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Usually, these "about my year" posts are filler, but this was some excellent stuff. Thanks for sharing it. That takes courage. I’m not advocating ladder climbe

Usually, these "about my year" posts are filler, but this was some excellent stuff. Thanks for sharing it. That takes courage. I’m not advocating ladder climbers, I’m not advocating jerks being jerks for the sake of jerktitude, I’m just saying, they have a place, and when you find the right asshole, they’re going to deliver and kick ass while doing it. The delicious irony will be, 5 years from now when your midsize is larger than midsize, the asshole who everyone hates will be the only executive of the lot who arguably deserves his merit badge title. Think on that. Yup. I call this the "DFA Light". DFA = Done Fucking Around. http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/flow-ownership-and-insubordination-plus-d-f-a/ http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/flow-ownershi... DFA usually means that in 6 months, you'll either be running something or fired. On open-plan offices: What you describe isn't open plan. Open plan is this horrible bullpen where everyone's visible and no one has personal space. It sucks. http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/no-idiot-discomfort-is-bad/ http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/no-idiot-disc... What you want is for people to have laptops, and have private offices for people who need them, and open/communal spaces. I worked at a think-tank that had 3:00 tea (with board games that occasionally went till 7:00) and it was brilliant. Let people choose whether they work in the open or in private. Work space is not to be skimped on. 150 SF per person of private and 150 SF of communal. It pays for itself, because typical open plan offices reduce productivity by 50-80%. This hybrid-plan is something Google does extremely well (although it's technically cubicle-based, anyone who wants privacy can take an office). On getting fired: there are good fires and bad fires. I won't share my "number" but its nonzero on both sides (being fired and participating in firing) and I've seen good and bad. A good fire is when they treat it as a no-fault lack-of-fit, come up with a reasonable severance (depending on their finances, this could be zero for a cash-strapped startup, or ~6 months for a rich corporation) and a positive reference. Then it's just a breakup: good people break up with each other all the time. A bad fire is when they cold-fire you and refuse to support your career recovery needs. For me, it's really about references. I don't need a severance, but if you don't agree on a good reference I will do everything in my power to fuck up your reputation. No or bad reference => war.

codercowboy 14y ago
Yeah in this case it was totally the former, on good terms, I'd highly recommend working at the place post-fire, and many of my colleagues, including the guy who had to do the fire and didn't necessarily agree with me offered to be a reference. I'd be a reference for him as well, any day. I'm with you on the personal space per employee thing with communal areas being the right way to go, completely. It just seems the new kool-aid to drink is open space big brother/weird style where it seems to be mostly about minimizing sq foot per employee, which sucks, I agree. Thanks for your comment, it's nice to hear some intelligent feedback :)
gruseom 14y ago
if you don't agree on a good reference I will do everything in my power to fuck up your reputation But what if you don't deserve a good reference?
- michaelochurch 14y ago
  That's never been my situation.
  - tptacek 14y ago
    Well, we'll never know now, will we? :)
tptacek 14y ago
This is why real reference checks rarely rely on the references you provide.
- michaelochurch 14y ago
  That's a huge invasion of privacy (except in national-security cases, wherein people know to expect an intensive background check) and of questionable legality, but yes, it happens. This is why it's a good idea to speak with someone after you're called for a reference. If their prospective employer is calling shadow references (e.g. references they didn't volunteer) they have a right to know that it's going on. ETA: If you're worried about shadow references, the best thing you can do is fake an offer with an "exploding" date to get a decision shortly after you interview. If they only have 2 days to make a decision, they'll stick to the references you provide and not nose around in your past where they don't belong. One can question the ethics of faking an offer, but it's no worse than calling shadow references, so do what you will.

codercowboy 14y ago

Yeah in this case it was totally the former, on good terms, I'd highly recommend working at the place post-fire, and many of my colleagues, including the guy who had to do the fire and didn't necessarily agree with me offered to be a reference. I'd be a reference for him as well, any day. I'm with you on the personal space per employee thing with communal areas being the right way to go, completely. It just seems the new kool-aid to drink is open space big brother/weird style where it seems to be mostly about minimizing sq foot per employee, which sucks, I agree. Thanks for your comment, it's nice to hear some intelligent feedback :)

gruseom 14y ago

if you don't agree on a good reference I will do everything in my power to fuck up your reputation But what if you don't deserve a good reference?

michaelochurch 14y ago
That's never been my situation.
- tptacek 14y ago
  Well, we'll never know now, will we? :)

tptacek 14y ago

This is why real reference checks rarely rely on the references you provide.

michaelochurch 14y ago
That's a huge invasion of privacy (except in national-security cases, wherein people know to expect an intensive background check) and of questionable legality, but yes, it happens. This is why it's a good idea to speak with someone after you're called for a reference. If their prospective employer is calling shadow references (e.g. references they didn't volunteer) they have a right to know that it's going on. ETA: If you're worried about shadow references, the best thing you can do is fake an offer with an "exploding" date to get a decision shortly after you interview. If they only have 2 days to make a decision, they'll stick to the references you provide and not nose around in your past where they don't belong. One can question the ethics of faking an offer, but it's no worse than calling shadow references, so do what you will.