Right now I’m watching everyone in M&M work together doing some kind of letter sorting. Everyone is laughing, talking and helping each other out. This is the first time I’ve seen the entire department doing something together other than the week-in-review meeting. It’s our first day in the new office and I think we’re off to a great start. Even though everyone is somewhat flustered and confused, we’re all flustered and confused together. This has really been a uniting experience for everyone here. I’m proud to be a part of this department and this company.
Monday, December 8, 2008
This is Family Business
This is kind of a spur of the moment entry, so it isn’t the result of whatever I was thinking about this morning. It’s based on what I’m observing right now from my new desk.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Monday will be Interesting
It seems as though the topic du-jour has been our organization's impending move to a new office so I figured that I would jump in on the theme.
The move is now in full swing with signs of it all around us, from my empty office to our visiting the new digs earlier today to have our pictures taken for new ID badges. Come Monday, my wife will be dropping me off at a new building and we won't be riding to work together...it will be day 1 in the new home.
From a management perspective, I'm curious to see how our new space will play out. As a group, our department has gotten into its routines and patterns. Folks have figured out a cadence to working together and for the most part it works.
As a manager, I value these "riutals" as that's part of a group coming together and I've for the most part figured out how to work within these parameters to keep our ship moving in the right direction. I'm happy for the change as I think it's good to shake things up and resist the temptations towards complacency but at the same time I wonder how all the change will effect all that we've worked towards in the last 2.5 years.
Dynamics will inevitably change and new rituals will be born...will we keep the good of what we built? Will we seize opportunity in places where we could benefit? I don't know...but I'm sure it will be an interesting ride.
The move is now in full swing with signs of it all around us, from my empty office to our visiting the new digs earlier today to have our pictures taken for new ID badges. Come Monday, my wife will be dropping me off at a new building and we won't be riding to work together...it will be day 1 in the new home.
From a management perspective, I'm curious to see how our new space will play out. As a group, our department has gotten into its routines and patterns. Folks have figured out a cadence to working together and for the most part it works.
As a manager, I value these "riutals" as that's part of a group coming together and I've for the most part figured out how to work within these parameters to keep our ship moving in the right direction. I'm happy for the change as I think it's good to shake things up and resist the temptations towards complacency but at the same time I wonder how all the change will effect all that we've worked towards in the last 2.5 years.
Dynamics will inevitably change and new rituals will be born...will we keep the good of what we built? Will we seize opportunity in places where we could benefit? I don't know...but I'm sure it will be an interesting ride.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Ticking Away the Moments...
Most mornings I listen to my iPod as I walk to work. Occasionally, certain songs come on that end up being pretty thought provoking. A section from a song by who I consider to be the greatest band of all time, Pink Floyd, proved to be so earlier today.
“You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you,
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun”
If you aren't familiar with the song, it's Time off of Dark Side of the Moon. The song is mostly about how people wait for life to happen and that time passes quickly and people miss out. Which leads me to my thought...
I don’t like it when people use the phrase “The Real World”. I guess most people consider “The Real World” to be when you either reap the rewards or suffer the consequences of everything that has been your life so far. It promotes the idea that life starts at a certain point in the future and creates a feeling that childhood and adolescence and everything before that point are about preparing for a life that’s going to start later. If you wait for “The Real World” to come, there’s a good chance you’re going to miss it and probably be pretty unhappy with yourself. I think life is happening all the time and at any point you can grab the reins and start guiding your own destiny.
Every moment of your life has a direct impact on the things that will happen to you in both the immediate and distant future. Some moments, if not most, are small and inconsequential. There are also of course moments and decisions in everyone’s lives that potentially determine the course they will take. I try not to obsess over decisions I have made, whether they be good or bad at the time. Inevitably, they have led me to where I am in this exact moment right now, which I’m quite pleased with.
Life is a delicate balance between examining the past, taking the present moment-by-moment, and planning ahead but I think the right combination is a formula for success, and more importantly, contentment.
“You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you,
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun”
If you aren't familiar with the song, it's Time off of Dark Side of the Moon. The song is mostly about how people wait for life to happen and that time passes quickly and people miss out. Which leads me to my thought...
I don’t like it when people use the phrase “The Real World”. I guess most people consider “The Real World” to be when you either reap the rewards or suffer the consequences of everything that has been your life so far. It promotes the idea that life starts at a certain point in the future and creates a feeling that childhood and adolescence and everything before that point are about preparing for a life that’s going to start later. If you wait for “The Real World” to come, there’s a good chance you’re going to miss it and probably be pretty unhappy with yourself. I think life is happening all the time and at any point you can grab the reins and start guiding your own destiny.
