organization).  I’ve had two interviews for a job before, but three is pretty rare.  Usually I’m able to wow ’em with interview number one.

Anyhoo.

In honor of interview number three, and because I’ve just started reading a book called Good to Great and have been thinking a lot about this stuff lately, here are my three simple rules for creating a good work environment:

1. Hire the right people.  And if you’ve got bad people working for you, get rid of them.  Don’t look to create policies to manage bad behavior away.  Policies created around the lowest common denominator won’t ever address the root problem, and will only negatively affect those whose behavior didn’t need to be managed in the first place.
2. Inspire.  Managers can spend a lot of time, if they’re not careful, focusing on the wrong things.  Providing true leadership really depends on demonstrating, on a daily basis, the true purpose behind the work that needs to be done.  If employees understand that value, if they understand their role in meeting some greater purpose, the rest will come naturally.
3. Clear the way.  If there are obstacles that interfere with getting the work done, remove them.  If there are tools that need to be provided to get the work done, provide them.

I know nothing in life can ever really be broken down into three easy steps for success, but I honestly do believe that these three things are essential, on a macro level, to creating a functional, sustainable workplace.

If I had to add one more to the list, it would be this:  don’t be afraid to fail.  Fear of failure, in my experience, can often lead to a sort of paralysis on an organizational level.  There are very few things in life, in work, that can’t be undone if needed, or where important lessons can’t be learned to help guide decisions that are made in the future.

I’m always reflecting back on my experience in the public sector over the last fourteen years or so, and comparing that against what I’ve observed in just the last seven months or so in the private sector.  Interestingly, my past professional experience really goes a long way to informing my thoughts about creating successful businesses.  If my last job had employeed any of these three points (and perhaps the fourth “don’t be afraid to fail” idea), I’d probably still be a city planner today.  For better or worse, though, it didn’t, and so I find myself where I am today, more intrigued than I ever imagined I would be by the inner workings of the business world.

image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordonflickr/

I’ve been through enough therapy to know this one thing:  I can’t change anyone but myself.

The thing is, though, I’m in the running for a manager position at work, where I’d be directly responsible for the behavior and performance of between fifteen and twenty other individuals.  And the question that has been posed to me, the question that I’ve been pondering for the last few days, is this:  what could I possibly do to get someone to perform better at their job?

My mind is constantly drawing connections between all things, related or not, so naturally this question of how to manage people at work reminded me of the President’s speech to school children a few weeks ago.  The gist of his message, the one nugget that I honed in on, anyway, was simply that even if someone could wave a magic wand and eliminate all external factors that impact the ability of our schools to function properly, none of that would matter if the kids themselves don’t take responsibility for their role in the job of educating themselves.

The same thing is true at work.  We could fix every technical challenge that impedes our ability to do our work well, eliminate all financial constraints to our operations, for example, and still none of that would matter if we, the people who do the work, don’t hold up our end of the bargain.

So, sure, as a manager there would be things that I could do to increase the odds that my team would be successful, but ultimately, it comes down, I think, to a matter of character.  Do you, or do you not, care?  Is there some fire inside of you, some internal drive, that motivates you to want to do well, to continue to want to do well?  Because if it’s there, then we’re good.  If not… well, then what?  I can’t make you care, right?  Then we’re all just clocking in and out each day going through the motions.  And what can I, what can anyone, do with that?

image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicecupoftea/

Charley gave a presentation today to an audience of about 250.  When I got home after a long and weird day at work, he asked me if I wanted to see his powerpoint.  And no, that’s not code for anything fun.  But I’m only human, so of course I said yes.  Recreational powerpoint?  Sign me up!

The last presentation I made as a city planner was at the Railvolution conference in San Francisco almost one year ago, where I put together a powerpoint presentation arguing against the overuse and abuse of powerpoint.  Death by powerpoint is no urban myth.

The other day I went to a meeting at work where someone who is relatively high up the food chain made a presentation to the group of us worker bees.  There were roughly 50 of us crammed into the lunch room, seated on uncomfortable plastic chairs, squinting up at the wall mounted flat screen TV.  “I’m showing you the same presentation that I showed the CEO last week,” he explained.  “Some people would have ‘dumbed’ this down to show you.  But I’m not going to.  Because I think it’s important that you see the same information.”  He looked around the room to see if we were getting his point.  “Because I respect you that much.”

Of course the screen was too small for the size of the group he was addressing, the slides were too dense, too text heavy, with too much jargon.  And all I could think was, “You showed the CEO that?”

So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw what Charley had put together.  Images that helped to convey a message, with a very strategic use of appropriately sized text.  He had struck just the right balance, creating visual cues to support the words that he was saying.  Most people these days hide behind powerpoint, hope that it will take some of the attention off of them.  That’s just weak.  But not my guy.  Nuh uh.

Plus he ended his presentation with that fabulous chunky bacon image from above there.  Apparently it’s actually a reference to the programming language that he’s been championing for his company.  Whatever.  I just think it’s hysterical.

There’s a theory out there that says that you should make your living doing what you love.  I’m not sure, though, that I trust that old adage.  I’m completely aware that this may be another convenient defense mechanism that I’ve contrived, but I do wonder if it isn’t possible to have too much of a good thing.  Like when I was younger and liked chocolate so much that I would fantasize about swimming in a pool of melted chocolate.  Now, with the wisdom that comes with maturity, I recognize this idea as being  one that is both silly and remarkably impractical.

Charley likes to cook.  It is something that brings him joy partly I believe because it’s a diversion.  There’s no real pressure associated with a hobby.  Jobs, on the other hand, typically involve at least a little bit of stress, and the business of food is known for being particularly stressful.  How long would it take, I wonder, for most recreational chefs to lose touch with the initial joy that brought them into the kitchen in the first place, if cooking became a “have to” instead of “want to”?

Here’s another example. I like contemplating issues related to City Planning, thinking about the different ways we might be able to reorganize our physical space to address social, economic, environmental issues.  But the day-in, day-out work of City Planning drove me a little batty; it wasn’t a particularly good fit for me.  So I’ve decided to take a more playful approach to engaging in the City Planning conversation.  My good friend K has suggested that we do a bit of kamikaze planning by creating a Traffic Jam demonstration — temporarily taking over some space downtown that is typically dedicated to cars, and filling it with music instead.  A piano on wheels.  A stand up bass.  A set of drums.  And voices.  A new kind of Traffic Jam  session — get it?  Obviously the devil is in the details; the goal is to be evocative and not just, I don’t know, annoying.  Anyway, I am all over that idea.

I think it’s important to like what you do.  But I think it’s important to love the things that make you happy outside of work.

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Here is a link to a nice little piece from the New York Times on last year’s Park(ing) Day event — Putting the Park Back in Parking