Conversion of data & associated logic from ISAM to RDB
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From: Pete Dashwood on 16 Apr 2007 20:44 "Michael Mattias" <mmattias(a)talsystems.com> wrote in message news:j5QUh.17102$Um6.3678(a)newssvr12.news.prodigy.net... >> Even if I had the competence (which I don't) - I once had to fire >> somebody. That was once too often, I won't be in that position >> again. > > In my experience a common mistake is making the best <anything> the > <anything> manager. > > Far too often this does nothing more than subtract a quality <anything> > while adding a crummy manager; a bad deal no matter how you do the math.. > Absolutely. Many organizations (and people) seem to fail to realize that there is a specific skill set required to manage, and it is not in our genes... It can be acquired painfully over time; training is a much more effective route. Pete.
From: Pete Dashwood on 16 Apr 2007 21:04 <docdwarf(a)panix.com> wrote in message news:f00urm$jjt$1(a)reader2.panix.com... > In article <2qh7231fi9tlotbqmdi3afv7ue7fsn2ijj(a)4ax.com>, > Howard Brazee <howard(a)brazee.net> wrote: >>On 14 Apr 2007 13:42:36 -0700, "Alistair" >><alistair(a)ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote: > > [snip] > >>>The reality is that we would probably be worse at management >>>than those we criticise. I know from having had disagreements with >>>managers in the past that there often is much that they see that we do >>>not know of, at the coalface, and I have certainly been grateful for >>>their shields from time to time. >> >>Even if I had the competence (which I don't) - I once had to fire >>somebody. That was once too often, I won't be in that position >>again. > > I am reminded of a tale, perhaps apochryphal: in a class at Harvard a > professor gave an example to a roomful of MBA candidates, a conflict > between a line-worker and a supervisor. One student said that the > line-worker should be fired... after all, anyone can work an > assembley-line but a good supervisor is hard to find. > > The professor left the lectern, stood in front of the student and declaime > that this was the *stupidest* thing he'd heard in all his years of > teaching and that he would not tolerate someone capable of generating this > kind of nonsense in his class... and the student was to get out, *now*. > > The student (and the rest of the class) sat, dumbfounded... and the > professor then swept the books and papers (this was in the Oldene Dayse, > before students had computers) on to the floor and shouted 'GET OUT OF MY > CLASS, *NOW*!!!' > > The student gathered his stuff and left the room... and then, when the > professor had returned to the lectern and resumed the class, crept back in > the door and sat in the last row. > > The professor then stopped the discussion and called out 'So, Mr Jones... > tell us all what it is like to be fired.' > > DD > One week, in 1969, I was fired from my programming job (I had, in all innocence, done something that caused my manager to lose his annual increment :-) It was political, not technical, but being young at the time I did not have the broader vision I now enjoy. I can say that had he not lied and prevaricated in the first place, the situation could not have arisen.) Not only did he fire me, he promised I would never work again. "Your programming career is over." (In those days the City of Auckland had less than half a million people and there were no more than 20 IBM mainframe sites within a 15 mile radius of the city centre. It was a small IT community. He went to the IBM User Group and told those there assembled that he had fired me for disgraceful and unethical conduct and would strongly recommend no-one else ever employ me.) To say that this guy was a vindictive tyrant might be construed as sour grapes on my part, so I won't say that... :-) I remember how it felt. I went home to find my wife packing; she had decided to leave me. (In retrospect, I don't really blame her, but that's another story... :-) Obviously, she didn't know I had been fired so that didn't figure in her decision. Because we both worked she owned half of the car and I couldn't afford to stay in our flat without her contribution, so within a couple of days of finding myself alone and unemployable, I also had no transport and nowhere to live... :-) (Yeah, I can laugh now, but it wasn't funny then.... :-)) The point is, I have never forgotten how that felt, and would think long and carefully before imposing it on someone else. (And then it would never be with spite or vindictiveness, only because it was necessary.) Pete.
