“If I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed. Say something once, why say it again?” – Talking Heads, Psycho Killer
Author: andi
AJ is the person behind the electron pattern on your screen.
Leveraging upsell opportunities going forward
I’ve been in some form of management for a long time now – since around 1994. While I don’t think I’m the greatest manager on earth – you’d have to ask previous colleagues of mine about that – I do think that I’ve learned a thing or two.
I get really fed up of seeing ‘Howto’ guides and management manuals that do nothing more than give a bunch of platitudes and little else. So, for want of a better place to do it, I’m going to put down some of my top tips for what I shall call my ‘No Bullshit Guide to Management’.
My first top tip is, don’t bullshit. Ever. People will know. Particularly, the people who work for you and with you will know. This extends to the way you speak to people. No one will be impressed by your astonishing grasp of management speak – though they may be astonished at how impressed you are with it. Note that I’m going to avoid the use of stupid management speak words like ‘facilitate’ or ’empower’. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. If you can’t say things simply and in clear language, don’t be surprised when things go wrong. If you bullshit, expect to be bullshitted (is that even a word? I guess it’s better than the sort of self aggrandizing nonsense that some managers make up).
Thus endeth the first lesson.
Secondly, don’t patronize or micro-manage. Often, the people working under you will know your job well enough to do it themselves, and they certainly know their own. If you don’t want them to tell you how to do your job (they usually will anyway – or at least, they’ll tell all their colleagues how you should be doing your job – or how they should!), then learn to help them to do their job effectively rather than telling them how to do it. Oh, and actually, it’s not a bad idea to show that you don’t mind if they do tell you how to do your job.There’s nothing particularly special about being a manager. Sadly, big companies in particular suffer for the lack of managers who understand that their role is to help, rather than hinder.
Understanding how people communicate with you is a big part of management. Some people are just unable to express themselves well in stressful situations – i.e. when you are hovering over them or sat in your office. Offer an alternative time or place if things are getting heated or if people start to close down
Don’t turn into a colossal asshole just because you have some power. Having your manager in your title simply means you’ve been given responsibility and can probably handle the extra work involved. It’s not an excuse to become Ming the Merciless and abuse the inferior little creeps working for you. If you do, you are abusing the responsibility you have been given, and you’re not going to be able to do your job well. Bad managers produce bad working environments and people get pissed off and either sabotage your projects or leave.
Learn from your mistakes, and more importantly, the mistakes of your managers. I have learnt a tremendous amount from other managers, good and bad. One trait of good managers is that they know when they are wrong, they take the responsibility and they work to fix it. One trait of bad managers is to pass the buck and blame others for mistakes.
Keep meetings short. No one wants to hear you drone on about how great this project is going to be or how the latest company incentive is going to add so much to productivity. Give praise where it’s due, say what needs to be said, and get out.
Satisfying your staff is often more important than satisfying your managers.
Be open. Listen. Collaborate. Wear sunscreen. Over and out.
Change we can believe in.
Today we awoke to a world significantly different than the world of yesterday. Today we awoke to a world where the USA finaly came of age. Discarding the uncomfortable past of its childhood, and with it the destructive policies and ideals of its tantrum ridden teenage years, the USA showed that it is ready for change by electing a man of mixed race, with an odd name, a muslim father from an african county and an obvious intelligence sadly lacking in certain past incumbents. I realise that there is much to be done, and no miracles will be forthcoming, but one thing has been given back to the people of the USA, and perhaps to the wider world – hope for the future, and that in itself is a miraculous gift.
As I watched Barack Obama make his declaration speech, I could see that hope rise in the eyes of those watching, and felt it within myself. He no messiah, and indeed, a messiah is not what is needed, but what is needed is a man who is prepared to be the change he wishes to see in the world. There are challeges ahead; his will not be an easy road, but with hope in our hearts, we awoke to a different world. For at least today, there is change I can believe in. Yes…we can.
India Launches Moon Probe
Since I was a small child, I have been fascinated with flight, but more than that with the idea of space travel. Nothing else quite has the power to awe and inspire me so much as reading about or discovering things about space. Therefore today I had a very moving experience of watching the launch of India’s Chandrayaan 1 Spacecraft. Sadly I did not see it live, although some of my friends did go – the launch site is about 100km from here – but watching it on the TV brought a tear to my eye.
There is something so majestic about the idea of discovery, journeying into the unknown. Although this is an unmanned mission, manned missions are planned in coming years. While there are many things India needs in terms of basic infrastructure and so on, it is a modern country with the potential to be a world leader, so I believe that this sort of program can only serve the interests of the country in the long term. Those who say the money could be better spent have perhaps missed what the space program is bringing to India in terms of partnerships with the rest of the world – including showcasing India’s extraordinary potential for technological partnerships that comes from a highly educated workforce and an inventiveness brought about through necessity.
One of the things I love most about India is the feeling of progression, that something is being built (it’s not hard to get that feeling, there is construction everywhere and nothing ever seems to quite get finished!), and it’s hard not to feel proud to be a small part of that progression.
Watching India launch herself towards the wider universe I can only stand in awe at what humankind has achieved in the 105 years since we first took flight.
The BBC has an article about the launch of the Chandrayaan 1 rocket at
No Sex Please
Very funny video spoofing the idea of Intelligent Design from the Richard Dawkins Foundation
http://richarddawkins.net/article,2478,Sexpelled-No-Intercourse-Allowed,RichardDawkinsnet
R.I.P Rick Wright
Sadly, another founding member of Pink Floyd, Rick Wright, passed away today from cancer.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7617363.stm
I’m still totally awed by the sound of the Dark Side of the Moon album, one that Wright was instrumental (excuse the rather inappropriate pun) in creating. Incredibly groundbreaking for its time, it stands as a monumental achievment in an amazing career. Sadly, there’s no ‘Great gig in the sky’ to go to.
