Quote: Competence (L.J. Peter)

Dr. Laurence J. Peter, creator of the Peter Principle, said:

Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.
(Peter L.J. & Hull R., The Peter Principle - Why things always go wrong, 1969)

This quote isn't helpful if you're looking for a definition of "competence". If you've been looking for your contact lenses, however, maybe they were in your eyes the whole time and you've just experienced a classic "duh" moment.

You may have some specific criteria for evaluating your own competence. This is good and necessary on a personal level and should validate your self-esteem. But if you want to boost your career, all that matters is whether your manager thinks you're competent or not.

So the next question is: what does your manager expect from you?
I can spontaneously think of two completely different criteria for competence. Your manager's main goal is that you:

• provide great customer service
• execute processes as efficiently as possible

Of course you're an engaged professional and want to offer your customers both. But unfortunately trying to get the best of both worlds often results in mediocre performance and disappointed managers.

Let me illustrate the two examples:

An employee pops into your office an has a question. You know that it will take you 15 minutes to make your customer happy.

Great customer service
You drop what you were doing and take care of the unplanned request. The employee will be very happy but you might have to go home later than planned or won't be able to deliver some things on time.

Efficient processes
Dropping what you were doing is not efficient, so you ask your customer to send you an email and promise to take care of the request within 72 hours. The employee seems a bit disappointed when he leaves your office and you lock the door behind him to avoid further distractions.

Depending on what is expected of you, both reactions can be appropriate. The art is to find out what your manager expects of you.

Since many managers have trouble formulating their expectations, here's a hint:

• If your company has 1 HR person per 50 employees, you should be able to provide customized services and satisfy spontaneous requests at once.
• If there's only 1 HR person per 300 employees, you're probably better off defining some Service Level Agreements (e.g. all requests must be sent to hr@YourCompany.com and will be processed within 72 hours).

...and did you find your contact lenses?
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Things We Would Love To Say

There are things most HR professionals would love to say from time to time. I know I do. But insulting people is (un)fortunately not in our job description ;-)

Dr. House doesn't care. He's rude, insensitive and he speaks his mind. I'm only halfway through episode 1 of the 5th season, but he already inspired me. Someday, maybe, I'll tell a line manager:

You're being an idiot!

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Less Cheese, More Meat!

Are there still people who pretend that the Interwebs aren't any good for generating and sharing ideas?

Mark's article at HC3 Take Control Of Your Job And Your Success reminded me of an idea I had for a t-shirt. I also mentioned his article as an inspiration for my post Give Them What They Want. Mark then shared in the comments one of the reasons why he's in charge of HR for a multinational corporation:

I jumped to doing all the things in HR most just dream about when I figured out "its not all about me"...I am with you on this one, less cheese, more meat!!! [..]

By the way, "It's not about you" is the 3rd career lesson in Dan Pink's book Johnny Bunko.

And as today's grand finale, here's a terrible picture of my great idea:



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Quote: Connolly, Write For Yourself (And Have A Self)

Better to write for yourself and have no public,
than to write for the public and have no self.
-Cyril Connolly

I truly love this quote, even though it's probably the most hypocritical thing a blogger could say. But lets analyze it from a career point of view.

Write for yourself and have no public
This is the starving artist syndrome. Some may actually enjoy it for a while. But someday they realize that they don't know how to get out of this situation or they fall into the other extreme.

Write for the public and have no self
This is the artist or employee wanting to be successful at any cost and defining success as fame and fortune. Have you ever seen a former rockstar on a talk show desperately trying to get back some of that long lost glimmer?

Write for the public and have a self
I believe it is possible to write for the public or to deliver your weekly TPS reports with the appropriate cover sheet and still have a self. But only if you have something else that motivates you. It can be going home to your family or writing a blog at night.

But if your job makes it impossible to spend time with your family or to write, you're losing your self and you know that you're living a lie. Your means has become the end and your passion is dying.

Write for yourself and have a public
In a perfect world, your job is something that you would do anyway and it doesn't even feel like a job. It might take you a lifetime to find out what you really want or to gather the courage to go for it.

