Stephen Covey passing
It's the best non-fiction book I have ever read. If you have never picked up a copy, do so. Incredible advice for living your life, made simple.
Quote: buzzpaffI read it and thought it sucked. Too much mumbo jumbo Sharpen the saw, etc. But OMG did women and management at AT&T love it. Especially the old bats that were married to AT&T.
Buzz Paff, I agree with you to the ultimate. Years ago I was forced by Kodak management to endure trips in the woods and "trust walks", "falling backwards" to let some moron catch me, etc., etc. all with people I wouldn't even give the time of day to outside of work. Management just thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. You see how well the Stephen Covey philosophy worked for Kodak: bankrupt, imported all their jobs to China, and left us to clean up a 100 year old accumulation of hazardous waste in an unknown number of underground tanks. "Sharpen the saw"....indeed.
Witnessed one where "the team" was supposed to build a raft on this small lake at a resort. It collapsed when put in the water and dunked everybody. [note to team leaders, do not pick a project where failure is even remotely possible]
write a book called I'm OK, You're a Jackass. But it probably
wouldn't have sold many copies.
Quote: odiousgambitSome of the funniest stuff to observe can be the "team building", was that a Covey thing?
Witnessed one where "the team" was supposed to build a raft on this small lake at a resort. It collapsed when put in the water and dunked everybody. [note to team leaders, do not pick a project where failure is even remotely possible]
They combined Covey's "principles" with team building exercises in our case. I remember one trip they forced us to do on our scheduled time off was in midwinter. It was 5 degrees F and we had 2 feet of snow on the ground. They wanted us to put on blindfolds and make geometric shapes with ropes by listening only to one unblindfolded leader. I took a look at that and turned back for base camp. They asked what I was doing and I said I was exercising my option to not participate if it made me uncomfortable. I returned to the cabin and sat by the fire, eating bagels while watching the idiots zombie walking in the blizzard.
words I personally loathe because nobody really knows what
they mean. My oldest daughter uses proactive all the time
and I cringe. But she's an academic and has never left college
and never will. Those people love to talk like that.
Quote: EvenBobDid Covey invent the words 'proactive' and 'synergize'? Two
words I personally loathe because nobody really knows what
they mean. My oldest daughter uses proactive all the time
and I cringe. But she's an academic and has never left college
and never will. Those people love to talk like that.
Not sure but I think Al Gore invented those words while he was inventing the interwebs. I so love that I'm not the only one who despised the torment Stephen Covey's book subjected me to.
Quote: 4andaKickerNot sure but I think Al Gore invented those words while he was inventing the interwebs. I so love that I'm not the only one who despised the torment Stephen Covey's book subjected me to.
So many of the self help guru's were born in the 30's
and went to college in the 50's. Many of them were
in part responsible for what happened in the 60's,
with the drug culture, dropping out, long hair, love,
peaceniks, and all that crap. What was it about the
50's that inspired all of that.
Quote: EvenBobSo many of the self help guru's were born in the 30's
and went to college in the 50's. Many of them were
in part responsible for what happened in the 60's,
with the drug culture, dropping out, long hair, love,
peaceniks, and all that crap. What was it about the
50's that inspired all of that.
The Man.
Quote: EvenBobDid Covey invent the words 'proactive' and 'synergize'? Two
words I personally loathe because nobody really knows what
they mean. My oldest daughter uses proactive all the time
and I cringe. But she's an academic and has never left college
and never will. Those people love to talk like that.
These are easy; I'll define them from my context in the software development world.
proactive - thinking ahead and taking action to remedy a problem before it comes up. Example: "Aaron proactively wrote a script to reboot the servers periodically before they started having memory problems."*
synergy - Could be lots of things, but mainly I think about two teams working together effectively to achieve a common goal. "Merchant Applications and Website Platform had great synergy when they worked together to launch the Product Ads Feedback feature ahead of schedule."
*Note, your software probably has a memory leak, but this solution isn't the worst one ever devised, assuming you have enough servers to carry the slack when you reboot them one at a time.
