Friday, November 27, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Dystopian or Pragmatic? The Gervais Principle
Do you watch The Office? Would you consider it to be a cynical look at aspects of working life, or a fully realized alternate view of management theory? Venkat at ribbonfarm.com makes a pretty good case for the latter in his post The Gervaise Principle, or The Office According to "The Office."
If we accept the basis that he describes, then a few questions come to mind. First, is this a dystopian alternative view of reality or just a pragmatic one? In other words, do you only see it this way if if you are wearing celadon-colored glasses (or whatever the opposite of rose-colored would be), or do you see it this way if you are seeing clearly? For my own peace of mind I prefer to believe the former because if it is the clearest, truest view of reality then I would like to turn in my library card right now.
However, regardless of how you take it, the obvious next question is: how do I fit in? For myself, I'm obviously clueless. Not having the capacity for sociopathy (and I think that's a GOOD thing) nor much capacity for shirking (again, believing that's good!) I'm simply excluded from both the top and bottom of the hierarchy.
If we accept the basis that he describes, then a few questions come to mind. First, is this a dystopian alternative view of reality or just a pragmatic one? In other words, do you only see it this way if if you are wearing celadon-colored glasses (or whatever the opposite of rose-colored would be), or do you see it this way if you are seeing clearly? For my own peace of mind I prefer to believe the former because if it is the clearest, truest view of reality then I would like to turn in my library card right now.
However, regardless of how you take it, the obvious next question is: how do I fit in? For myself, I'm obviously clueless. Not having the capacity for sociopathy (and I think that's a GOOD thing) nor much capacity for shirking (again, believing that's good!) I'm simply excluded from both the top and bottom of the hierarchy.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
+10 Resume of Hiring
We absolutely, positively must all look for jobs where we can use a character sheet format for resumes. Geek Dad is right that the originator totally cheated on his stats, but listing your deity as "Caffeine" is definitely a redeeming item. Not sure I would've used Wisdom as the dump stat. Basically his profile translates to "likeable, talented guy who is unable to learn from his mistakes." Which, I guess if it's true... well, he can always say he warned you.
Props to @jennreese for the link.
Props to @jennreese for the link.
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