Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Importance of Industry on Job Satisfaction

I've never placed too much emphasis on which industry to work in. I guess it comes from my ADD nature and knowledge that I'd eventually get bored with any industry I target. That being said, I think there are two very important considerations for selecting an industry.

First, you've got to have some core ability to succeed in your industry of choice. Unless you're a technophile or electrical engineer, working in high tech probably isn't the best choice for you.

Second, and more important, you've got to like the type of person who is also attracted to the industry. I never really thought about this aspect of job selection in the past but have come to appreciate it more lately. I've found that different industries attract different types of people. I think working an in industry where you like your peers really helps with job satisfaction, particularly for workaholics such as myself.

Agree? Disagree?

Monday, June 25, 2007

New Theory on Fertility Drug Usage

I was talking to a friend about the prevalence of peers using fertility drugs or seeking invitro fertilization. I was quite frankly shocked that healthy, successful people in their early thirties are having difficulties conceiving. Her theory was that some of these over-achievers may simply be overly anxious and impatient about having a child. In thinking about it more, I think her theory makes more sense than anything I came up with.

So are you people just impatient or is there something else going on here which is adversely affecting fertility?

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Jury Duty Awaits

In case you're wondering, if you don't respond to Jury Duty summons, they just send you another one. If you don't respond to the next two, then they get serious and send you a very threatening note informing you that you have one last chance to report to jury duty before they send the cops after you.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Who's Ringo?

Alright --

All this time I thought "Ringo" was my friend Tyler, but Tyler just left a few messages using his own name. So who are you "Ringo"?

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Genius of Jack Welch

I love what I've read about Jack Welch's management philosephies. He make a heck of a lot of sense with some pretty straightforward ideas such as the importance of candor within an organization. One of his lessor discussed tennants has to do with celebrating successess. Although he doesn't emphasize this pricipal too much, I have found it to be very important. Rather, I have experienced the consequences of failing to do so first hand.

The main drawback of not sufficiently celebrating successes is that it kills employee morale. I'm not talking about the promoting flowery, "Hey, isn't this a great place to work!" morale. I'm talking about avoiding the "That isn't my job!" mentality. When you don't celebrate success, there's no incentive for people to stick their neck out and put extra effort into their daily jobs. Sales people side with their customers on the margin. Marketing departments run promotions during peak times when their assured success, ironically when the marginal effect of marketing dollars is lower. Employees start leaving at the stroke of 5:00 PM. I wouldn't be surprised if expense accounts slowly creep up as well.

This problem can be very easily overcome by simply remembering to celebrate successes, no matter now small.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Elementary School Teachers

A completely haphazard memory came to me this morning. I distinctly recall being repeatedly reprimanded as a child by my elementary school teachers for the same offense. Anyone who knows me can probably guess what that was.

I talked to much during class.

Even to this day I'm not quite sure why this was such a crime. I was undoubtedly bored out of my mind by the banal teachings in class. Additionally, the oratory and socialization skills I was developing have been FAR more valuable to me than any possible lesson about... to tell you the truth, I don't even remember what sort of crap they were trying to teach me in elementary school because I was too busy trying to talk to my friends during class! Interestingly enough, by the time I reached graduate school, these very traits I was chastised for became the basis for academic success.

Seems to me that there's a serious disconnect in our primary education system. The students just want to be engaged and the teachers just want to get through the day. Unfortunately, most students probably find playing and goofing off to be more engaging than the teachers' lesson plans.

For that matter, aside from indoctrination, why do school mandate certain works as "required" reading? Why is Shakespeare so important? Heck, it's not even written in modern English! If a kid wants to read Black Hawk Down or Moneyball (two of my favorite books) instead, why not let him or her? I'd argue that those two books are more relevant to today's world than some story about some murdering playboy and his little hoochie mamma (Romeo and Juliette).

That it, I'm home-schooling my children.

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