Survive Downsizing blog

The Two Survival Instincts That Will Protect Your Job in Tough Economic Times When managers are asked “Who are the really productive people in this company?”, the answers invariably go something like this: “When I need to take care of an important customer, I call Betty.” “The best sales manager in the company is Bob, hands down.” “If I need to get a project cleaned up and completed fast, I call John, he’s amazing.” The same names come up again and again: the high-performers – the “go-to” individuals. In tough economic times companies build their organizations around these people and discharge the rest. What do these people have that gets them noticed? What gives them that kind of visibility and a reputation for excellence? Over the last few years the partners in the consulting firm Interpersonal Skills Laboratory have asked those questions of hundreds of managers who have been in the position of selecting only the best and brightest to staff their newly downsized organizations. In those surveys managers were asked to address the following: “List the personal characteristics, skills or competencies of those employees who will be most valuable to your organization.” If you have been involved in selecting employees to staff your re-sized company, what specific skills did you look for?” Give an example of a behavior that is most characteristic of an employee – with whom you have had personal experience – who you believe is indispensable to the company.” When the results were analyzed something surprising emerged. Almost no one referenced an employee’s technical skill. It seemed to be a given that the technical ability to do a job well was no longer, by itself, a distinguishing factor. Something else was at the top of those managers’ “must have” list – a set of qualities combining interpersonal facility and system understanding. These key capabilities are best described in two forms: Personal Initiative and the Capacity for Collaboration. These capabilities appear to be innate value choices, present in all of us – a kind of instinctive way of operating. As human beings we have both the inclination to take action and to seek achievement (personal initiative), and the inclination to associate with and cooperate with others for the common good (collaboration). We are concerned about doing what needs to be done for our own self-interest. At the same time, we are social beings – forming associations and relationships to meet our needs for connectedness with others. Eighty-two percent of all the respondents in these surveys identified some form of either Personal Initiative or the Capacity for Collaboration as a key capability for success inside the 21st century organization. And, although both competencies were seen as of high value, the most sought-after individual of all was the one who had both these competencies in balance. Personal Initiative: Becoming an Organization Driver Personal Initiative involves setting clear goals and pushing to achieve them. It is the belief that it is the active deed — accomplishment – that is most satisfying. Outward, energetic action defines this personal quality. In the surveys, those with the instinct of Personal Initiative were noted to have four distinct skills. Proactivity: a willingness to take the lead – to take the action necessary to move forward, rather than wait and react to circumstances as they unfold; a belief that success comes through dogged-determination and follow-through. An Internal Locus of Control: a belief that their fate is in their own hands; a comfortableness with independent action and a knack for overcoming any roadblocks that might get in the way. An Achievement-Orientation: an inclination to actively seek challenging assignments and opportunities that put them to the test; a desire to expand their abilities and sharpen their skills. Self-assurance and self-confidence are also part of this mix. Hope and Confidence: This quality is different than just rosy cheerfulness. Rather, it is the expectation that you can prevail over obstacles through your own efforts; a belief that with the right combination of effort and perseverance, success is just around the corner. These individuals tend to focus on what can happen rather than on the obstacles. Capacity for Collaboration: Getting the Right People on the Bus and Getting on With Them The Capacity for Collaboration describes a strong desire to include others when appropriate to leverage impact and involvement. This is the desire to work for the common good, accessing all the human resources in the organization. It’s a mindset of cooperation and interdependence. In the surveys, those with the instinct of the Capacity for Collaboration display three more specific skills. An Orientation Toward Others: a preference to work and make decisions with other people rather than toiling alone. Responsiveness to the needs of others: Like good caregivers in every avenue of life, those with the Capacity for Collaboration are skilled at listening and offering feedback. They cultivate a reputation as someone who rallies around others and helps when needed. Polished people skills: This is the ability to gain the trust, respect and confidence of different types of people all over the organization. It is a warm and inviting presence that draws others in. We all know that we have the ability to make the work of our colleagues easier or more difficult – if we have a mind to. The decision we make is largely determined by our willingness to take the personal initiative to solve work problems, and by our willingness to consider others and involve them when appropriate. These two “instincts” in combination establish our reputation as people of influence and worthy of respect. These two “survival instincts” are the building blocks that underlie everything that effective performers do. These “instincts” multiply our impact, they heighten our personal visibility, and they ensure that our technical skills are valued and utilized. When these instincts are in place, it becomes easier to get the job done. Other people in the organization line up behind us. They listen to what we have to say, and when times get tough, they want to make sure that we are on their team.

