5 ms·

Poor planning on someone else's part doesn't make an emergency in my part. I've always hated this statement. I can understand, to some extent, not bailing out

by yock 15y ago

Poor planning on someone else's part doesn't make an emergency in my part. I've always hated this statement. I can understand, to some extent, not bailing out those who are habitually poorly prepared, but how can you justify not bailing someone out if it's what's best for your company?

thebrokencube 15y ago
In a lot of cases the stuff is habitual, at which point you get extremely irritated that people keep screwing up and all the time you're the one who has to clean up the mess. Yea sometimes stuff happens, and I don't think most people have a problem with helping out. But so many times it makes people feel used, which (at least IMO) is why people have this sentiment.
- j45 15y ago
  It's a matter of respect for yourself, and the time of others. People who don't respect their own time won't respect the time of others that much. People who think their time is more important than others time will also abuse the time of others. If I bust my tail getting something done for you that you needed and you can't do the same for something I needed, I'm now doubly under the gun. If I said hey, I have to be there for thebrokencube and you believe in not letting me down, guess what, we have that magical thing of having each others backs and supporting each other. Sadly, most offices are daycares for adults. People act out their high school insecurities on an epic scale and wonder why they aren't getting anywhere in life. The key is to be clear that I'm not here to play clean up for messy people. I am happy to pitch in when things go sideways, but do my job and lift the business up. A broken person, or process will only drag things down.
  - AndyKelley 15y ago
    "Sadly, most offices are daycares for adults. People act out their high school insecurities on an epic scale and wonder why they aren't getting anywhere in life." Can you elaborate? This was a fun teaser but you didn't flesh it out enough.
nknight 15y ago
Why should I be more concerned about what's best for an abstract concept than what's best for me?
- masmullin 15y ago
  Because the abstract concept pays your mortgage.
  - nknight 15y ago
    No, I pay my mortgage. (Or I would, if I were stupid enough to buy real estate in this part of the country.) If my physical and mental health are trashed from overwork, I can't pay my mortgage, because I can't work for anybody. Me and my family first. Company second or lower. Always. The company is replaceable, my life and health are not.
    - masmullin 15y ago
      Sorry I misread your original post as "why should I be concerned about an abstract concept's wellbeing." Yes of course you and your family come first. But you still have to care about the health of the place that gives you money.
      - Retric 15y ago
        If my company dies tomorrow I can easily find new work or try to start a company for a year and then look for a job if that fails. I basically think of the company as a client who I get stuff done in exchange for money and I think that's far more healthy than the alternatives. PS: I live well below my market rate and toss the extra into savings. Living pay check to paycheck when your location or skills make it hard to find a new job is simply poor planing.
    - j45 15y ago
      Agreed, thanks for the clarification :)
- 15y ago
olefoo 15y ago
You're ignoring the longterm effects of someone who chronically creates work for others due to their lack of preparation or ability. It is not good for a company to put itself under stress like that. It's especially poisonous when the person shifting and creating work like that is in a leadership position in the organisation because it sets the template for everyone else. Organisations that let that kind of behavior run rampant; fail to achieve. Being able to distinguish between a real emergency and a real problem that is solvable in the normal course of operations is an essential skill.
- j45 15y ago
  Totally, the "not my job" mindset only slows things down. When one person starts being a joker and not taking things seriously and being thoughtful of the productivity of others or their team, it can spread like wildfire.
j45 15y ago
Interesting question. For me it's like this. If we're really customer facing business, we're a proactive business. Last minute fires mean reactionary mindset. You can never be the best business possible when reactionary. Learning to anticipate things and have them ready in advance is doable in every business. If we look at every last minute thing and apply this simple test to it, we'll know where we're at: 1) Is this something we've dealt with before? 2) Could it have been dealt with in advance? If so, I'm not a fan of feeding the monster. If not, guess what, you have a first time occurence that can use some immediate attention. How to plan for surprises? I only schedule 5-6 hours of work a day. I leave 1-2 hours a day free. Either that time gets eaten up with true surprises, or I get ahead on my schedule. Responsible scheduling helps everyone.

