Archive for August, 2007

The ‘No Asshole Rule’

Amanda August 28th, 2007

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with a certified toss pot. Or in the words of Robert Sutton, a flaming asshole.

In fact, I haven’t worked with one for nearly ten years, dating all the way back to the oh-so-pretentious kitchenhands and wannabe ‘gourmet’ chefs of the Eco Cafe in Mittagong. You know, the kind of pretentious middle class wankers who call their kids names like ‘Clementine’ and ‘Woodroffe’ (I wish I was making this up, but I’m not). At the time, these twats had the gall to tell me (I was a 30 year old, third-year undergrad) and I quote: …you’re the shit-kicker today, Amanda, so you’re doing drinks and dishes. I subsequently had to serve about 50 identical and equally pretentious snotty women with blonde bob-hairdos and outrageous fake Oxbridge accents, who only ever drank weak-decaf-skinny-soy lattes (said laah-tayy) and who always sent them back because they were never weak enough.

Well, if you wanted a cup of warm milk, love, why the bloody hell didn’t you just ask for it? You latte-fatte twat! As for the people working in the Eco café… hah!!You earn HOW much an hour? $14?? Yeah, make me strong cappuccino, make sure it’s HOT, and that’s Dr Amanda to you.

Imbeciles. What kind of sad tosser would give their child a name like Clementine just to try and prove they were upwardly mobile? Sad, sad, sad.

When I worked in banking, there were a number of flaming assholes around: pathetic social rejects who’d made it as far as branch accountant via a process of osmosis and longevity. Their sole purpose in life was to make their colleagues as unhappy and fearful as possible. Thankfully, I didn’t work with too many of these – and as their reputations always preceded them, I would try to avoid working at the branches where these incompetents worked.

In both agencies of the NT government I’ve worked for, I’ve been fortunate to never work with a certified flaming asshole (although I do know of them). Public servants in the NT … well, anthropologists and the kinds of people attracted to conservation agencies, tend to be decent human beings who attempt to enjoy their work and count their workmates as friends. The people I work with have their moments, but I would never describe any of them as flaming assholes. They are mostly caring, humane people who I actually like and socialize with outside of work.

So where is all this talk of workplace tosspots leading?

I’ve just read an entertaining book called: ‘The No Asshole Rule’ by Robert Sutton. And you guessed it, it’s all about those subhuman lifeforms we all know and despise: the workplace jerk, biatch or arsehole (in proper English). The book’s subtitle is: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t. That should give you a clue where this blog post is headed…

Robert’s most pressing piece of advice for those who work in places tyrannized by assholes is: get out.

Don’t try to survive these jerks, the research shows that in order to survive, you have to become a jerk yourself. Even better, Robert says choose your workplaces very carefully – try and find out as much about them before you accept a job offer and end up in the slammer with a bunch of certified bumwipes.

If you needed evidence that tossers like this actually damage the not only your productivity and mental health, but also the performance of your workplace itself, the No Asshole Rule is full of well-researched proof:

  • people leave these workplaces in droves (costs the workplace $$ to re-hire)
  • a negative encounter ‘packs five times the punch’ of a positive encounter (affecting morale and productivity)
  • bad people can sink a corporation’s shareprice

Alright you say, I have a family, a mortgage and bills to pay. I need my job, even if I work with Sargeant Major Barkface. I can’t just leave my job!Robert Sutton has advice for you, too.
If you’re stuck there:

  • try to change your own perspective (i.e. view it as a ‘lesson’ from which you can grow)
  • learn emotional detachment and indifference
  • buddy up with your work colleagues for safety & sanity
  • go for small wins over the jerks rather than winning major battles
  • limit your exposure to the person (or people) as much as you can

However, Robert really does ask you to consider whether it really is impossible to get out and find somewhere else to work…
There’s also tips for instituting the No Asshole Rule at your workplace and tips to stop you from letting your inner jerk run free (we’re all guilty of this from time to time).

Anyway, the book is an insightful and entertaining read. I’m not sure if it’s available in Australia yet – I actually ordered mine from Amazon.
If you’d like to learn more about Robert Sutton and his books, please visit his website: http://bobsutton.typepad.com/

Namaste,
Amanda

Washing Machines II + Emotional Intelligence

Amanda August 25th, 2007

I guess you’re all waiting with baited breath to hear how the new washing machine went…

Yes, it washes really well. No smudgy black stains on our darks anymore. $900 well spent (I did have a lawn sale -translation for non-Territorians: garage sale- last weekend to fund the purchase). Lucky Goldstar, you are a star.

Enough about eco-friendly washing machines (I still can’t believe I am actually writing about bloody washing machines!!).

