Changes

My company went through some major management changes this week. People who were replaced had been with the company for over 25 years. Whilst the announcements were sugar coated with "mutual agreement to leave" and "he's done a fine job" etc, the fact of the matter is that the main US guy for our company was removed.

As an outsider who had been here in NY for only 7 months, the employee meeting to discuss the departures was one of the most interesting things I have been to from a work/career perspective.
I have no affinity with the guy, but there are people who have been working with him for the last 20 odd years. I couldn't imagine the shock of it to those other senior managers.

There was a lot of "the board members are only concerned with the stock price, but we're concerned with a place for people to have a job and support their families" seems very us vs the big bad corporation. In the end, I believe we're all here so that we can make money, and if the guy is not performing or he's not the right guy to implement some improvements, then it's time for some new blood.

The strangest thing was the message the other senior guys were saying, that "things around here won't change much", and "NY is what we want the company to be". Given that the main guy was removed, you would think that change is in the air, and that if you don't toe the corporate line (as a regional business) you'd better watch out. The message from corporate was none too subtle.

As the financial controller said to me (again, he's a new guy to the company), this is just the beginning. Who knows what other changes are coming through.

I heard that when he was leaving, the main guy said that "I'll be back in a year to take this company". It's definitely an interesting time to be in the US!

Consistency Is Key

I've come to the realisation that in relationships, consistent behaviour helps stablise a couple.

Think of it like a stockmarket. I would argue that consistent quirks (sometimes a bad behaviour, maybe something that annoys one partner) would not break a couple down. Perhaps consistently bad behaviour will break up a couple, like some death by a thousand cuts. Everyone has their own quirks, and each couple will have their own rules and behaviours. However when one person strays from that expected response, it casts doubt on their other areas.

It is the "inconsistent quirk" that has the potential to threaten an otherwise stable relationship. The inconsistent quirk could be not standing up for your partner, or attempting to split a bill when usually we don't. That's the volatility that puts the relationship outside the normal bounds and makes people think more about whether this person is "really right".

Of course, all this does not change the fact that a bad behaviour is something that needs to be addressed, for a relationship to become better, not just stable. On that point, a unexpected surprise in good behaviour takes the relationship to the next level. And we all love surprises :) 

Court Sense

We recently had a friend try out for our volleyball team, and we decided that one of the issues he had was a lack of playing time and "court sense". I didn't know if that was being too harsh and whether people can pick that up quickly.

I'm now in the process of trying to answer my own question. I'm now playing some touch American football, and it's so hard. Skills-wise, I can catch ok, run ok etc. But positioning and anticipation are just terrible.

We play one-on-one marking, so I'm usually up against a guy. I'm constantly being outrun or outdodged (and the no-stud sneakers with are definitely not helping with gripping the ground) when I'm defending. When we're attacking, I'm not getting many passes, most likely because I'm not "in motion", and passing to a stationary target makes it a lot easier for the other team to intercept.

Will I learn in the next 4 games before the season finishes? Probably not. So was I too harsh in the "court sense" judgment for volleyball? Probably not, it does take a while to pick up.

Will I keep playing touch football? I'm a maybe on that one, dodgeball seems a lot more interesting!

Book Review: Speed Reading

I just read a good book about how to read faster and the key point is to realise that most things you don't have to read every word. A quick skim of the contents, then the first paragraph, the first sentence of each paragraph and conclusion will garner about 70% knowledge of what the article is trying to say, especially if it is well written.

The other point is that your mind subconsciously understands and recalls more than what you think it does, and that you can read faster than you can hear. Hence if you are talking to yourself when you read, usually it means that you're reading too slowly.

They have some smart suggestions of how to read faster, with grouping of words together (so you don't read every word), stopping your eyes a few cm before the end of the line (to maximise what your eyes are seeing), and doing the white card thing (but pushing down the pages so that you eyes are forced to move on).

There are exercises to do, but I have to admit I skipped most of them :)

Career Opportunities

Argh, so much for a Sunday post, been in a conference the whole week.

A work friend told me a story that in his first year out into the corporate world, the tech bubble busted and he got laid off. Ever since, he's been a big believer that no one looks after your career except yourself.

This conference last week has made me feel a little bit different to that. As per my post a few weeks back about my project getting canned, I've been operating at a fairly low capacity, and doing mostly support work. I was starting to consider "what next?" and thinking of other possibilities (even outside of the company).

I came down to Charlotte for some other work, and ended up being invited to this global ICT conference. Within this week, I have been promoted to a Project Manager again, and gotten some global work. It was good to get nominated (without any suggestion from me) in front of the bigwigs as the person to do the job.

Perhaps managers do look after their staff, at least in this company.
Perhaps this comes from being able to deliver in previous instances, and past history in the corporate world counts as something.
Perhaps no one else wanted the role!

