Disqus - Latest Comments for Charlie

Re: Cosmetic Leopard Desktop Adjustments: Dock, Menu Bar, Stacks

Charlie — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:57:58 -0000

I detest dock stacks.
Expected behavior (for me) of a clicked icon on the dock is to open. It now takes me two clicks to open a dock-based folder.
In addition, I customize my folder icons with client logos, etc. A row of logos sitting on my dock would easily show me which folder belonged to each client. Now, each has the logo of the first file alphabetically with a bunch of stray stuff peeking out behind. How is this useful? Not only is the appearance non-indicative, but it also mutable! This seems to go against every usability guideline written.

Re: Random Management Statement Generator

Charlie — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 12:59:44 -0000

There is another good one at the Dilbert site:

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/games/car...

Re: A Diversity Gut Check for You

Charlie — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:39:01 -0000

David Clinger, a cyclist on WebCor Builders, got a full-face tattoo while representing the team sponsors.

Here's the story from a tattoo site perspective:
http://www.needled.com/archives/2005/08/employm...

Re: Seeing (Product) Red

Charlie — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 10:09:52 -0000

So,...
In terms of how HR plans are "marketed" to the employee - how does this translate?
Are there "Red stock options" that could be offered at a slight premium? "Red Healthcare"?

Re: Seeing (Product) Red

Charlie — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 10:14:40 -0000

Actually, this is now reminding me of a place I once worked where employees were encouraged to donate to a charitable fund each year. The participants all recieved litle pins which were, without exception, worn on the employee IDs. Each pin had a year, too so that it encouraged everyone to give again and again by peer pressure.

But people felt good about it, too.

Re: Fake Pink Slips and Spear Phishing

Charlie — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 06:09:36 -0000

..and give them the tools to repel infection.

Re: Got Ethics?

Charlie — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 06:18:17 -0000

I can see this hurting a business in three ways:

1) The cheaters are more likely to have inflated resumes, so the organization loses the opportunity to get the best person for the job;

2) On the job, cheating will be de-motivating to their peers

3) The cheaters create legal liability for their actions at the organization (NB:Enron).

Re: Performance Is Punishing

Charlie — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:56:08 -0000

Oh man. Don't I know it. :)

Re: Silence Your Cell Phones…

Charlie — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:35:11 -0000

Is it me, or are the vibrators in phone getting louder? I can hear a 'silenced' phone from 30 feet away in a movie theater.

Re: Telecommuting to Career Oblivion?

Charlie — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:36:42 -0000

Companies lie to employees. Against their own long-term interests.

Hopefully the managers at Best Buy will put their promotions where there mouth (and productivity) is. The best cure for discriminating against the telecommuter is good metrics.

But also - management of employees is about knowing them, not just their recent performance metrics. How can one properly know people who you don't get to work alongside?

Re: 22 Percent of Philadelphians Have Dream Jobs

Charlie — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 08:12:13 -0000

Count me as one of the lucky 22%.
Of course, I would have said that in my last 3 jobs, too!

Re: Take the ARSE Quiz

Charlie — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:05:38 -0000

I scored a 1. (And no, I wont say which question I answered "true')

I really like how the scoring is so transparent. Many quizzes do some sort of 'black magic' to determine your score, but because this is a straight count, you can
a) grudgingly admit that you should have answered differently and figure out what you should have gotten
b) easily consider the ARBE or ARPE (boss exam or peer exam)

Re: Creativity Stimulator: Tanaka’s Auto Door

Charlie — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 09:43:41 -0000

It has cool factor up to here [gesture].
But I can imagine walking right into someone coming the other way. :P

And I hate strict pragmatists, but...
Do you imagine that the HVAC savings would be offset by the energy costs of the door itself?

Re: iPods for Docs

Charlie — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 04:52:42 -0000

I'm wondering if cheap mp3 players could be used in less esoteric fields, such as call center training. Each month, a group of tough calls could be uploaded to the players of hundreds of call center reps - like podcasting for employee development.

Re: Your (Internet) Reputation Precedes You

Charlie — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:18:31 -0000

Too scary. We have met the surveillance society and it is us.

Re: The World’s Shortest Blogging Policy

Charlie — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:49:10 -0000

In the right culture, this absolutely makes sense. In others, I could imagine that relying too heavily on personal judgment might be a mistake, in that you could lose some ability to recover losses caused by unprofessional (but not explicitly prohibited behavior).

Can steps like this help migrate a culture toward one that behaves professionally? In that case, it may be worth it!

Re: How Many Birthday Wishes Do You Send Out Each Year?

Charlie — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 08:27:55 -0000

:) "..a few years ago.."

Re: The. Best. Order. Update. Ever.

Charlie — Fri, 25 May 2007 10:30:38 -0000

Frank-
After reading this blog post, I was so moved that I felt I needed to do something. I hope you don't mind, but I emailed a copy to a manufacturing outfit in China where select artisans are using traditional methods to make a series of 40-foot rice-paper banners extolling the virtues of customer communication. I have arranged with the city of Philadelphia to have them flown over Broad Street the entire month of June.

PS: I have also tattooed this manifesto on my face.

Re: Five Reasons Pay-for-Performance Fails

Charlie — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:21:46 -0000

The metrics can be tricky, too. Choosing what to reward has pitfalls when employees become willing to do undesirable things in order to pump the score that they are being rewarded for.

Also, using subjective metrics invites favoritism, while using objective metrics takes manager's opinions out of the picture.

Re: What Can I Do To Get More Discussion Going at KnowHR Blog?

Charlie — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:03:30 -0000

I'm waiting for openings to make you look silly, Frank.
Those are just too few and far between.
:)

Re: The Strength of the Anti-Message

Charlie — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 07:24:42 -0000

Evidence it works: I am inspired to talk to my daughter about this.

Re: Just Brilliant: Pay Kill Fees for Bad Projects

Charlie — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:16:55 -0000

I totally agree that many projects are doomed and are an inefficient use of investment.

As a resident devil's advocate, it is my duty to think of the lucky employee (or subsidized farmer) who gets paid not to work. They just need to throw their hands in the air at a suitable point to claim their rewards.

Finding a sweet spot (and making sure your employees see it as one) that balances a strong desire to make projects succeed with the courage to let failing ones go might be too tough a challenge for a policy. This sort of thing just requires great management.

Re: Can You Motivate Someone?

Charlie — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:26:22 -0000

I'm trying to figure out what _my_ plasma TV could be in my workplace. Is it a year-end bonus? That's pretty good, but I think the thing that really makes me go is the praise of my manager and peers.

This metaphor really makes me think in a new way and gets to the heart of comp.

Thanks!

Re: Suffer from Motivational Deficiency Disorder?

Charlie — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:12:19 -0000

Sadly, I have been afflicted with MDD. It's sometimes so bad I cant bother to finish a

Re: Sometimes Things Aren’t Broken, They Just Need a Different Level of Analysis

Charlie — Sat, 10 May 2008 08:30:07 -0000

I like broken parking meters. I don't believe that Philadelphia, with its bazillion meters, owns a single "Meter out of order" sign. Meters turned into poles are even better than escalator/stairs because they improve with malfunction.

Like:
- airline over-bookings forcing you into a free upgrade
- school and work on snowdays
- go-cart throttle limiters
- chastity belts