In other domesticity, Gadgetman finally got the part for his red sports car (I mean … mid-life crisis … oops, did I say that?) and now the little red GTO is registered with NT number plates and hooning about Alice Springs.


He also bought himself a tiny little remote control helicopter (to add to the HUMUNGOUS remote control plane he bought a while back and then crashed) this morning which he tells me he’s going to fly INSIDE … Hmm … HMMM!!!

Stay tuned…

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Last week I finished a book I’ve had on bookshelf for about 2 years called Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. It’s a very well known book that caused quite a stir when it came out a decade ago – the message being that people needed emotional intelligence as much as, if not more than, our usual intelligence (our IQ). It had some profound effects upon Western management practices and has (along with a number of other factors) become part of an emerging human-centred style of corporate management.

A lot of the book focusses on the neurobiology of emotions (basically, blame the amygdala for everything … and no, the word is amygdala not Amidala). The amygdala is part of the primitive brain that looks after our very core survival needs -such as the fight or flight reaction. In tense situations, the amygdala ‘takes over’ our emotional reactions, making us get angry or irrational and short-circuiting the neural wiring in the brain that leads to the cerebral cortex and other lobes of the brain where more ‘evolved’ emotions and thought processes take place.

If you’ve done first year psychology at uni, this book won’t contain a lot of new information (first year psychology has a lot to answer for in my life!!). I admit I got a bit bored with the book, but persisted. However, there was one section that offered some very useful advice for short circuiting the reptillian reactions of the amygdala and redirecting them to the Bodhisattva frontal lobes. It’s taught to fifth and sixth graders in emotional intelligence programs in ‘dodgy’ areas in US cities:

RED LIGHT:

1. Stop, calm down, and think before you act

YELLOW LIGHT:

2. Say the problem and how you feel
3. Set a positive goal
4. Think of lots of solutions
5. Think ahead about the consequences

GREEN LIGHT:

6. Go ahead and try the best plan

I’ve tried this a few times this week and it’s worked for me. It’s very similar to the self-awareness techniques taught in yoga and vipassana meditation, so I suspect that’s why I found it useable. Anyway, if it’s of help to anyone, my time spent typing this up will be worthwhile. Check out the book for more info if you’re interested.

On that note, I’d like to be able to have links to books on Amazon (with pictures) like some other blogs do, but the functionality here isn’t great. This can’t be done without a lot of faffing about with HTML (it is possible, but it’s very fiddly).

Blog Alert: Gadgetman and I are thinking of migrating our blog elsewhere and are currently examining our options. AND HERE WE ARE ON THE NEW SITE!!!

So we will be looking at this over the weekend and will probably come up with a suitable new place which suits our creativity (and lack of HTML skills) better.

Namaste, Amanda

Washing Machines & Time Management

Amanda August 24th, 2007

I never thought I’d write a blog post about a washing machine.

But then … I guess I never thought I’d find myself living in Alice Springs, either.

Ok. After 19 years of reliable service, my Simpson washing machine stopped washing dark loads with its usual finesse. Instead, it started leaving grubby, undissolved powder stains all over them (much to Rhiannon’s absolute disgust). Also, for many years, it had been the world’s noisiest washing machine: standing in the laundry whilst it was going was risking industrial deafness.

So this week I bought a new front loader washing machine (or as I called it yesterday ‘a front-end loader’, much to Gadgetman’s amusement). It’s super energy & water efficient, uses much less power etc. etc, is very pretty to look at, has lots of buttons and dials and gadgetty doovers. It even has a little sing-song when you turn it on, and another when it’s finished.

My only problem with it:

It is so complex and does so many things, I have no idea where to start… and the manual is NOT user friendly. It’s like my mobile phone – so many features that I’ll never use (no, I do not want to surf the internet on my mobile phone, or read emails, or use it as an Mp3!).

I’m washing sheets right now on a random ‘eco’ cycle that I picked as an experiment. I have no idea if I’ve done the right thing or not, which is why I’ve put in some sheets that are years old as a trial.
Hmm…. Stay tuned for an update on whether I mangle my sheets or not…

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Time Management Tips from Hip Tranquil Chick

Hip Tranquil Chick (HTC) is an awesome website. If you check our blog role, you’ll see a site that says ‘go here if you’ve had a crap day’. Check it out, and check out Kimberly Wilson’s blogs and podcasts.

Kimberly Wilson is an ordinary HTC/yogini doing her best to live a yoga life style. She’s not perfect and isn’t ashamed to admit it. One of her fave things (like mine) is self-help books, particularly time management self-help books. I thoroughly recommend her podcasts: download and listen whilst you’re walking or running.

