March 6, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Tomm Carr (3/6/2009)
Irish Flyer (3/6/2009)
What you do for a living shouldn't NECESSARILY be "What have you chosen to give your life meaning?"It's not a question of necessity. It just is. The meaning of life results from productive effort. Like the fact we have to eat to remain alive, it is a feature of life and the universe in which we live. The benefit of being human is that we get to choose. We must eat to live, but we get to choose what we eat. We must produce to have meaning, but we get to choose what we produce.
With all due respect - what we choose to value above everything else is a cultural thing. Irish does have a point that in our American culture, our JOB seems to have a disproportionate share on the scale used to establish our standing in society.
And - just because some of the activities that I participate in might produce something doesn't mean that EVERYTHING I do must produce something. The fact that I like to cook, play music, go hiking, shouldn't have to be something I apologize or beg for.
And productivity is NOT contingent on how many hours I put in (as a matter of fact - after a certain point, the more hours you put in the worse it becomes). So - having fewer days off does NOT indicate that we will be more productive than those who have more.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
March 6, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Tomm Carr (3/6/2009)
... The last time, I took a course to get my CDL and hit the road for a year...
I have considered that very job choice many a time. I love the open road and have put a million miles under my tires... fast approaching 2.
But road life with a family is a hard deal to break even with.
March 6, 2009 at 2:55 pm
As far as my wish list, I'd like to have at least one major conference (PASS Summit, SQLConnections, etc...) trip at least every other year and a training budget (I don't need a class, but books, etc...).
The other thing I'd like is more options financially. Let's talk in terms of total compensation instead of salary. If I'm going to cost the company say $100k a year, let me choose how I get it. Maybe I take the 2 weeks vacation and more cash, or opt for a lesser insurance plan for more cash.
The last thing, which has been mentioned, is comp/flex time. If I work until 10pm on Monday finishing a project or fixing a problem, then if I want to leave at noon one day that week to go golfing then it should be allowed.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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March 6, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Robert Davis (3/6/2009)
David Reed (3/6/2009)
Do you have weather that lets me ride the Kawi 6R to work 350 days a year? (OK, it was chilly @ 25°F this morning, but not hypothermia-inducing.) Twisting above 10k RPMs on the way home is better for the soul than a day off...David, you must only ride your motorcycle in the rain, because it rains 350 days a year here. 🙂 We work just a few buildings apart.
I ride as long as there's no frozen precipitation. Come to the Pacific Northwest! Home to Innovations in Precipitation!!™ The freezing fog earlier this year played [heck] with my visibility through the faceshield...
Fortunately, my Scots-Irish heritage (from me mother's side -- she's a McIntyre) has given me a genetic predisposition for enjoying the rain.
Robert Davis (3/6/2009)
Besides, we're not going to let PM's join our union anyway. 😉
Just because my title has "manager" in it doesn't meant that I can't join a union! I have no direct reports. I'm labor. Help! I'm being repressed!!
😀
March 6, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Irish Flyer (3/6/2009)
David Reed (3/6/2009)
I hear you about the Kawi, I have a vintage R1 Turbo I like to let out of its cage periodically. Fortunately I live in San Antonio, where you can ride all but about 10 days a year through the TX hill country.
SA is nice (if you like rocks and scorpions -- which, for the record, I do). My brother's wife and kids are "stationed" there while he's in Iraq this year.
If I moved back to the beautiful hill country, though, I'd have to buy a 90°-angle camelback bite valve and figure out how to thread the hydration hose into my Arai helmet... Tejas will always be my adopted home state, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to having to consciously think about hydration and heat stroke on a daily basis. 😎 Switching from red-and-black riding gear to something more reflective would also be required.
But for double my current salary... well, I'm always open to temptation! 😛
March 6, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Jack Corbett (3/6/2009)
As far as my wish list, I'd like to have at least one major conference (PASS Summit, SQLConnections, etc...) trip at least every other year and a training budget (I don't need a class, but books, etc...).
Have you asked until the boss relents and lets you go? I've developed "whining" to a fine art as a way to get what I want @ work. (It doesn't work with my wife, though. More's the pity.)
Jack Corbett (3/6/2009)
The other thing I'd like is more options financially. Let's talk in terms of total compensation instead of salary. If I'm going to cost the company say $100k a year, let me choose how I get it. Maybe I take the 2 weeks vacation and more cash, or opt for a lesser insurance plan for more cash.
