EppsNet Archive: Work

Who You Really Are

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Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is in reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. — Margaret Young Read more →

Where is Everybody?

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This is our office parking lot at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday . . . Read more →

April Fools

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Every month, I present web site metrics to our Web Steering committee. Since this month’s meeting fell on April 1, I took the opportunity to mock up and present a set of fake charts showing all of our key metrics falling off a cliff. LOL! OK I know what you’re thinking — not as funny as cling wrap on a toilet seat. You’re right but chart pranks are more cerebral . . . Read more →

The Importance of Doing Meaningful Work

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Over the course of each academic term, he asks undergraduate and graduate business students three questions: A year out of this program what do you expect your job will be? What kind of job contributes the most to general well-being? Practicality aside, if you could be doing anything 10 years from now, what would it be? What’s striking is that there is almost no overlap among the students’ answers to these questions. . . . The question then becomes: Why are students studying so hard and paying so much to reach objectives that are neither what they dream of nor what they think of as especially responsible? — The Importance of Doing Meaningful Work – Forbes.com Read more →

If I Had a Toyota

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If I had a Toyota, I’d drive it to work one morning, crash it right into the front lobby of the building, get out, say good morning to everyone, and blame the whole thing on a faulty accelerator, just to break up the monotony of daily living . . . Read more →

Hearing Voices

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I’m getting some coffee in the lunch room . . . no one else is present. One of my colleagues walks in and says, “Are you talking to yourself, Paul?” “No, actually I wasn’t saying anything.” Which I wasn’t. “Maybe you’re hearing voices,” I suggest. “And ironically, you were just insinuating that I was nuts.” Read more →

Do Not Disturb

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Most of us at work have offices with doors. People close the door sometimes for privacy, but mostly when they just want to work uninterrupted for a while. So today I had a brainstorm of an idea: I could just close my door and go home! People would marvel at my new work ethic! “He’s in there working all day and night,” they’d say. “He doesn’t even come out to use the bathroom!” Read more →

I Am a Programmer

by  on The Programmer
 

They were like spectators. You had a feeling they had just wandered in there themselves and somebody had handed them a wrench. There was no identification with the job. No saying, “I am a mechanic.” At 5 P.M. or whenever their eight hours were in, you knew they would cut it off and not have another thought about their work. They were already already trying not to have any thoughts about their work on the job. — Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance   We had a manager’s meeting today on the subject of employee recognition. The text we were given to read in preparation for the meeting was indistinguishable from a handbook on training your new puppy: Behavior which is reinforced is usually repeated. . . . You risk extinguishing the positive behavior by not recognizing it. . . . Provide compliments in a timely fashion,… Read more →

DogPoopBags.com

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“What kind of work do you do?” someone asks you. “I’m a web developer,” you reply. “How interesting! What site do you work on?” “It’s just a small site. You wouldn’t have heard of it.” “Oh I’m on the web a lot. I may have seen it. What’s it called?” In a barely audible voice, halfway between a mumbling cough and a coughing mumble, you say, “DogPoopBags.com.” “Ha ha ha — for a second there I thought you said DogPoopBags.com. I . . . uh . . . oh, sorry.” Read more →

Bad is Good

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I saw a guy I used to work with on LinkedIn today . . . The thing I remember most about him is that he believed it was bad luck to wish good fortune on someone. For example, if you said to him “Have a good day,” he believed that would in fact cause him to have a bad day. When I worked with him, if I saw him as I was leaving the office, I’d say “Have a crummy evening.” And he’d say, “Thank you.” Read more →

Occupational Intensity

by  on The Programmer
 

I saw a guy yesterday — let’s call him Jack — that I used to work with 20 years ago on my first programming job. My most vivid memory of him is the day he offered to sock another programmer — let’s call him Sid — “right in your f^$&ing face, Sid” because Jack was unhappy with the quality of Sid’s work. You rarely see that kind of passion and zest in the workplace anymore . . . Thus spoke The Programmer. Read more →

Bad Timing

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A co-worker walks into the break room just as I clumsily drop something on the floor. That’s embarrassing. “Next time, try to walk in right when I do something good,” I say. “Okay,” she says. Read more →

Twitter: 2009-11-12

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RT @mashable Bill Gates’ Plan for Fixing the World http://bit.ly/4ABw03 # RT @SarahKSilverman: Sometimes when I'm by myself I say out loud, "BarTHelona" & giggle at that lispy accent they have. ah shit, I have fun. # RT @capricecrane: They say a lie gets around the world before the truth gets its pants on. Why the truth is pantsless, no one ever says. # User Story Mapping: modeling user stories for effective understanding of your system and planning incremental releases: http://bit.ly/1LQ17h # If my office gets one degree colder I'm going home… # Read more →

Jerry Weinberg

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Jerry Weinberg has been for almost 50 years the leader in considering software engineering not just as a technical practice but as a human activity. I’ve read seven of his books and with the exception of people I’ve actually worked with, I’ve learned more about IT from Jerry than from any other person. He’s recently been diagnosed with what doctors say is a fatal illness. He has a CaringBridge site where he can read messages. Read more →

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