Rant: Work-life balance

[cardinalkarp]

Well, at least that means you'll definitely get the weekend off.

[Fat_Bulldog]

Well, at least that means you'll definitely get the weekend off.

Nope. I'll be on a bridge line all god damned weekend troubleshooting their [expletive] and telling them we should have followed normal procedure vs. doing it their way. I will also have to guide them step by step during troubleshooting else they will dig an even deeper hole to dig out of.

[cardinalkarp]

I meant if you get fired.

[Fat_Bulldog]

I meant if you get fired.

Good one.

They have nothing ready so this won't be going now.

[jim]

My boss told me so and so had to come up to speed on blah so we had a solid backup. I read that email, thought about it a minute, and didn't like it. So I sent an email saying the other so and so was going to work on becoming the backup. I also went into the other so and so's office and spent probably a good 5 minutes explaining what it was I wanted him to do.

I am EXHAUSTED. I better go to lunch. I think I am going to go buy some tickets to see Alex Reyes pitch Sunday down the street. I'll probably go to the Tuesday game which is at 11am. I'll just make that my lunch break.

This management stuff wears you out.

fat bulldog - please make it a priority to install foo on Sunday morning (clear direction). Please send me a detailed report so that I can include it in my weekly upper management meeting and take credit (communication). I am sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you and your family on this holiday weekend. (compassion)

Thanks. (Respect),

Direction, compassion, good communication, and respect. All the earmarks of a great leader.

Ok, time to go get those tickets now.

[mikechamp]

I could try to switch my niche to low-impact design and/or green infrastructure and possibly open a few other doors, but don't know if that's really what I want to do.

In my professional opinion, this will be a growing field with a need for smart and creative people.

[Fat_Bulldog]

My boss told me so and so had to come up to speed on blah so we had a solid backup. I read that email, thought about it a minute, and didn't like it. So I sent an email saying the other so and so was going to work on becoming the backup. I also went into the other so and so's office and spent probably a good 5 minutes explaining what it was I wanted him to do.

I am EXHAUSTED. I better go to lunch. I think I am going to go buy some tickets to see Alex Reyes pitch Sunday down the street. I'll probably go to the Tuesday game which is at 11am. I'll just make that my lunch break.

This management stuff wears you out.

fat bulldog - please make it a priority to install foo on Sunday morning (clear direction). Please send me a detailed report so that I can include it in my weekly upper management meeting and take credit (communication). I am sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you and your family on this holiday weekend. (compassion)

Thanks. (Respect),

Direction, compassion, good communication, and respect. All the earmarks of a great leader.

Ok, time to go get those tickets now.

Not a problem. Please take credit for everything.

Regards,

Fat_Bulldog

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I could try to switch my niche to low-impact design and/or green infrastructure and possibly open a few other doors, but don't know if that's really what I want to do.

In my professional opinion, this will be a growing field with a need for smart and creative people.

The hard part would be starting up, imo. I've thought a little about this, not really doing it, but how I would start it up in the event I wanted to. The hard part is having the niche. Almost any firm can market themselves as green or low-impact, imo. Thus, leading to the hard part as actually cornering the market and convincing everyone your knowledge is superior to a firm saying they are the same thing....That exercise would be great when completed but very difficult to complete.

There are already larger companies, as well, that are specializing in LEED certification, testing, et al though they're not in the design business....probably for a reason.

Any way I slice it, I can't fathom a way where starting up my own business, niche or not, in the design arena is profitable without a lot of work.

[jim]

There are times where things just can't wait, but we really do encourage a balanced work life and will avoid doing things on weekends (esp. 3 day weekends) whenever possible. Of course I work in an unusual environment - $ have nothing to do with our bottom line. Which is exactly why I came to work here to be quite honest. I remember getting the phone call from the head hunter, I was intrigued because it sounded like a cool place but it was over an hour commute from where we lived. As I was hanging up, the recruiter said "oh by the way you get 5 weeks vacation". "I'll see them tomorrow" was my answer, and I never looked back.

I've had 5 weeks vacation (plus 10 holidays) for almost 20 years now, and that is a wonderful mechanism to control that work-life balance. They changed that a year after I started - going to 1.5 days/month which is still pretty good. It takes 10 years now to get to the 5 week level.

[Freed Roger]

I could try to switch my niche to low-impact design and/or green infrastructure and possibly open a few other doors, but don't know if that's really what I want to do.

In my professional opinion, this will be a growing field with a need for smart and creative people.

The hard part would be starting up, imo. I've thought a little about this, not really doing it, but how I would start it up in the event I wanted to. The hard part is having the niche. Almost any firm can market themselves as green or low-impact, imo. Thus, leading to the hard part as actually cornering the market and convincing everyone your knowledge is superior to a firm saying they are the same thing....That exercise would be great when completed but very difficult to complete.

SOLYNDRA!!!!!!! BENGHAZI!!!!