Quote:So many of the self help guru's were born in the 30's
and went to college in the 50's. Many of them were
in part responsible for what happened in the 60's,
with the drug culture, dropping out, long hair, love,
peaceniks, and all that crap. What was it about the
50's that inspired all of that?
Post WWII gangs, developed from the urban guerilla fighting street-to-street. Drugs?, they helped soothe shattered nerves associated with the former. Some folks have great difficulty accepting what they done. I guess we would call it Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Whatever.
Look at the time frame 30's to 50's... WWII, Atom Bomb, Cold War, Jets, Rockets, Stealthy Stuff, RocknRoll, Transistor Radios, Network TV, The Electric Age, etc.
Quote: midwestgbKudos, fellas... For reminding us of the power of an Internet Forum to describe the human mind's capacity for transforming one conceptual thought rather magically into something else entirely. And in less than 20 posts... ;-)
Hey--we're Highly Effective here!
Quote: AcesAndEightsThese are easy; I'll define them from my context in the software development world.
proactive - thinking ahead and taking action to remedy a problem before it comes up. Example: "Aaron proactively wrote a script to reboot the servers periodically before they started having memory problems."*
Its an unnecessary word. Just say 'Aaron wrote', it
doesn't need an extra word in there. Its New Age
babble -speak, just like synergy. Can you imagine
dating Marianne Williamson in the 80's? You'd be
doing hard drugs by the end of the month.
Quote: EvenBobIts an unnecessary word. Just say 'Aaron wrote', it
doesn't need an extra word in there. Its New Age
babble -speak, just like synergy. Can you imagine
dating Marianne Williamson in the 80's? You'd be
doing hard drugs by the end of the month.
I looked it up and 'proactive' has been around since 1933. 'Synergy' came from medicine, but 'synergize' may well have come from Covey. One dictionary didn't acknowledge it as a word.
Quote: FarFromVegasI looked it up and 'proactive' has been around since 1933.
Even worse. It was around and only smart aleck snobs
used it because nobody else knew what it meant. I
never heard it till probably 20 years ago and have
never used it or wrote it in a sentence till now.
Quote: EvenBobEven worse. It was around and only smart aleck snobs
used it because nobody else knew what it meant. I
never heard it till probably 20 years ago and have
never used it or wrote it in a sentence till now.
I consider it corporate babble speak along with these simpleton phrases:
You need to "reach out" to him in a proactive manner. (Translation: email him)
You need to "leverage" the relationship. (Translation: kiss his ass)
You need to consider a methodology to accomodate the labor challenge. (Translation: work 80 hours this week because someone else is on vacation)
You need to exercise political awareness. (Translation: kiss everyone at Corporate HQ's asses)
An analysis of the metrics yields (any blah blah blah remarks) (Translation: you're not getting a raise this year no matter how good your performance review is)
I could go on, but I think for the sake of my blood pressure, I should stop.
Quote: 4andaKickerYou need to "leverage" the relationship. (Translation: kiss his ass)
Leverage is another one that irks me. To me, leverage
always meant getting the upper hand in something.
Then using your leverage to get what you want. Now
I don't what it means, I hear it in sentences that
have nothing to do with getting the upper hand.
Quote: EvenBobIts an unnecessary word. Just say 'Aaron wrote', it
doesn't need an extra word in there. Its New Age
babble -speak, just like synergy. Can you imagine
dating Marianne Williamson in the 80's? You'd be
doing hard drugs by the end of the month.
Nope, not unnecessary at all. If Aaron didn't write the script until after the servers (metaphorically) blew up and caused downtime, then you just lost $1 million while customers went somewhere else to buy their books and electronics and jeans for five minutes. But since he was proactive in recognizing a future problem and solving it before it became a problem, you didn't lose any money! See how that works?
Look, it's a fancy word for "someone who plans ahead and takes action to prevent shit." Now we could all just say that phrase or another one that is just as long, or we could use the word "proactive" which is quite meaningful and a very desirable trait for an employee in any analytical or problem-solving field (like engineering).
With synergy I'm much more sympathetic to your opinion. It's basically a fancy word for "teamwork," there isn't much more that you're saying. Proactive is a very useful word, synergy is only vaguely useful.