Every moment of your life has a direct impact on the things that will happen to you in both the immediate and distant future. Some moments, if not most, are small and inconsequential. There are also of course moments and decisions in everyone’s lives that potentially determine the course they will take. I try not to obsess over decisions I have made, whether they be good or bad at the time. Inevitably, they have led me to where I am in this exact moment right now, which I’m quite pleased with.
Life is a delicate balance between examining the past, taking the present moment-by-moment, and planning ahead but I think the right combination is a formula for success, and more importantly, contentment.
1500 Spring Garden Here We Come!
I can’t believe this big move is finally upon us and that Thursday will be the last day that we report to work at 6th and Race (tear). One of the worst things (well in my opinion anyway) of a new job or a new environment is learning of the little things… I mean those basic, basic things that at this point we all just take for granted and just know. It’s the stuff that you almost feel too dumb to actually ask out loud when you are the new kid in the office. This consists of pretty simple basic and non-life threatening question like:
How do I change my voicemail?
How do I send something FedEx?
What is the code to enter the restroom (o you heard me right)?
Well not knowing and not having a routine is definitely one of my least favorite things – think your first day of college classes where pretty much every person walks into the wrong building and better yet the wrong classroom at least once. Awkward!
But, in our office move situation these exact questions and uncertainties are the thing I like the most about the move. I mean this is probably the first and last time in my life that I won’t be the only person that is completely clueless about what is going on on my first day in a new building/ brand new environment. O no, there will be an entire office full of people all in the same boat learning it together! The move is going to be a great change and learning experience for us all and I am sure together we can figure out all of the how to’s.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Hello again world,
So this is blog post number two and I must admit now that I can not write about it being blog post number one anymore I'm not quite sure what to write about. I saw the previous posts were about the move so I guess I'll start there.
I too am very excited to get my move on. I think the new office sounds really great and believe just the experience of moving as a group can offer some positive results in building our family. I am especially excited to see the new furniture and features that we will have going forward. While I was on my first co-op we had the same style office set up, I believe through the same company, and if anyone is worried they need not be.
Anyway back to the list of other things I need to do.
So this is blog post number two and I must admit now that I can not write about it being blog post number one anymore I'm not quite sure what to write about. I saw the previous posts were about the move so I guess I'll start there.
I too am very excited to get my move on. I think the new office sounds really great and believe just the experience of moving as a group can offer some positive results in building our family. I am especially excited to see the new furniture and features that we will have going forward. While I was on my first co-op we had the same style office set up, I believe through the same company, and if anyone is worried they need not be.
Anyway back to the list of other things I need to do.
I'm sitting here waiting for a co-worker to get out of a meeting so that we can go to lunch, so I decided to write my entry for the week to get my mind off of my grumbling stomach.
Like Jill said, it's move week! I think that this process is going to be a great experience for me because I get to see how a small environment works together through chaos to make everything run as smoothly as possible. I read a book my freshman year of college about change. I forget what it was called but I often think about it while I'm here. It talked about how change isn't always good but no matter what, you should try to adjust to it. (The characters in the book were mice, looking for cheese). Two years later, I still remember that short story and apply it wherever I can.
Personally, I'm a fan of change. If change didn't exist, this world would be so boring. If you didn't change and adjust to certain things in life, you wouldn't be successful or achieve your goals (unless your goal was to never change?). In my opinion, going through change helps me grow mentally, emotionally and personally. I've been through so many changes this past year and experiencing this move during a six month job experience, only makes me grow more and gives me a good story to tell some day.
She's finished her meeting! Off to lunch...
Like Jill said, it's move week! I think that this process is going to be a great experience for me because I get to see how a small environment works together through chaos to make everything run as smoothly as possible. I read a book my freshman year of college about change. I forget what it was called but I often think about it while I'm here. It talked about how change isn't always good but no matter what, you should try to adjust to it. (The characters in the book were mice, looking for cheese). Two years later, I still remember that short story and apply it wherever I can.
Personally, I'm a fan of change. If change didn't exist, this world would be so boring. If you didn't change and adjust to certain things in life, you wouldn't be successful or achieve your goals (unless your goal was to never change?). In my opinion, going through change helps me grow mentally, emotionally and personally. I've been through so many changes this past year and experiencing this move during a six month job experience, only makes me grow more and gives me a good story to tell some day.
She's finished her meeting! Off to lunch...
The Move
This week seems like it's going to be a bit hectic but it's definitely something I'm looking forward to. Since SHM is a small company there's a lot of things I wouldn't get to experience if I was with a large, national corporation. The move will be a great experience because we get to see how the company manages things, how everything is organized and what obstacles we face or are going to face. Sitting through the Move Day Meeting was pretty cool since everyone had the chance to ask questions, make suggestions or express their concerns. So it's kind of cool that we get to see how much SHM is changing and growing with this move. I really think that the move is something that we can learn a lot from.
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