I always hated that. "Mission Statement". What? Those words should be reserved for a military general directing his troops on how they are going to blow whichever country to smithereens.
I can't write just one "Mission Statement", so I will just say I hope to post some humor and entertainment on this blog with real events of my daily work life and thoughts. I always found humor in movies/shows like Office Space and The Office. I started noticing some characters at my workplace that are almost identical to some of the characters in The Office. Bottom line, I am amused by the psychology of the work environment. I almost try to make it into a science. I know there are some far-fetched psychological terms for what goes on in offices on a daily basis, but I want to portray it with real events in layman's terms.
If nothing else I have found in the few days since I started this blog, it has been a therapy for me. I also hope to look back at this a year from now and see how much I have matured. (If at all.)
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The only thing consistent is change.
My Father always told me this as I was growing up. I know have experienced it several times.
Working at Cube Farm Inc. where change is slow to come by, I had given up hope for an valuable job opening within our department. Once it happened, I tried to temper my expectations.
I had just gotten back from my yearly vacation with my family hoping to forget about all the drama associated with work and relax from a tough semester of classes.
Monday morning we get an email with the name of one of our associates in the subject line. I just knew they had taken the opportunity to name him to the newly available position I had longed for the past 5 years. I always considered this person as my biggest competition for any promotions. However, the email said he was leaving the company in a couple of weeks and wished him well. Wow, I could see the clouds in the sky slowly opening and my hope started rising again. Then, a few minutes later I saw another group email with the name of my second biggest threat in the subject line. I thought the same thing again. This person was changing jobs within our department which came as a peculiar surprise. As I started thinking who would be my next best competitor for the prized promotion another email came across.
This email had in the subject line: "Leadership Position". Wow. At this point my brain was struggling to comprehend where I was and even more what was going on. Changes hardly ever happen and we usually hear through the proverbial grapevine before it is officially announced. So, I let my guard down slightly since my two biggest challenges were out of the way. Then came the crash and burn. The email said that with the recent changes, they are going to put off filling the position for three months to a year. three months to a YEAR! What?!? They have waited for 5 years, announced they were going to fill this position, then only to tell us that it would be postponed?!? I have learned to add about 6 months to any deadline that I am given at Cube Farm Inc, so the math was simple. They are not going to fill this position until they absolutely have to. Do I work at the only place like this? Anyone else have a similar experience?
Working at Cube Farm Inc. where change is slow to come by, I had given up hope for an valuable job opening within our department. Once it happened, I tried to temper my expectations.
I had just gotten back from my yearly vacation with my family hoping to forget about all the drama associated with work and relax from a tough semester of classes.
Monday morning we get an email with the name of one of our associates in the subject line. I just knew they had taken the opportunity to name him to the newly available position I had longed for the past 5 years. I always considered this person as my biggest competition for any promotions. However, the email said he was leaving the company in a couple of weeks and wished him well. Wow, I could see the clouds in the sky slowly opening and my hope started rising again. Then, a few minutes later I saw another group email with the name of my second biggest threat in the subject line. I thought the same thing again. This person was changing jobs within our department which came as a peculiar surprise. As I started thinking who would be my next best competitor for the prized promotion another email came across.
This email had in the subject line: "Leadership Position". Wow. At this point my brain was struggling to comprehend where I was and even more what was going on. Changes hardly ever happen and we usually hear through the proverbial grapevine before it is officially announced. So, I let my guard down slightly since my two biggest challenges were out of the way. Then came the crash and burn. The email said that with the recent changes, they are going to put off filling the position for three months to a year. three months to a YEAR! What?!? They have waited for 5 years, announced they were going to fill this position, then only to tell us that it would be postponed?!? I have learned to add about 6 months to any deadline that I am given at Cube Farm Inc, so the math was simple. They are not going to fill this position until they absolutely have to. Do I work at the only place like this? Anyone else have a similar experience?
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Stir Crazy/Cabin Fever
Call it what you will, but today I literally wanted to jump out of my 8' x 8' work home and jump on top of the desks, running around screaming profoundly while waving my arms. I know that my "dream" job will require cubes along with spending more hours in them, but at least I hopefully will feel like I am doing something productive...oh well, just more motivation to pursue my dream job.
There has GOT to be something better out there.
I realize this is the real world and everyone would love to play a pro sport for millions of dollars, get paid for their worldly advice, or whatever their dream job may be. I also realize that all jobs have their downfalls and yes, I am glad to have a job, not be in the military, not be hospitalized, and all of that stuff. However, there has GOT to be something better out there.