Onam Festival
I recently started working in India. I’m really loving the place, so much contrast and colour!
Today is the festival of Onam celebrated by the Malayali people in the next state (Kerala), and also here in Tamil Nadu, as many Malayali people live here. The women wear special white sarees trimmed with gold threads, and special food is served.
Contemplating the divine
I am not a believer in the divine, however, there are at times some cracks in that belief (to quote Leonard Cohen – “there is a crack, a crack in everything – it’s how the light gets in”). Certain things seem to connect on a deeply primal, emotional level. The songs and works of Leonard Cohen being some of them. He is one of the very, very few artists whose works I have listened to almost constantly for the last 20 years of my life. I simply cannot hear these songs too many times. In fact, very often, when I listen to an album of them, and it is finished, I can think of nothing else to play, but the same thing again. For this reason, I am incredibly happy that he is touring again (one last time?) and that I have managed to get tickets to see him perform (ok, so they cost me several limbs, but it was worth it).
I’m not usually a big fan of cover versions (despite having produced a cover of a Johnny Cash song with my band My Silent Wake – which of course is the best cover version ever), but in some cases, there are versions which somehow transcend the originals. For instance, the Hendrix version of Dylan’s “All along the Watchtower”, or James Taylor’s version of Carole King’s “You’ve got a Friend”. Particularly, I’m not a big fan of cover versions of Leonard Cohen’s songs, especially those covered by Rufus Wainright. However, there is a notable exception, performed by one of the most exceptionally talented maverick artists for a generation. I highly recommend watching John Cale perform a truly divine version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” embedded below. (And then go listen to some Velvet Underground).
Surely, this is how the light gets in
Drone on forever
Recently, I’ve become fascinated by the potential of pure ‘noise’, and the beauty of the single ‘note’. The concept of music is largely based around the interplay, juxtaposition and sequencing of frequencies of noise. Sometimes in combination, which we experience as either pleasant or unpleasant (discordant) and sometimes separately, as single notes. However, here I’m talking about the idea of a single extended tone – the idea that a basic building block of music taken alone can be as fascinating as a whole symphony. It’s a bit like repeating a word over and over again, until it becomes meaningless, it becomes pure sound, and something else entirely than it was.
This is hardly an original idea, there are many traditions of this, not only in western music with the (so called) minimalist movement, and composers like Ligeti (one of my heroes), but in other traditions – such as buddhist chanting and with ‘singing bowls. Some instruments (particularly celtic instruments such as bagpipes) utilize a drone (a single constant note) over which the rest of the notes occur – however, I am particularly interested in the possibilites of that single note. A single plucked note on, say, a guitar is not actually a single thing, it has many harmonics and so on combined with it. The strength or softness with which you pluck the note affects its sound. If you amplify the note or distort it (which adds further harmonics) and then feed it back on itself you can create incredibly interesting sounds – the best example of music created by this method is a group called Sunn-O))) (pronounced sun), where the feedback from the note and the manipulation of the note becomes the music.
In time, I suspect I will do something with this, although it’s a fairly nihilistic thing – to remove all structure and form – I think it’s worth it. We’re obsessed in this modern age with music and sound as entertainment. I don’t have any strong objection to being entertained, there are some good songs and some great music without a lot of depth, but I’m interested in knowning what ‘sound’ itself sounds like. It may not entertain too many people, but there’s a deeper resonance when I listen to bands such as Sunn-O))) or EARTH, and composers such as Ligeti or Philip Glass, which goes to something more primal than mere entertainment.
Why is it that when someone scratches on glass or rubs a balloon or polystyrene does the sound have such a strange physical effect? Certain sounds manipulate our deepest primal fears and invoke physical responses. I think that’s really interesting, because I wonder what in our history has caused us to respond that way.
Body modification
I’m convinced that constant travel (and the consequent jetlag) is a form of extreme body modification. If a normal person’s circadian rythmn is 4/4 time, then mine is 11/32 compound time, with a few dropped beats here and there for effect. I seem though, to have developed from that an ability to sleep anywhere, at pretty much any time. I’ve heard that military personnel and the like often develop such mechanisms, though whether or not it’s healthy I’m not sure. (I don’t get colds or flu much though – so it’s not all bad).
While we’re on the theme of body modification, I recently had my 5th tattoo – although only 4 are visible, as one is a cover up. The more time (and money) I spend getting tattooed, the more I feel like doing it, the acres of untouched skin look more and more like blank canvas every day, crying out to be filled. There’s no doubt it’s addictive. My advice though, to anyone, is still not to do it, unless you can deal with the fact that you will spend the rest of your life having to look at them. With increasing lifespans, that could be a really long time. Tattoos can be very beautiful, and if done well, are truly art, but they can also be things you come to regret. 15 years after my second tattoo, I just wanted it covered, it was embarrassing, the choice of a late teen rebel. Although, I still have the first, that has faded, blurred and looks less than wonderful (I will leave it alone, for sentimental reasons). The new inks available, not to mention going to skilled artists, will last better and look good for longer if cared for, but still, you have to accept that in 50 years time, you will still have to get up in the morning, sagging skin and all, and see them there. I’m just really glad I didn’t have any religiously themed, or ‘band’ type tattoos. People inevitably change, bands break up (as, sadly, do relationships), and things that once seemed cool, aren’t when you look down back down the years.