The Introduction

By the time I hit 7th Grade I knew a few things for certain.

1)    I wanted to get the hell out of my hometown.

2)    I liked Art and English. .  I couldn’t do Math to save my life, and Science was hard for me to grasp, but dammit I could write a good poem.  Around the time most kids my age were playing sports I was reading the biggest book I could get my hands on.  A real conversation during class went like this;

Me: What are you reading?

Kid: This R.L. Stein book.  It’s short and easy and people die.  What about you?

Me: I’m reading the whole Foundation series by Isaac Asimov.  *I pull out a gigantic grey five hundred page tome the size of a text book*

Kid: …You’re weird.

        This interest in writing and reading led directly into…

3)    I liked Film.  I liked Film a lot.  The first film I can remember seeing in theaters was The Rocketeer and it blew my 6 year old mind.  I wanted to go see all the movies I could, and I wanted to talk about them.  After a while I found ways to read about them, which opened up whole new avenues of thought.  What if this book I was reading could turn into a movie?  What would it look like?  This eventually developed into “this idea I’ve always had would look GREAT on a movie screen!”  This in turn led to me attempting to draw and write out screenplays of whatever popped into my head.  My drawings looked like stick figures with birth defects so I had to focus on my writing, for better or worse.  And this was all before High School.

            This all led to my decision to get into the Film Industry.  I mean, how hard could it be?

            What no one seems to realize is that the film industry is huge and encompasses world wide probably over  seven million people.  I have come to this number without doing any research at all but judging from what I’ve seen I can’t be far off.  This means that for everyone person who moderately makes it in the film world there are roughly 1000 who don’t.  A lot of these people quit the industry after awhile and go onto other things because they are tired of living off of Ramen.  But then there are the other crazy people who decide that living off of Ramen is just fine as long as they are chasing a dream, or doing something they actually like.

            These are the people at the bottom of the Film Industry pile who no one ever really recognizes or remembers.  They are the security guards, the receptionists, the script readers, the drivers, the part time location scouts, and of course the many overworked Production Assistants (PAs), to name a few.  These are the people who do their work quietly, take their money, and walk away asking themselves what the hell they did with their lives.  These are the proverbial “flies on the wall.”  These people tend to get front row seats to everything going on in the film industry while at the same time not being in any position to do anything about it.  This is where most the seven million people in the industry work.

            Most these people are still trying to break into the Film Industry somehow and become successful.  What people have to realize is that the Industry itself is incredibly hard to break into.  The people who make it tend to have connections, or somehow got the luck equivalent to winning the lottery.  Others climbed the ladder for years to get to some moderate success.  The rest of them are left out in the cold to do odd jobs and try to make ends meet.  It can be a pretty miserable existence.

            If you tell this to most people trying to break into the Film Industry they will simply nod at you, tell you they know, and continue on their quest to “make it” somehow.  Most of the time this means they are dreaming.  They don’t want to hear what you’re telling them because they’ve heard it a million times before, so they will simply agree with you and hope you forget about them so they don’t have to hear your logic again.  This is especially found in Film Schools around the country.

            The rest of these people are realistic about their chances of breaking into the industry but try and do it anyway.  They are realistic either because they have always known the odds or because the industry has already chewed them up and they are too stubborn or driven to quit.  Either way, these people have drive.  God Dammit, they hate all other jobs in the universe and for some odd reason love film enough to put up with the bullshit it throws at them daily.  They are going to stick with trying to “make it” and try and make a living doing so.  A lot of the time the only other option for these people is to admit failure and try and get a job they will hate doing for the rest of their lives.  This tends to not be an option.