We are trying to be a cutting edge company at Cube Farm Inc and stay one step ahead of our competition, but we use systems from the '80's! Literally, 1980 to be exact. You know, the old black screen with green text? The same screen used by my Dad when he brought home a "new" computer from work and kept calling it a "terminal". The same one that used floppy disks. That same one that Microsoft Paint was about the most complicated program on it. Why do we still have this? I literally spend 50% of my day dealing with mindless error corrections from the old technology...oh well, just more motivation to pursue my dream job.
We are trying to be a cutting edge company at Cube Farm Inc and stay one step ahead of our competition, but we use systems from the '80's! Literally, 1980 to be exact. You know, the old black screen with green text? The same screen used by my Dad when he brought home a "new" computer from work and kept calling it a "terminal". The same one that used floppy disks. That same one that Microsoft Paint was about the most complicated program on it. Why do we still have this? I literally spend 50% of my day dealing with mindless error corrections from the old technology...oh well, just more motivation to pursue my dream job.
I'm not a smart man, but....
This was on our vending machine today. We always have our machines tearing up and this particular one doesn't like the new quarters. I get what it's saying, but....really??..."Quarter Taker"??I guess they don't realize that the same slot that takes nickels and dimes is the one that takes quarters.
In the Beginning..
After high school, I took classes part time while working part and/or full time. Anyone going this route through college knows how long this process can take as it seems most other students have a full ride either through scholarships or their parents. I am happy for those that are able to do this, but being a middle-of-the-road student in high school and not having wealthy parents, I was unable to focus solely on my school work and take the full 18 hours per semester it seems to require now to graduate in four years. I was unhappy to find out that I was unable to get any pell grants since I made a whopping $10,000/year working a few days a week in retail, while my buddies who were not assertive, motivated, showed no initiative to work, and did not have to pay rent received enough pell grants to pay for all the beer they needed to get them through each semester.. Regardless, after getting married to my brilliant wife I discovered I could take all the credits I had under my belt, combine them with a few more and graduate with a legitimate bachelor's degree in general studies from a legitimate four year university. I was ecstatic and signed up for four online classes so I could work full-time and complete my degree. I would be done with college forever then command immediate respect and start being offered all kinds of jobs. I assumed I would be able to take my pick from high salaried positions and start making weekly deposits at the bank.
Before I go on, I should fill you in about the place where I work and was working at the time I finally completed my degree. We will call it Cube Farm Inc. for now. I came in as an eager, hard working, dedicated associate determined to make it to the top faster than anyone else ever had. I started out fast and took every opportunity I could to gain experience. I changed departments a couple times and thought I had finally found the secret path to the top! I had a good connection with my boss and his boss and they kept telling me I was blowing the doors off. "Keep it up and there will be some big changes coming your way.." I believed every word of it. I ate it up. I pushed myself even harder, subscribed to trade magazines related to my industry, asked questions, and logged in from home so I could stay on the fast track to the top. Then....My bosses' boss left the company one day and told none of us. Wow.
Shocking at first, but the more I thought about it, my plan was coming together perfectly. I assumed my boss would take that position which would open up his position for me. Upper management didn't see things that way. They kept feeding him the same line, "just give it some time and things will happen." He waited patiently for a year, then another year. Nothing. I came across a job opportunity that seemed like something I could settle down with. It didn't require a degree but the focus of my degree was related to this field of work. I had a better chance than most applying since I did have my degree (or so I thought). It involved working mostly outside with minimal inside work. Perfect.
I had escaped the Cube Farm and made it to freedom. We will call it Acme Electrical Supply. My boss at Acme despised college graduates since he claimed to be "old school". I thought ok, I can outlast this old bastard and show him what I am made of. After all, my Dad worked in a similar field without a degree and worked his way up, why couldn't I?? I was brought up "old school", so bring it! It started out great. With every little flaw in the job I told myself, that's what comes with a higher paying job. You have to take a little more crap each time. No big deal. Then, about 2 months into it, my boss started literally dog-cussing me and calling me "cocky". That is one-word I have never been called as it was usually pleasant things like "Humble", "Efficient", "Hard-working". I can handle being cussed, I know people do it everyday, but I at least want to see a light at the end of my tunnel. Hmm, ok he had a bad day, brush it off. Next day, same thing. Next week, more of the same. Then I called called into a meeting to be told how much I suck. Not cool. I had heard horror stories about this guy, but thought surely I could overcome him. It got to a point where I was dreading waking up in the morning, never could figure out what was expected of me and was tired of his shit.