Quote: 4andaKickerI consider it corporate babble speak along with these simpleton phrases:
You need to "reach out" to him in a proactive manner. (Translation: email him)
You need to "leverage" the relationship. (Translation: kiss his ass)
You need to consider a methodology to accomodate the labor challenge. (Translation: work 80 hours this week because someone else is on vacation)
You need to exercise political awareness. (Translation: kiss everyone at Corporate HQ's asses)
An analysis of the metrics yields (any blah blah blah remarks) (Translation: you're not getting a raise this year no matter how good your performance review is)
I could go on, but I think for the sake of my blood pressure, I should stop.
I hate "methodology". Methodology is used when method will quite easily do.
Methodology is either a: the study of methods or b: a group of coherent methods used in a discipline to solve a particular type of problem. And the second usage is often over-used as well.
Method is a way of doing things. Most people mean "a way of doing things" when they say methodology. When they say "adopt a methodology", you can probably stop listening. Or stop paying them.
I do like proactive. It's the opposite of reactive. Proactive is very different to being reactive. It's important to know what your approach will be for things in my line of work. I may pro-actively deal with faults in the new API, but only reactively deal with them in the legacy system.
Quote: AcesAndEightsNope, not unnecessary at all. If Aaron didn't write the script until
If I had an employee that used proactive all the time,
I'd find a way to get rid of him. The word is pretentious
and egocentric. Look at me, I'm being proactive.
Give me one of those awards I got in school for just showing
up.
Quote: thecesspitI do like proactive. It's the opposite of reactive. Proactive is very different to being reactive. It's important to know what your approach will be for things in my line of work. I may pro-actively deal with faults in the new API, but only reactively deal with them in the legacy system.
Thank you. This is exactly what I was saying.
Quote: EvenBobIf I had an employee that used proactive all the time,
I'd find a way to get rid of him. The word is pretentious
and egocentric. Look at me, I'm being proactive.
Give me one of those awards I got in school for just showing
up.
Being proactive is exactly the opposite of "just showing up." You are completely illogical here, which seems to be a common theme any time you choose to make an argument. I now understand why some people on this board choose not to try to have productive discussion with you - once you've decided something you absolutely refuse to follow any semblance of logic and throw out non sequiturs and red herrings that have absolutely nothing to do with the conversation.
Quote: AcesAndEights
Being proactive is exactly the opposite of "just showing up."
No kidding. I was making a point about the guy
saying 'look at me' and the worthless awards
they got as kids for doing nothing. Proactive
is a look at me word. Like telling everybody
you recycle or pick up your dogs poop and
put in in a bag. Look at me, mom.
Quote: EvenBobNo kidding. I was making a point about the guy
saying 'look at me' and the worthless awards
they got as kids for doing nothing. Proactive
is a look at me word. Like telling everybody
you recycle or pick up your dogs poop and
put in in a bag. Look at me, mom.
If someone is using the word incorrectly, applying it to themselves when they really aren't proactive, sure they are stupid. But that doesn't change the fact that it is a perfectly useful word, and a character trait that is nice to have in employees.
Employee who uses the word proactive and is proactive: probably a good employee
Employee who uses the word proactive a lot and isn't proactive himself: probably a dumbass
Employee who just is proactive without throwing the word around excessively: probably the best of the three.
Quote: buzzpaffI read it and thought it sucked. Too much mumbo jumbo Sharpen the saw, etc. But OMG did women and management at AT&T love it. Especially the old bats that were married to AT&T.
True...True...True!!!
When they broke up AT&T. I was assigned to Lucent Technologies. I kept my same position but with a new company name.
I had a new boss who came from an engineering background and he was going into the computer field. He was going to make all types of changes. When he told me of what he was going to do, I told him he couldn't do it because of union (CWA & IBEW) rules. We butted heads on many issues. One day he said that he wanted me to read the 7 Ways book. I told him I wasn't interested. He told me YOU WILL READ THE BOOK"AND WRITE A REPORT ON IT. I said "if I don't read the book, who are you going to report me to, upper management". I never did read the book and in six months he was told to find another position in the company.
What a A$$hole!!!