            These are the people who will “couch surf” from apartment to apartment, finding friends nice enough to lend them a couch to live on for a week or two before going to another friend’s couch in order to not have to pay rent when money is tight.  These are the people in their mid thirties who live on cereal for a week straight because there is another strike keeping them from working.  These are the people who sleep in their cars to keep a movie set safe because it’s a few extra dollars in their pocket, and more importantly, a hell of a lot of respect the next day.  These people are insane.  These people have been broken down and built up so many times the shit thrown at them simply rolls off.  These are the hard skinned bastards of the world who still put up with everything because of some inner drive telling them “it will all pay off one day.”

            They are driven.  They are proud.  They know film like no one else.  I call them Film Grunts.  And right now I can officially say I am one.

            These are my stories as a Film Grunt, being on the front lines to see some of the insanity on the lower rungs of the Film World.  I am a fairly young Film Grunt, and I don’t think I have seen everything yet.  But some of my stories are too weird or insane not to share.  I can guarantee you that every story here is true, although names and some places have been changed to protect the innocent and my own ass.

            I hope you enjoy these stories.  I didn’t enjoy living every one, but I sure do enjoy telling them.

The Story of His Faithfulness

It’s a peculiar feeling, today.

I’ve deleted all my email, loaded my car, shipped my files and changed my voice mail to notify customers “I am no longer an active employee.”

I have nothing to do.

It’s 1:51 in the afternoon, I have 13 percent power left on my laptop battery, Google Reader has no new items and my meeting with HR is not until 2:30.

Again, I have nothing to do.

The thing about knowing for the better part of a year that today was coming is that the emotion has already been spent. The contemplation has already been done. I just need my paperwork and a place to turn in my key.

For, I have nothing to do.

::

Last Sunday, my family met my pastor and his wife here late in the afternoon. He’d asked me occasionally over the past several years if I would give him a tour of the building, a local landmark. It’s not every little town on the South Dakota prairie that has a seven story building stretching up in its landscape.

My boys had never been to the seventh floor either, so we made a family event of it. Looking down from seven stories changes perspective. Instead of seeing a single building before us, we see the structures, landmarks, trees and parks in context with the rest of the community.

The view from the top also affords another perspective I can’t see on the ground: we’re at the bottom of the bowl. Once buildings and trees don’t block the view, I can see the coteau lining the horizon and the highway running downhill to the bottom of this basin.

At the bottom, I can’t see that I’m in a valley.

At the top, I can.

It seems to me that this should mean something profound.

But I’m all contemplated out.

::

We wound up our little tour in the cafeteria on the second floor. His voice hushed in the late afternoon shadows, Pastor Dennis asked, “Could we have prayer here, in the cafeteria?”

Of course we could. So there in the space where sleepy workers find their caffeine injections in the morning and a hot meal at noon, we six found one another’s hands around a a little table for four.

Where coworkers enjoy lunchtime conversation with each other, we enjoyed some conversation with the Father. We reminded Him of our story, the one He already knows so well.

And as Pastor Dennis spoke aloud, God spoke in the quiet, reminding us of His story.

The one we already know so well.

The story of His faithfulness.

::

Today, as I wait, with nothing to do, well-wishing colleagues stop by. It’s awkward for them, talking to those of us departing today. Some of them will be here a few more months. Others a few more years. Nobody knows for sure anymore.

Awkward, yes. But it gives me a chance to tell that story again, that story of His faithfulness.

My need is no greater, my circumstance no more dire than theirs.

And His faithfulness to each of remains as steadfast as it was a week ago. A year ago.

A lifetime ago.

::

Contracts distributed, terms defined, keys surrendered, and thanks for years of service expressed, we gather at local establishment for happy hour.

It’s an ironic way to mark the end of an era for a local business. Indeed, for a community. Folks who’ve spent the whole of their adult lives working side by side in the same building part ways. I’m the short-timer here, rubbing shoulders with those who have decades of history here.

