Finding focus in your work

Posted on February 13, 2012
Filed Under Employment, Keeping your Job, The Workplace | 1 Comment

As someone who works from home quite often, I have an acute sensitivity and awareness of distraction—things which could derail an otherwise productive day. While I have been able to reduce or eliminate most distractions from my day, there are still two, seemingly inexorable forces that, every day, try to pull me into an abyss of distraction. I imagine falling into that abyss is a lot like finding yourself on the other side of an event horizon of a black hole: unable to trace the boundaries of the event horizon, a space traveler unwittingly crosses through to that inescapable region of space, only realizing his mistake after it’s decidedly too late. My two distractions actually have names: Slinky and Pogo (the former of whom is pictured above, purring while wedged into the internal framework of an old couch). Read more

Why simply doing your job just isn’t enough anymore

Posted on February 3, 2012
Filed Under Employment, Keeping your Job, Recession, The Workplace | 1 Comment

In one of my earliest blog posts, I characterized the job search as a ruthless war of all against all. Suit-clad, briefcase wielding, warriors battling it out, constantly attempting to eke out the competition through an adept application of cunning and practiced professionalism. Although we have always found signs that this war exists in the workplace, the stakes are higher now—the war more furious, with the workplace looking less like a group of individuals working toward a collective goal, and more like a chess board. In the same way that the rhetoric and tone of our politicians has, in recent years, taken on an almost (or, rather, exclusively) venomous tone—amounting to “political brinksmanship”—employees must today stake their claim, and demonstrate bold tenacity to get ahead. Showing up and simply doing your job, settling into the background, simply won’t cut it anymore. In a few words, you have to get out in front. (As an aside on today’s political discourse, the mud slung today, in print, online, and coating the halls of Congress is hardly comparable to the gruesome, toxic sludge politicians hurled at one another in the early days of our republic—check it out.) Read more

What not to say when you’re late for work

Posted on January 27, 2012
Filed Under Corporate Policy, Employment, Keeping your Job, The Workplace | Leave a Comment

Some time ago, I published a list compiled by CareerBuilder detailing some of the most ridiculous excuses ever used be employees to get out of work, my favorite of which was “chicken attack.” Although, I fervently believe that Occam’s Razor—the simplest explanation, ceteris paribus, is the most likely—is a less than useful tool for judging the validity of employee excuses. In fact, I’ve found the opposite to be true: the more outlandish the excuse, the more likely. Call it anti-Occam.  Why would anyone concoct an unbelievable lie? Of course, this logic gets us into the same catch 22 the protagonist in Joseph Heller’s novel, which coined the term, finds himself. Logic aside, CareerBuilder recently compiled another list, this one detailing “10 weird excuses workers use when late to work.” I’ll let you be the judge. Just for fun, I’ve included the clipart attached to the original post published by TheWorkBuzz—an “I can haz cheezburger-esque” image of a cat in a tie exclaiming, “I no haz hiccups.” Read more

The office holiday party

Posted on January 12, 2012
Filed Under Corporate Policy, Employment, Keeping your Job, Special Occasions and Celebrations, The Workplace | Leave a Comment

A popular seventeenth century political theorist once surmised that social order derives its stability from the innate ability of individual citizens to effectively dissimulate. Dissimu-what? Dissimulation relates to our ability to hide how we truly feel about something beneath a veil of pretense. Although our propensity for dissimulation may not seem like a positive trait—dissimulation is, after all, nothing more than an ornate euphemism for ‘liar, liar, pants on fire’ (you are certainly welcome to disagree). So what does dissimulation have to do with the workplace? Three words: office holiday party. Read more

“Personal Internet use at work: a year-round problem on the rise?”

Posted on January 9, 2012
Filed Under Corporate Policy, Employment, Keeping your Job, Social Network, Technology in the Workplace, The Workplace | Leave a Comment

Have you ever surveyed the cubicle jungle around holiday time? Employees’ eyes are rigidly fixed on their computer monitors, mesmerized as they swiftly flash from screen to screen, each of which depicts a different, unique corporate logo: Zappos, NexTag, OverStock.com. While holiday shopping at work may not be pervasive, it is widespread. With one out of every two employees owning up to committing this workplace felony, I am supremely confident that the number of surreptitious shoppers, who appropriate company time to search the Web for holiday accoutrements, far exceeds what’s reported. Read more

keep looking »

Recently


Categories


Archives