When I ran a dev shop in startup-land, we did this. I routinely "bought back" developers' (and a few non-developers') vacation if they were willing to part with it at the end of the year... since management always seemed to choose New Year's as an important milestone date for some triple-A project.
Large companies and HR departments (especially together) are significant barriers to having this kind of flexibility, though. The current HR group is very good about telling us how much our health care is worth... but we don't get to make any choices with regards to it besides a) opt in or b) opt out.
Jack Corbett (3/6/2009)
The last thing, which has been mentioned, is comp/flex time. If I work until 10pm on Monday finishing a project or fixing a problem, then if I want to leave at noon one day that week to go golfing then it should be allowed.
I'm not your boss, but I were, that's how I managed people. I'm fortunate to have a boss who "manages" me that way at the moment. Golfing during the week is awesome! There are only doctors and dentists on the course... Now I just have to figure out how to carry the clubs on the motorcycle to make for a perfect day.
March 6, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Matt Miller (3/6/2009)
With all due respect - what we choose to value above everything else is a cultural thing. Irish does have a point that in our American culture, our JOB seems to have a disproportionate share on the scale used to establish our standing in society.
Oh, really? Which society exists where this is not the case? Take me into the deepest parts of the Amazonian jungle and show me the tribe where standing is independent of JOB. (England is not allowed. Brits are just too weird to be used as an example of anything.)
And productivity is NOT contingent on how many hours I put in (as a matter of fact - after a certain point, the more hours you put in the worse it becomes). So - having fewer days off does NOT indicate that we will be more productive than those who have more.
Nor does having more days off indicate you will be more productive. The average work week in the US is 46 hours and we get, as has already been pointed out, only two weeks of vacation a year plus another two weeks of intermittent holidays. The US has one of the highest productivity rates in the world, so I would guess we have hit upon just the right mix of work and leisure.
Tomm Carr
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March 6, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Since we're talking wish list here, I would like to petition for 4 day work weeks (4 x 10 hours) as the standard.
March 6, 2009 at 4:07 pm
How many ways can I say that unions are a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad idea. Everyone feels like they are being forced into concessions that they don't want to make, or that somehow the other side is not reciprocating.
However, if I were king, and yet still wanted to do DBA or other IT work I would like to:
1. Telecommute 40% of my time. I have a computer lab at home that rivals what I have to use at work. I can remotely manage both my work computer and all my work resources so I REALLY can do 99.9% of all my tasks from a remote location. And on the rare occasion that I do get to work from home (bad weather, etc), I actually get more work done at home. I'm more comfortable, don't have to waste time commuting, and its a more relaxed environment so I get about 20% more work done at home in the same amount of time. The only "down" side is that my boss doesn't have the warm fuzzy of watching me slave away.
2. Pay for my training, without the handcuffs. OK, so very few companies will hire you without having very specific knowledge. It doesn't matter if you are a good programmer, you have to be good at .Net, or C++ or Java or Ruby or whatever. That's fine if you want me to come in trained. How about helping me keep up those madskillz by paying for me to continue to upgrade my skillset?
3. Most companies I work for have given me 10 holidays. One even gave everyone an additional week off between Christmas and New Years when we mostly shutdown (except for Customer Service). The last couple have given me only 8 holidays (or 6 for the current company). Bummer.
4. Also, everytime I start with a new company, I only get 2 weeks vacation. It always seems that just about the time I reach the 3 weeks per year (or 4 weeks if its a PTO system), then its time to move on. And I can never get a company to agree to start me at 3 weeks. Also a bummer
Yeah, that's pretty much it. I actually have a pretty good job and I want to keep it that way. So let's not unionize. At the moment, just being able to come in every day and earn a living is a pretty good thing. With layoffs occurring just about everywhere I think I'll gladly stay put. Unless of course we go belly up too.
March 6, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Robert Davis (3/6/2009)
Since we're talking wish list here, I would like to petition for 4 day work weeks (4 x 10 hours) as the standard.
Why stop there? Go for 3x14 (includes lunch each day).
I think there are some days when the creative juices are flowing, I'd rather pull a 36 hour straight. if only I could turn around and take the rest of the week off (never happens... a day maybe...). I'd be far more inclined to produce more in less time...
March 6, 2009 at 4:24 pm
dphillips (3/6/2009)
Robert Davis (3/6/2009)
Since we're talking wish list here, I would like to petition for 4 day work weeks (4 x 10 hours) as the standard.Why stop there? Go for 3x14 (includes lunch each day).
I think there are some days when the creative juices are flowing, I'd rather pull a 36 hour straight. if only I could turn around and take the rest of the week off (never happens... a day maybe...). I'd be far more inclined to produce more in less time...