One of my favourite podcasts is all about time management. So I’ve summarised her tips and recommended reading below. I’ve listed the author’s name in bold with the title of the book in brackets.

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Getting Organized: Notes from Kimberly Wilson’s Hip Tranquil Chick podcast #36.

The podcast is available at:

http://hiptranquilchick.com/archive/2006_06_01_hiptranquilchick_archive.html
Scroll down to June 19, 2006

A key question to begin with:

What is the most valuable use of my time?

Start the day with this question.

Notable quote:

“The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least.”

Kimberly summarizes tips she’s found useful from a number of books. I’ve summarized what she say in her podcast.

Jack Canfield (The Success Principles)     

Which is all about the importance of, and how to create, goals.

  • Think of how much and by when – put down a quantity and write your goals out in detail. As if you’re writing a work order exactly in detail.
  • Re-read your goals three times per day
  • Make a goals book – write the goal at the top of the page and illustrate with pictures & words as if your goal is already achieved.
  • Review the pages of your goals book every day

Practice the Rule of 5:

  • everyday do 5 specific things that will move you towards your goal

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Brian Tracy (Million Dollar Habits)

It’s important to do something every day towards your important goals. Plan this when you get up every day. This creates momentum and activates the law of attraction: doing something moves you faster and faster towards goal & goal moves faster and faster towards you.
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Richard Coch (The 80/20 Principle)

80% of results, outputs etc are derived from only 20% of efforts.

Do the following to apply the 80/20 Rule:

  • look for the short cuts
  • exercise control over our lives with the least possible effort
  • be selective not exhaustive
  • strive for excellence in a few things not good results in many
  • delegate or outsource as many things as possible in our daily lives
  • choose careers & employers with extraordinary care
  • only do the thing we are best at doing and enjoy most
  • calm down, work less and target a number of very valuable goals rather than pursuing every available opportunity

Two strategies to be happier:

  • identify the times you’re happiest and expand them as much as possible
  • identify the times when you’re least happy and reduce them as much as possible

Seven Daily Happiness Habits (these are Richard Coch’s personal examples):

  • exercise
  • mental stimulation
  • spiritual/artistic stimulation & meditation
  • doing a good turn
  • take a pleasure break with a friend
  • giving yourself a treat
  • congratulating yourself

Medium-term Strategies for Happiness:

  • maximize you control
  • set attainable goals
  • be flexible
  • have a close relationship with your partner
  • have a few happy friends
  • have a few close, professional alliances
  • evolve your ideal lifestyle

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David Allen (Getting Things Done)

Try the “Mind like water principle” from martial arts: a pebble dropped into a pond produces an action equivalent to and no greater than the force that produced it.”

This is a useful metaphor for responding to situations, people, emails etc with appropriate reactions – not over or under-reacting.

David Allen stresses the importance of getting things out of your head and onto paper. Use a trusted and logical system to get things (big things, little things, long term, short term) out of your head and into the ‘bucket’ where you can review it soon. For example, Kimberly uses an ‘ideas notebook’ that she carries everywhere as her ‘bucket’ to capture things that need doing/ideas/issues. She also uses post-it notes as reminders that she sticks by her bed.

Think of the biggest problem/issue on your mind at the moment and write it down.
Once you’ve done that, think of the very next thing you could do to move that situation along and write it down. Then make a decision: Do it, Delegate it, or Defer it.
David’s Rules for dealing with the Unplanned Things That Come Up During the Day:

  • Do it if it will take less than two minutes to do
  • Delegate it if (after conscious reflection) you aren’t the right person to do this

Defer it if you are the right person to do it, but the action will take longer than two minutes – track it on one or more ‘to do lists’ that you keep in your system.

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Julie Morganstern (Never Check Your Email in the Morning)

(Bugger, no Amazon photo) 

Do your most important task first (whenever you start your work day) rather than easy to do to quick things: “Choose the important over the quick, the tough over the easy, no matter how intimidating the project might be.”

Capture all your ‘to-dos’ in one place.Try not to multi-task – this reduces your brainpower and ultimately affects the quality of your final product.Julie’s Three Questions You Should Ask Yourself When Choosing Your Most Important Tasks:

  1. How long will it take?
  2. What is the return on investment?
  3. What is the deadline?

“Think of texturing your day in a series of dashes and dots. Dashes are things that require an hour or more of quiet time, like writing, design or analytic work. Dots are quick phone calls, emails, signing cheques, approving invoices etc.”

But Julie’s biggest message to boost productivity is: Avoid email for the first hour of the day!!! Devote that hour of the day to your most critical task.

“This is a bold statement that starts with you in charge of your work rather than the other way round. This tells you and the world that you can take control, pull away from the frenetic pace and take the time for quiet work when you need it. If you don’t consciously create the time for the dashes, you won’t get it done.”