In any case, it's project time again. 6 weeks to go-live :)

Why Ski Jumps Aren't Me

So Vail was fantastic, as I mentioned in the post last week. It's worthwhile to share some of my expeeriences there.
Spurred on by a long time skiing mate back in Oz, my skiing buddy (Waz) and I decided to hit the jumps on the last day of our trip there. The weather was perfect, bright sunny skies and I had promised my mate that I would attempt a few tricks.

I decided the trick about halfway down the slope towards the jump...



Emboldened by that success, I tried something a little bit fancier...



Sorry Kevvy, I didn't fulfill your task! Maybe next time :)

Interesting Things

At a work seminar my friend attended, one of the facilitators dispensed with the small talk introductions and asked everyone in the room, "state your name and one interesting fact about you". My friend struggled with what to say, to find something short and sharp that would impress the people around him. Personally, I think it was just an ice-breaker, and he could have said anything he wanted and people would have believed him.

It got me thinking if I would be able to draw from something in my life that others would be interested in. Yes, I have moved to New York, yes I used to hold dance parties, yes I have enrolled to do some meals on wheels for the elderly (hope my application is approved). These things may be interesting but are they things I am proud of?

There are other things that I would say make me proud; making the rep team for volleyball, becoming a better project manager, and hitting the 3.5 year mark with Bec. However, a my friend quite rightly pointed out, these things really aren't that interesting to other people. It's things that are internal to me.

Ultimately, what makes a thing interesting to me in other people is the passion and enthusiasm that they talk about it and live it. A person who is a stamp collector is a "whatever", but if that stamp collector talks about her "$100,000 1904 stamp with the Queen on it", it can make for an interesting conversation.

So note to self: get enthusiastic, get passionate, and naturally people will want to hear more.

Separate note: Vail is fantastic (again!). We've had two days of glorious sun, and now it's snowing outside. Fresh tracks for tomorrow! I have come to the sad realisation that my legs are weak, as is my back, and general fitness. I'm blaming it on the altitude sickness :)

Canned Project

I've had a project cancel on me before, but not one where I was the project manager. I think I didn't feel it as much because we were still in the pre-development stage, and everything I had done was only on word and pictures.

What's there to learn from it? A project manager should never be that fully invested into the project, and they should always be, as I learnt from one of my classes, "a conduit of other people's dreams". Any kind of change in business conditions, as witnessed these last few months, can turn a project on its head. Probably the other thing to learn is that a PM should always have contingencies and different scenarios thought through. If I'm constantly thinking "what if...?" I would probably be better prepared for what was going to happen.

However, my big boss has indicated he's keen on using ICT money to fund the project and have it ready for the business when they need it. I'm not so sure that is a good idea, but if the project gets revived, I'll be ready.

Pity, though, I now can't say I have another project under my belt. I wonder what I should write for my resume for a project that gets the shaft?

Gambling Tour

Having missed out on the Macau gambling experience when we were there (surely I looked like I was money even though I had on thongs!), I have tried and tried to find people in New York to take me to Atlantic City. However, after my flaky friends bailed on me once again, I took matters into my own hands and went down there myself.

I was telling Bec that I would have never considered doing something like that in Sydney.
It's the equivalent of going to Canberra, a 3 hour bus ride by myself to gamble. Along the way, I met a wonderful old lady who was a hardcore blackjack player; serving women at the Borgata that had some shockingly busty tops; and $500 chips (oh they feel so good to hold :))

Going adventuring alone (that is not work related) is a new experience for me, I'm usually travelling with someone(s) else. It is quite liberating, it's always memorable. Especially from a gambling perspective, it is definitely better to travel alone, as I can say when I should stop and run with the winnings, instead of waiting for friends and losing more money. I'll be the first to admit that going to Atlantic City was no major stretch in terms of an "exotic adventure", but we all have to start somewhere!

And for those who care, I did get up in craps, but lost out in blackjack (I should never play that game) and limit poker. Luckily the craps paid for the bus ride and lunch and a bit extra for the dinner that night back in New York.

The best thing is I have now found some other friends who seem just as keen to gamble, so I'm sure there will be more A/C trips to come. Plus anyone who is super keen, Vegas!

Panoramic Shots

I remember when we used physical film, there was a type of film that allowed panoramic shots. Nowadays, I would take three or four shots for a scene, but never found the way to easily merge them into a panoramic shot. With the Dell, I got a cool photo editing software called Adobe Photoshop Elements that actually does the merging for me. Here's a selection, they did end up something like what I thought they would!

Gold Coast Beach


Times Square


Spit Bridge


Yankee Stadium


Great Ocean Road


Pyrmont


Palm Beach


Tokyo