I'd even be willing to do 2X20. Just put a hammock in my office, and I'll work 20, sleep 4, and then work another 20. 🙂
March 6, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Robert Davis (3/6/2009)
dphillips (3/6/2009)
Robert Davis (3/6/2009)
Since we're talking wish list here, I would like to petition for 4 day work weeks (4 x 10 hours) as the standard.Why stop there? Go for 3x14 (includes lunch each day).
I think there are some days when the creative juices are flowing, I'd rather pull a 36 hour straight. if only I could turn around and take the rest of the week off (never happens... a day maybe...). I'd be far more inclined to produce more in less time...
I'd even be willing to do 2X20. Just put a hammock in my office, and I'll work 20, sleep 4, and then work another 20. 🙂
I already voted for the 28-hour Day[/url], but I'll vote for it again! Yes, I had a sleeping bag in my office @ the startup. Although the gig lasted for 5.5 years and an average of 80-hour weeks, I still miss it sometimes.
I inserted the XKCD comic as an image and then realized that not everybody would appreciate the "your Mom" jokes in the panel: http://xkcd.com/320/[/url]
March 6, 2009 at 6:01 pm
David Reed (3/6/2009)
Jack Corbett (3/6/2009)
As far as my wish list, I'd like to have at least one major conference (PASS Summit, SQLConnections, etc...) trip at least every other year and a training budget (I don't need a class, but books, etc...).Have you asked until the boss relents and lets you go? I've developed "whining" to a fine art as a way to get what I want @ work. (It doesn't work with my wife, though. More's the pity.)
At my last place they'd let me go, but it would be on my dime and time (vacation). Where I'm at now I can probably work something out even without whining. This is just part of the, if we had a union what would I want it to get for me.
David Reed (3/6/2009)
Jack Corbett (3/6/2009)
The other thing I'd like is more options financially. Let's talk in terms of total compensation instead of salary. If I'm going to cost the company say $100k a year, let me choose how I get it. Maybe I take the 2 weeks vacation and more cash, or opt for a lesser insurance plan for more cash.When I ran a dev shop in startup-land, we did this. I routinely "bought back" developers' (and a few non-developers') vacation if they were willing to part with it at the end of the year... since management always seemed to choose New Year's as an important milestone date for some triple-A project.
I've been at a company that did buy-back's but I used my vacation.
David Reed (3/6/2009)
Large companies and HR departments (especially together) are significant barriers to having this kind of flexibility, though. The current HR group is very good about telling us how much our health care is worth... but we don't get to make any choices with regards to it besides a) opt in or b) opt out.
The bigger the bureaucracy the harder it is to get something done. For several years I would rather have had the cash than the benefits. Of course if you opt out, if you are lucky they'll give your about 1 months worth of the benefit in cash.
David Reed (3/6/2009)
Jack Corbett (3/6/2009)
The last thing, which has been mentioned, is comp/flex time. If I work until 10pm on Monday finishing a project or fixing a problem, then if I want to leave at noon one day that week to go golfing then it should be allowed.I'm not your boss, but I were, that's how I managed people. I'm fortunate to have a boss who "manages" me that way at the moment. Golfing during the week is awesome! There are only doctors and dentists on the course... Now I just have to figure out how to carry the clubs on the motorcycle to make for a perfect day.
I had a boss that managed like that and now I'm spoiled for any other type of boss. I turned down 1 good job because they were time Nazi's. It's one of the things I ask about in interviews.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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March 7, 2009 at 8:35 am
"I know lots of you don't think unions are good..." Where does that come from? My guess is that just as many (in fact probably more) people working in IT approve of unions. The people who dislike unions the most are employers, for the obvious reasons. I'm not actually a union member right now, partly because I'm a contractor (I should really join anyway), but mostly because I'm in a 'shortage' profession, and can negotiate any additional benefits I need.
But I know that this isn't going to last forever (look at web developers - back in the ol' days they could name their price, now they're ten-a-penny), and joining a union will help ensure that the core benefits we enjoy remain around in the longer term...
So I'm all for unions, and would love to see a union (a fresh well-managed one, not the bureaucratic old-fashioned kind) formed to look after IT workers.
March 7, 2009 at 8:39 am
Actually, the US has one of the lowest productivity rates per hour worked in the developed world. The French (yep, the French!) are more productive per hour than you guys, but they work far fewer hours (=more leisure time), so their overall GNP-per-capita is lower than yours.
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