I lasted three months when I came crawling back to Cube Farm Inc. I got settled back into my old cube and started inquiring about getting more opportunities. At this time, the economy had supposedly tanked, which meant my boss at Cube Farm was still stuck where he was, so there was no way I would be moving up. Fast forward to present day...my boss has finally been promoted and now there is an opening. But wait....I didn't mention that last year I started back to school to pursue the thing that seems to come naturally to me. Information Technology. I have since completed one year of going to class during my lunch breaks while working full-time. If you have indeed read Jon Acuff's book "Quitter", this is the part where he talks about hustling. I have matured rapidly during this process and feel that momentum is slowly swinging my way. Until...now they are going to fill the job my boss had that I had pursued whole-heartedly for years. You may be thinking, "So?, that's what you have been waiting for!" The kicker is that my boss told me he would work with my school schedule as long as he was in charge, but if I got the promotion I could only take classes at night. The classes I have left are only offered during the day. Stay tuned.....
Before I go on, I should fill you in about the place where I work and was working at the time I finally completed my degree. We will call it Cube Farm Inc. for now. I came in as an eager, hard working, dedicated associate determined to make it to the top faster than anyone else ever had. I started out fast and took every opportunity I could to gain experience. I changed departments a couple times and thought I had finally found the secret path to the top! I had a good connection with my boss and his boss and they kept telling me I was blowing the doors off. "Keep it up and there will be some big changes coming your way.." I believed every word of it. I ate it up. I pushed myself even harder, subscribed to trade magazines related to my industry, asked questions, and logged in from home so I could stay on the fast track to the top. Then....My bosses' boss left the company one day and told none of us. Wow.
Shocking at first, but the more I thought about it, my plan was coming together perfectly. I assumed my boss would take that position which would open up his position for me. Upper management didn't see things that way. They kept feeding him the same line, "just give it some time and things will happen." He waited patiently for a year, then another year. Nothing. I came across a job opportunity that seemed like something I could settle down with. It didn't require a degree but the focus of my degree was related to this field of work. I had a better chance than most applying since I did have my degree (or so I thought). It involved working mostly outside with minimal inside work. Perfect.
I had escaped the Cube Farm and made it to freedom. We will call it Acme Electrical Supply. My boss at Acme despised college graduates since he claimed to be "old school". I thought ok, I can outlast this old bastard and show him what I am made of. After all, my Dad worked in a similar field without a degree and worked his way up, why couldn't I?? I was brought up "old school", so bring it! It started out great. With every little flaw in the job I told myself, that's what comes with a higher paying job. You have to take a little more crap each time. No big deal. Then, about 2 months into it, my boss started literally dog-cussing me and calling me "cocky". That is one-word I have never been called as it was usually pleasant things like "Humble", "Efficient", "Hard-working". I can handle being cussed, I know people do it everyday, but I at least want to see a light at the end of my tunnel. Hmm, ok he had a bad day, brush it off. Next day, same thing. Next week, more of the same. Then I called called into a meeting to be told how much I suck. Not cool. I had heard horror stories about this guy, but thought surely I could overcome him. It got to a point where I was dreading waking up in the morning, never could figure out what was expected of me and was tired of his shit.
I lasted three months when I came crawling back to Cube Farm Inc. I got settled back into my old cube and started inquiring about getting more opportunities. At this time, the economy had supposedly tanked, which meant my boss at Cube Farm was still stuck where he was, so there was no way I would be moving up. Fast forward to present day...my boss has finally been promoted and now there is an opening. But wait....I didn't mention that last year I started back to school to pursue the thing that seems to come naturally to me. Information Technology. I have since completed one year of going to class during my lunch breaks while working full-time. If you have indeed read Jon Acuff's book "Quitter", this is the part where he talks about hustling. I have matured rapidly during this process and feel that momentum is slowly swinging my way. Until...now they are going to fill the job my boss had that I had pursued whole-heartedly for years. You may be thinking, "So?, that's what you have been waiting for!" The kicker is that my boss told me he would work with my school schedule as long as he was in charge, but if I got the promotion I could only take classes at night. The classes I have left are only offered during the day. Stay tuned.....
Welcome to my quest
I am on a quest to escape the cube farm in which I spend 40 hours per week of my short life that I have been blessed with on this earth. I recently completed the book "Quitter" by Jon Acuff and became inspired to start my own blog. The title of his book may have negative connotations, but it is far from it. He explains how to obtain your dream job without quitting your lifeless day job.
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