I hope this is helpful to someone (most of all me!). Please check out Kimberly’s HTC website for more.

The Highest Mountain West of the Great Divide

gadget August 12th, 2007

Mt. Zeil summit

The scene was set…..we were climbing Mt. Zeil in the western end of the West MacDonnell National Park. Late in the afternoon Friday the 20 th of July, participants in the climb headed out from various locations to meet at the turnoff to Mt. Zeil on Derwent Station. Amanda came from Alice via the Tanami and Papunya roads, Gary, Stretch, Mark and Sam came from Ormiston Gorge via Beer Can corner and the Haast Bluff/Papunya roads. We were all supposed to meet at around 6.00pm at the turnoff. The intention was to drive in to a pre-determined spot using the remains of the day for navigation purposes as the track is only vaguely marked but often as we know, Murphy plays a part. Mark and Sam had a flat and arrived just on dark and we had to try and find our way without the aid of daylight.

The area is heavily grazed by cattle and one of the few bores around is located adjacent the track, with the cattle completely obliterating any sign of it. After some time looking for the track we reverted to heading for a set of co-ordinates I had gotten off ArcView before leaving. So after tracking through the scrub for about an hour we eventually decided to call a halt some 300 metres short of the original destination, adjacent a creek with a good supply of firewood and set up our camp for the night.

The rest of the night was spent washing down some tucker with some drinks amongst much flatulence and frivolity. Early the next morning we arose, had a quick breakfast and then headed off by vehicle to a spot on the NW side of Mt. Zeil, about a km or so away. We parked the cars, packed our packs and headed off on foot by a route decided by pouring over Google Earth and an aerial photo of the topography surrounding the mountain itself. It was about 8.45am Saturday and it was expected it was going to be a long day. It was quite cool and windy with everyone still wearing a fleece or jumper as we began climbing up a ridge line which we hoped would not become too steep.

Going up

Ridge line after ridge line we gradually crept upwards occasionally stopping for either a breather or to confirm the optimal path. Every so often we would crest a hill thinking we had erred but only to find we had indeed chosen this path wisely. About half way up the others thought they had chosen a better way than I and ended up almost climbing along a rugged, rocky ridge cloaked in cycads. I had stuck to my planned path and had forged along reaching the top of a ridge where I ended up waiting 15 minutes for the others to catch up….oh ye of little faith!

Some half a km further on we decided to break for lunch where we had a cuppa and enjoyed the aerial exploits of a couple of wedge-tailed eagles, one of which landed in a native pine close by. The views from this point were outstanding enough but only got better as we continued our ascent about an half hour later.

Lunch

Finally the summit loomed ever closer and I for one was glad to crest the top of the last rise and see both the highest point marker and the VHF repeater station closeby. The 360 degree views from the summit are absolutely splendiferous and from this vantage point we were able to see all of the top ten peaks in the Territory. All partook in the obligatory photos next to the marker and it was with great anticipation that each of us lined up and then hit a golf ball out into the great beyond with various degrees of success. After an half hour or so of enjoying the views and feeling the emotions attached to being on top of the Territory, and with time running down, we had to start our descent so as to ensure we made it back to camp prior to nightfall.

The Top

With the going much easier downhill we headed off pausing briefly to assess a fire we could see way off in the south and hear the King’s Canyon staff bantering about over the UHF. About three quarters of the way down a group decision was made to take another route down a gully in an effort not only to have to go up another rise but to get to the bottom quicker to beat the setting sun. As I have found previously these routes are not always easier and as with this particular way down it provided its own challenges. The first part wasn’t too bad but all too quickly we ended up having to push our way through thick vegetation, climb around and over rocky ledges and make our way around waterholes in our path.

Finally, and I was well and truly over what we were doing, we made it to the bottom and thankfully, flat ground. The sun was setting as we made our way over stony ground towards where our cars were parked and where we would camp overnight once more. After trudging through the mulga and with only 10 or 15 minutes before darkness set upon us we arrived back at the cars. Everyone sat down almost immediately and sighed in satisfaction at not only the achievement of the day but being able to relax and anticipate that first drink. Again, albeit a little more slowly, we enjoyed our remaining night camped in the scrub at the base of Mt. Zeil with nice food, drink, damper and oh I forgot, chocolate and again much flatulence.
The following morning everyone took the opportunity to rise a little later and then, after enjoying breakfast, we followed the track, yes the track, you know the one we couldn’t find at night back out to the main road. After saying our goodbyes we headed off for whence we came and that, my friends, was the story of our walk up Mt. Zeil, the highest point west of the Great Divide.