Sipping my Pepsi (had to get that in), I’m asked again. The same question posed countless times over weeks and months.

What will you do now?

My answer remains the same: I will wait on God. He hasn’t failed me yet.

I don’t suppose He’ll change His ways anytime soon.

And so continues this new chapter in the story of His great faithfulness.

::

Related posts:
Peace with a Massive Wingspan
A Certain Uncertainty
The Making of a Detour
I‘m Glad We Didn’t Build a Storehouse

Blessing in disguise?

I haven’t worked the last 2 days. It’s been kind of rough. I don’t know what to do with my time. I’ve baked everyday that I had off. On Sunday, I baked these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They were a little too cakey for my taste. But, the SO and his kids at worked loved it. On Monday, I made brownies from the Hershey’s recipe. One word: DIVINE. On Tuesday, I made carrot cake. I’m not a fan of carrot cake, but the SO loved it. One thing from next time, remember to put more frosting between the layers! I was in this mode for putting the crumb layer on and totally forgot about putting on more frosting! Today, I wanted to make peanut brittle, but I don’t have enough peanuts. Maybe when I head over to the farmer’s market, I’ll stop and get some peanuts.
This not working a lot situation is really bring the morale down. I was getting better with the whole negativity thing. I was used to working about 30 hours a week and now I’m lucky if I get 25. Sad. I feel bad because the SO is basically fronting everything again. I just bake and hope that it makes up for the financial problems. I went running for the first time on Monday. It was kind of not fun. The regimen was: I run for 2 min and walk for 4 min repeat 5 times for a total of 30 min. I’m still hurting, but I’m gonna do it again today. I ran up and down the street. I didn’t wanna run a mile away and realize that I couldn’t run back. That would be embarrassing. The SO may run with me too. Next Friday, in Gainesville,they’re having a woman’s career fair. The SO said I should go and see what it’s like.
He’s amazing. He’s the most understanding and supportive person in the world. I contemplated finding a job ANYWHERE and doing the long distance thing. But, I find that a little too difficult right now because I don’t want to or have a reason to distance myself from him. I just hope that I can find a job in Gainesville and be a true equal partner with him.

wer suchet der findet...

…heißt es ja….aber bisher bin ich noch nicht besonders erfolgreich….es gibt so wenig ausschreibungen, es sei denn man sucht einen praktikumsplatz…
das ist wirklich sehr unbefriedigend. aber gut, es hat auch lange gedauert meine arbeiten in einem gescheiten portfolio zusammen zu fassen. ist ja nicht so ganz einfach alle arbeiten zusammen zu sammeln, zu fotografieren, zu bearbeiten und und und…

naja, nun ist es fertig, mal sehen was draus wird und wie es bei den adressaten ankommt. noch ist es ja recht aufregend, kann aber sehr schnell in pure ernüchterung umschlagen. aber malen wir mal nicht den teufel an die wand und warten wir ab…

°geduldsprobe°

Deep under cover...

Report to M. London.

Scrambler code #901845.

Report follows:

Have penetrated the innermost sanctum of car sales lair, deep undercover.

Have discovered many secrets and unearthed various plots.

However main mission so far unsuccessful, regret as yet am no nearer to uncovering the ultimate mystery.

Am still unable to discern quite why they insist on displaying cars on the forecourt with the tailgates up.

Will remain undercover until can shed further light on this..

007 out.

Haskell jobs

Recently I’ve been looking for a job involving Haskell or functional programming in general. No luck. I know that there are is page in Haskell wiki about that, but it’s almost empty, if I filter out those which doesn’t match my preferences.

First thing is: most companies are from US. Next came UK finance companies (like Barclays or Credit Suisse), which are way too far for me. There are also a couple of links to now-dead startups that meant to use Haskell as a silver bullet. No luck I suppose. The one interesting company listed there is Starling Software. Too bad they are from Japan. Another notable exception is Erlang Training and Consulting Ltd. Sadly, while they do have an office in Kraków, they don’t seem to willing to expand their staff there.

I also tried several job search engines for a FP job in Poland, without luck.