From: Pete Dashwood on 16 Apr 2007 21:15 <docdwarf(a)panix.com> wrote in message news:f00v9i$6fl$1(a)reader2.panix.com... > In article <37h7235mfp72i68g1vc2dv7hatkjh56ukf(a)4ax.com>, > Howard Brazee <howard(a)brazee.net> wrote: > > [snip] > >>My wife was complaining about some minimum wage workers who were >>incompetent for their jobs. I asked her - what should these people >>be doing? We can't force competency. > > Leaving aside the question of 'who hired the incompetents?' - which, of > course, places the blame on Management - I would ask 'what is there that > encourages/rewards anything other than the 'some pretend to work while > others pretend to pay them' mentality?'... which brings into question the > entire Corporate Structure of Labor, Management and Executive groups. > > (my Sainted Paternal Grandfather - may he sleep with the angels! - used to > say, long before things like Career Ladders and Empowerment were ever > buzzwords, 'you can tell who gets a piece of the till by the way they > move') > > DD > I don't see "Empowerment" as a buzzword (but that might be because I'm wearing my Manager hat as I write this:-)). I think it is really important to give people the "space" to make decisions and accept responsibility, always providing support for that process, and guidance if they ask for it. My experience has been that people grow when this happens and can then take more responsibility, and so on. (Ultimately, I'd like to get everybody doing my job for me, so I can just collect my cheque and say hello occasionally... :-) Hasn't happened yet, but I live in hope...) I think your Grandaddy was right about the change in walk of those who have a piece of the till; I know I walk differently when a dividend cheque or Bond payment arrives :-) The spring in my step soon dissipates when the bills come in... :-) Pete.
From: Anonymous on 16 Apr 2007 21:27 In article <58ikp5F2gthmlU1(a)mid.individual.net>, Pete Dashwood <dashwood(a)removethis.enternet.co.nz> wrote: > ><docdwarf(a)panix.com> wrote in message news:f00urm$jjt$1(a)reader2.panix.com... [snip] >> The professor then stopped the discussion and called out 'So, Mr Jones... >> tell us all what it is like to be fired.' [snip] >The point is, I have never forgotten how that felt, and would think long and >carefully before imposing it on someone else. I believe it was Aeschylus who said 'Great hardships make for later entertainments'... and perhaps that leads well into The Other Side of the Coin. Aeschylus is remembered by many as being a playwright... but he was also a 'general' (Gr. 'strategos') and it was reported that this rank was what he had inscribed on his tombstone and nothing about his dramatic victories. I've found sports metaphors abound in the workplace - 'The football is in your court' is one that I've heard - and these are nuisances to me for two reasons. First, I don't play or follow sports and second my training as a Classicist causes me to try to go to the source for things... and sports are, rather often, a kind of ritualised combat. (this can make for Big Laffs when someone will say 'We need someone to throw a real Hail Mary now'... and into the silence I'll pour 'Well, if you think it'll do any good, why not? Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, Benedicta tu in mulieribus...') Anyhow... any kind of soldier, at any time, may be called upon to make decisions which can cause death for himself, his comrades-in-arms (literally) or his subordinates. Don't like the possibility? Don't enlist, don't accept the promotion or (in times of conscription) don't stay in a country with an extradition treaty... or as it has been said before: Lead, Follow or Get Out Of The Way DD
From: Anonymous on 17 Apr 2007 05:18
In article <58ileeF2h630jU1(a)mid.individual.net>, Pete Dashwood <dashwood(a)removethis.enternet.co.nz> wrote: > ><docdwarf(a)panix.com> wrote in message news:f00v9i$6fl$1(a)reader2.panix.com... [snip] >> (my Sainted Paternal Grandfather - may he sleep with the angels! - used to >> say, long before things like Career Ladders and Empowerment were ever >> buzzwords, 'you can tell who gets a piece of the till by the way they >> move') > >I don't see "Empowerment" as a buzzword (but that might be because I'm >wearing my Manager hat as I write this:-)). I think it is really important >to give people the "space" to make decisions and accept responsibility, >always providing support for that process, and guidance if they ask for it. Any job requires both responsibility and authority to accomplish... if you want the floors swept the sweeper needs enough authority (in terms, say, of a key to the door-lock) to get the broom out of the closet. Archimedes said 'Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I will move the world'... likewise, give someone the tools and support and let the do their jobs. [snip] >I think your Grandaddy was right about the change in walk of those who have >a piece of the till; I know I walk differently when a dividend cheque or >Bond payment arrives :-) The spring in my step soon dissipates when the >bills come in... :-) It is not only when the payment comes in... someone who has a piece of the till learns that what they do affects what winds up in their pocket. They look for things, they tend to things in a way that someone whose paycheck is the same 'no matter what' usually does not. DD |