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BOSS IS THE KING
Actually, this post is to be very short - all wisdom can be fit into two rules
1. Boss is always right
2. If the boss is not right see item 1. -
Appreciation
Appreciation at work (and beyond) is not something you should typically expect because it depends on two fairly rare events: 1 the person should be generally at the same level of understanding as you and 2 the person should have time and interest in zooming into the work you have done. -
"I do not want problems - I want solutions"
A quote from a manager I know worthy to be put on a banner of the managers tribe. Mnagers are typically squeezed between their subordinates and supervisors. Not alsways a nice place to be in especially if your rsources and abilities are limited. The statement above looks very nice and empowering and all. But if you scratch the surface, it says "I ( Read more... ) -
Don't tell me about your strategy - show me your budget.
The bottom line is in the subject line and is self-explanatory. Budget is probably the most precise descriptor of the true strategy of a company, not the one stated on the website and glossy booklets. Implementation of a strategy depends on (at least) two things - crating the right system of incentives for people to drive the organization to where ( Read more... ) -
Does your manager know what you do?
Some random observations of the managerial life:- a manager spends 50% of his/her time managing up, 30% of his time managing relationships with his peers and 20% managing his staff.
- often they do not have time to figure out what exactly you are doing. They show interest in what subordinates do only if something goes wrong or if they for whatever ( Read more... )
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Email surviving strategies
I regularly have to participate in a completely frustrating and meaningless exercise called an email discussion. Usually it has a couple of hundreds participants (and who knows how many else are bcc:-ed) 99% of whom have no idea about the topic and were copied by someone else due to some other reasons having nothing to do whatsoever with the issue ( Read more... ) -
Survival guide
Could not resist and copied the corporate survival guide I got from a friend many years ago:
All of us should have mastered the art of showing that we are doing something important without doing anything. In any case, a few tips as a refresher course:
1. Never walk down the hall without a document in your hands. People with documents in their ( Read more... ) -
Wall Street Math
One who is surprised, dismayed or shocked by the Wall Street (or any other street for that matter but I mean the banking community) behaviour, I would suggest to think about the motivation of a, say, a loan executive ( Read more... ) -
Why the Cynical Guide?
For a very long time (definitely more than since last Friday) , had an itch to share my infinite wisdom of survival in the corporate environment and telling the world all the truth about how things work (or more often do not work). :-)))) Since I have been too lazy to write a book (and even to start one) starting a blog seems to be the right way to ( Read more... )