by yock 15y ago

thebrokencube 15y ago

In a lot of cases the stuff is habitual, at which point you get extremely irritated that people keep screwing up and all the time you're the one who has to clean up the mess. Yea sometimes stuff happens, and I don't think most people have a problem with helping out. But so many times it makes people feel used, which (at least IMO) is why people have this sentiment.

j45 15y ago
It's a matter of respect for yourself, and the time of others. People who don't respect their own time won't respect the time of others that much. People who think their time is more important than others time will also abuse the time of others. If I bust my tail getting something done for you that you needed and you can't do the same for something I needed, I'm now doubly under the gun. If I said hey, I have to be there for thebrokencube and you believe in not letting me down, guess what, we have that magical thing of having each others backs and supporting each other. Sadly, most offices are daycares for adults. People act out their high school insecurities on an epic scale and wonder why they aren't getting anywhere in life. The key is to be clear that I'm not here to play clean up for messy people. I am happy to pitch in when things go sideways, but do my job and lift the business up. A broken person, or process will only drag things down.
- AndyKelley 15y ago
  "Sadly, most offices are daycares for adults. People act out their high school insecurities on an epic scale and wonder why they aren't getting anywhere in life." Can you elaborate? This was a fun teaser but you didn't flesh it out enough.

nknight 15y ago

Why should I be more concerned about what's best for an abstract concept than what's best for me?

masmullin 15y ago
Because the abstract concept pays your mortgage.
- nknight 15y ago
  No, I pay my mortgage. (Or I would, if I were stupid enough to buy real estate in this part of the country.) If my physical and mental health are trashed from overwork, I can't pay my mortgage, because I can't work for anybody. Me and my family first. Company second or lower. Always. The company is replaceable, my life and health are not.
  - masmullin 15y ago
    Sorry I misread your original post as "why should I be concerned about an abstract concept's wellbeing." Yes of course you and your family come first. But you still have to care about the health of the place that gives you money.
    - Retric 15y ago
      If my company dies tomorrow I can easily find new work or try to start a company for a year and then look for a job if that fails. I basically think of the company as a client who I get stuff done in exchange for money and I think that's far more healthy than the alternatives. PS: I live well below my market rate and toss the extra into savings. Living pay check to paycheck when your location or skills make it hard to find a new job is simply poor planing.
  - j45 15y ago
    Agreed, thanks for the clarification :)
15y ago

olefoo 15y ago

You're ignoring the longterm effects of someone who chronically creates work for others due to their lack of preparation or ability. It is not good for a company to put itself under stress like that. It's especially poisonous when the person shifting and creating work like that is in a leadership position in the organisation because it sets the template for everyone else. Organisations that let that kind of behavior run rampant; fail to achieve. Being able to distinguish between a real emergency and a real problem that is solvable in the normal course of operations is an essential skill.

j45 15y ago
Totally, the "not my job" mindset only slows things down. When one person starts being a joker and not taking things seriously and being thoughtful of the productivity of others or their team, it can spread like wildfire.

j45 15y ago

Interesting question. For me it's like this. If we're really customer facing business, we're a proactive business. Last minute fires mean reactionary mindset. You can never be the best business possible when reactionary. Learning to anticipate things and have them ready in advance is doable in every business. If we look at every last minute thing and apply this simple test to it, we'll know where we're at: 1) Is this something we've dealt with before? 2) Could it have been dealt with in advance? If so, I'm not a fan of feeding the monster. If not, guess what, you have a first time occurence that can use some immediate attention. How to plan for surprises? I only schedule 5-6 hours of work a day. I leave 1-2 hours a day free. Either that time gets eaten up with true surprises, or I get ahead on my schedule. Responsible scheduling helps everyone.