My research seems to agree with a previous work you can read about here.

It is sad that most companies that use FP seem to be either too far away or long dead.

I would really love to see one of those near Wrocław.

It's been too long

Oh, dear.  I know I haven’t talked to you in a while.  But, you’re always here when I need you.  Isn’t that amazing?  You’re so cool.

So, good things happened this weekend.  And bad things.  The bad things were far outnumbered by the good but still, I feel stung.

Saturday, I went shopping all around town to some independently owned businesses.  A cd store, a yarn store, a crazy store that defies definition, and a bookstore.  I bought some awesome stuff.  Like bee earings.  So cute.  And a great cd (Matador sampler from 2007) and a beautiful art print.  I also ate a bunch of yummy food and had a generally awesome day.

It was also the last Saturday for a while that I will have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to teach the youth of America.  Winter classes start in January and I will hopefully not have to teach the 9 am one.

I also went to my dear friend’s house and we watched a Tim Burton movie marathon.  I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the first time and rewatched Beetlejuice and Sweeney Todd.

No, it was today that had the lame happenings.  I went to this meeting for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.  My mother is a consumer and I go to the family meetings.  It’s good because I can relate with people who have been through similar encounters to what I’ve been in.  But, this is my second meeting and I have not met another child and that does make a huge difference.  The parents of the mentally ill at this meeting I go to treat it very differently than how I treat it and I need to start talking to people who had the same experience as me.

Anyhow, after I got to talking and told a little bit about my week and my story, it was time for the next and final woman to tell her piece.  I had met her for the first time and she jumps right out of the gate with the story by saying the equivalent of “Wow, you think your life was bad.  You should hear this story…” and she goes on to tell a story about the guy at the NAMI conference that they saw.  And I just sat there in kind of shock, seeing as how one of the tenets of this group is that no one’s pain should be judged less than anyone else’s.

So, the leader didn’t say anything, I’m sitting there in shock, wondering whether I should try and address the fact that she has hurt my feelings and made a clear breach of the tenets.  When she continues to address me, I finally say, “Yes, I know what that is like because something very similar happened to me” and then the leader steps in and changes the subject.

So, I’m stung.  Really stung.  What do I do?  Do I make a scene in my second meeting?  Do I let her get away with this?  What do I do?  It was when the leader decided to include me and my mother into some sort of story she was telling, about how at least my mom was able to get married and have children, and her son won’t be able to do that, and how even though I have debts and problems, I still have a rewarding job and her son doesn’t that I opened my mouth.  I said as best as I could that isn’t one of the tenets that we shouldn’t be comparing each other’s experience to each other?  And she completely changed what she was saying.  And there was one other woman there, bristling at the uncomfortableness of it all.

But it sent me back to my childhood where there was me and one other adult in the car and they could act a fool as much as they wanted while I had to just endure it.  Last time my mother acted a fool in the car with me, I jumped out of the car.  For reals.  The time before that, a few days prior, I called 911.

The woman in the NAMI meeting was wrong.  She should not have said what she said.  I should have stood up for myself. 

I did stand up for myself at least a little bit, and in that respect, I can rest, see progress, and go to sleep knowing that if it feels wrong, I can speak up.  I don’t have to be nice to anyone.  I don’t need anyone’s permission to be happy or to have a good life.

You’re a great boyfriend.  You know that, don’t you? xoxox

Do you want that job or are you just passing by?

As a hiring supervisor, I’ve filled more than a dozen open positions in the past 5 years.  These jobs report to the central IT organization of a large state supported university.  They support faculty, staff, and graduate students involved in the instructional mission of the university.  These jobs require a bachelors or masters degree, and various skill sets and years of experience.   So I’ve seen more resumes than my weary eyes would like to admit.  Alas, the vast majority of these applicants have no idea how to sell themselves.  I’d like to help.  In part to help you out, and as a result to make my job easier.

Most jobs searches are in stages.  Think of it as a game.  The object is to successfully move from one stage to the next without falling off and being eliminated from the game.