Just keep in mind that those who are living their dreams usually worked as long and hard as the ones aiming for fame and money. But they were reaching for something they truly wanted and continue to be disciplined and dedicated to this day.
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Quote: Henry Ford (Can Or Can't)

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
-Henry Ford
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Quotes: Happiness Or Excitement?

A quote from Starship Troopers by Heinlein:

Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. [..] All the wealthy, unhappy people you've ever met take sleeping pills.
(Johnnie Rico)

Sometimes we look too hard for happiness!


Tim Ferriss goes one step further in The 4-Hour Workweek:

Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse. [..] The opposite of love is indifference, and the opposite of happiness is - here's the clincher - boredom. Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase.

And to finish with a quote from a Def Leppard song:

Are you excitable?

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Random Thoughts: Where's My Jet Pack?

There are currently many discussions about Gen Y vs Gen X. As a Gen Xer, I would like to point out that we are a generation deeply traumatized by broken promises. As Stephen Colbert recently said (Colbert Report of 1 April 2008):

When I was a kid, they promised me a jet pack. Where's my jet pack?

Yes, where is it? It's really tough when you realize that you've been lied to all your life. This is why I ask all Gen Yer's to please show some compassion and be nice to us Gen Xer's.
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Quotes: Recruiting And Employee Relations

Here are my two favorite HR quotes of the week.

Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis:

[..] there is a world of difference between the candidate who sounds good and the candidate who is good and sound ...

Wenchie at HR Wench:

I act with discretion by laughing only after employees have left the room.

I couldn't agree more with both statements!
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Quote: Intelligence And Work-Life Balance

This is a quote from Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy":

[..] man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time.

But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons.

What if the dolphins were right?

Quote: Travel Abroad (Dave Barry)

Posting a quote is still a quick and painless way to increase your post count, especially if you have neither the time nor the desire to come up with something clever ;-)

Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.

Source: Dave Barry quoted by Tim Ferriss.

Frohe Weihnachten allerseits!

Quote: Saying "No" (Your HR Guy)

Posting a quote is a quick and painless way to increase your post count. Besides, I love quotes. So here we go:

I am in the business of telling people «no» all day. What makes them think I am actually going to not say «no» to a person that gives me a good reason to do so?

Source: Your HR Guy

Link: Krusty for CEO

Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership mentions in "Your Concerns Are Their Concerns" how less and less people will really tell you what they think the more you move up the hierarchy.

I just had to quote this paragraph, both because I believe that's it's true and because I love the way Wally formulates it:

The higher you move up the hierarchy the more people tell you what you want to hear, filter the information that you get, and avoid telling you unpleasant truths. The natural human reaction to this is to believe that everyone agrees with you and that you're doing a great job, even when they hate you, think you're a jerk and think the place would be better off with Krusty the Clown at the helm.

Quotes: Too Much TV

I've been watching some tv and stumbled across the following quotes:

First of all, a quote from The Patriot. I saw it on a German channel and when researching it online, I didn't find the final script (only drafts), but what I heard in the movie goes something like this:

A shepherd needs to be there for his herd. And sometimes, he also needs to keep the wolves away from the sheeps.
(The Reverend, when joining the militia)

What it tells me: I spontaneously thought of assholes. I'm currently reading Robert Sutton's book "The No Asshole Rule". Managers need to protect their employees from abusive jerks.

Don't take it personally, just take it seriously.
(Gordon Ramsay on Kitchen Nightmares, season 1 episode 9)

What it tells me: not often enough, but still occasionally, some people may tell us what they really think. Take it seriously, it's a great chance to learn something. Don't be annoyed, don't pout. Consider it. If they're wrong, forget about it and move on. But if they're right, do everything you can to learn from it and become a better person and a better professional.

There's 3 choices in this life: Be good, get good or give up.
(Dr. House to a dying punk-rocker on House, season 4, episode 9)

What it tells me: Some are born good at what they're doing. I don't know many of them. Others give everything they got to become great. But sometimes the best thing you can do is quit. And then you can focus all your energy on things that can really make you successful and happy.

This reminds me of Seth Godin's "The Dip: a little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick)".


That's all, folks.