Stage one is typically the hardest.  You need to get your resume past a representative of Human Resources and into the hands of the hiring committee.  Focus!  Read the job posting, and tailor your resume to what they’re asking for.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT have one generic resume.  If you are truly qualified for this dream job of yours, then you should be able to match your background to the skills they’re asking for.   Eliminate the fluff.  Do you really think that phrases such as “I’m a results driven, team oriented, blah, blah, blah, …” makes a hoot of difference?  No.  The goal of Human Resources is to match the skills of the job posting with the ones you list on your resume.  Focus!!  If your skills do match the posted position, then make sure your resume spells it out for them as clearly and succinctly as possible.  If they don’t match, then this is probably not the correct job for you and there’s no reason to waste either your time or theirs.

Lampenfieber

Ich lebe noch. Was mich ein wenig wundert, denn heute vormittag hatte ich kurzzeitig ein wenig Sorge um mich.

Lampenfiebriger  Schisser hoch drei. Kalte, schweißnasse Hände und das Herz schlägt bis zum Halse. Gut sichtbar natürlich für jeden Anwesenden   Dabei kann frau einen 45minütigen Vortrag vor 60 Männern halten, wenn sie nur will (und gut vorbereitet ist.)

Memo an mich: Davon stirbt man nicht

Job's One Thousand donkeys or Sh&%$%&*$%T Happens

The Revised Common Lectionary finishes up the book of Job this week.  Job 42:1-6 and 10-17 proves to us that there are such thing as happy endings. From the scripture:42:10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” God even gives Job 1000 donkeys.

There might not be better prooftexting for the prosperity gospel than this very verse.

Last night in our Tuesday night gathering at Lockerbie Central UMC, our most tenured member might have summed it up best.  “I’ve read Job.  I don’t think it justifies any type of suffering.  I think what it says is that SH*T Happens!”

He went on to ask, what about Job’s dead children?  It does them or Job no good that Job is ultimately rewarded for his “patience.”

Job is a tough, complicated book.  It is so easy to settle on simple answers.  I like what Marcus Borg writes about it in Reading the Bible Again for the First Time,”Is there such a thing as religion unmoitivated by self interest?  What would it mean to take God seriously not as a means, but as the ultimate end.”

Job's Perseverence: Wednesday Exposition Series Part 23

Job is famous for his plight of suffering.  He is the case study for human tragedy.  The adage, “the suffering of Job” rings in the minds of both Bible scholars and those who never even opened a Bible.

The ancient text tells us that Job was a successful and wealthy man. In a matter of minutes, he lost all of his wealth to bandits and natural disasters.  In addition to these calamities all of his children died in a freak storm.  The building that they were in for a celebration collapsed on top of them.

Anguish was Job’s reaction. He mourned for the loss of his family. The evaporation of his wealth served as an exclamation point of his plight.

What was unusual about Job was that he did not sin by blaming God. That common response by most of us was foreign to Job.  He did not direct his anger toward God. The faith of this man was astounding.

Suffering is defined by Job’s experience. His pain doesn’t climax with these losses. There is more.

His body is broke out with open sores. They plagued him from head to foot. Agony was nearly at its height.

In addition to his personal losses of cataclysmic proportions,  Job’s wife failed to support him.  She exasperated his anguish with a nagging critical spirit. Losing her comfort and personal support must have been discouraging for Job. She urged him to curse God and die.  Job would have nothing to do with that option.

Ultimately, Job’s suffering did come to an end. God also blessed him with twice what he had before the trials rained on his life. He lived long and had a full life.

James uses the example of Job to instruct all believers who are in pursuit of righteousness. The one word that describes Job’s reaction to life’s trials is perseverance. It is that phenomenal example that James describes as our pattern for staying the course, never giving up, and keeping faithful in our trust of God.

When we lose everything, those we trust turn against us, and our health fails us there is still reason not to sin in what we say. Careless words reveal a heart that has given up. It accomplishes nothing that is righteous. If you are having a tough time, remember the example of Job and persevere in your faith in God.

James 5.10-11

photo credit: Google image