The Cranky Middle Manager Show #316 The Final Cranky Show and the Future of Work with John Blackwell
Announcing the CMM “Expert Page”
Posted on 07. May, 2007 by Wayne in General
Hey everyone. I know I’ve been dropping cryptic hints for a while about a new site… well here it is.
If you visit my Expert Page on Instancy.net you’ll find:
- A place to purchase my e-book, “Meet Like You Mean It-A Cranky Middle Manager’s Guide to Productive and Painless Meetings” that takes real credit cards, not just PayPal.
- A place to purchase the new e-book soon as I can get the @#%$%@ thing written
- A place to download articles I’ve written for publications in the past
- A place to register for our newsletter (It will go out next week as God is my witness!)
- The newsletter will have links to a special CMM Forums section where you can sound off on the topics we cover in the newsletter. Let’s hear from you!
- A portal to find all kinds of great material by other writers and consultants
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT- John Blackwell’s Workplace Study
Back on episode 52 our guest John Blackwell announced he was doing an international workplace study in conjunction with Durham University in the UK. It’s complete and we have 4 of his reports free for CMM listeners:
- Where Is Today’s Productive Work?
- Where Are Our Talented People?
- Is The Way We Work Sustainable?
- Warning- Work Can Seriously Damage Your Health
Instancy.net is the brainchild of Harvey Singh, who was a guest on episode 83. It’s a place to form learning communities and let schmucks like me create content that people can find and purchase. Look for a major on-line event next!
The Globe and Mail Quotes the Cranky Middle Manager
Posted on 07. May, 2007 by Wayne in General
I  was quoted in an article about performance reviews in the Toronto Globe and Mail last week! Read the article: Performance Reviews Get an F
Now, a couple of things:
First, this is really cool, because to Canadians of a certain age, nothing says credibility (or being a Tory Suckup depending on your stripe) like appearing in the pages of Canada’s Newspaper of Record.
Second, I should explain fully the quote attributed to me. I did say regular performance chats should take the place of an annual performance review, but that I didn’t think I could do it with everyone because I have 40 direct reports!!! That’s different than not thinking they’re important in more sane work environments.
I also said that these more frequent checkins were a good idea, but then so’s changing your oil every 3,000 miles- it keeps tabs on things and lets you know if there’s a problem on the horizon…..but people seldom do it that often, and often to their detriment.
It’s so cool being quoted in the mainstream press…. you don’t suppose this little show is developing credibility do you???
The Cranky Middle Manager #93 HR in India Gautam Ghosh
Posted on 02. May, 2007 by Wayne in General, Podcast
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #093
Welcome to the show gang. Listeners to this show know that I- like a lot of managers have a love/hate relationship with HR. I also have a long-time fascination with India so today we combine both in a self-indulgent conversation with Gautam Ghosh.
No matter where you are in the world, you can subscribe to the newsletter which comes out this week for the very first time. Simply drop me an email and put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Here’s a sneak peek. You’ll be able to respond to the articles by posting to forums on a new site. More details next week!!!!!
SHOW NOTES
0:00 Welcome to the show. This episode is dedicated to Devi Leilama. if you’re wondering why there’s no link, it’s because I couldn’t find anything in English beyond a cryptic line or two. Still, establishing guilds and HR processes while my people were digging with sticks is worthy of a shout out.
2:51 The quote of the week is from George Bernard Shaw, and it’s not about experience it’s about being open to experience…tell that to the interviewer at HR.
3:10 Announcement- I’ve been asked to host the new podcast for Management Issues, The Working Week with Wayne Turmel. It’s a different kind of show from this one, but I think you’ll like it. Check us out.
3:45 Welcome Gautam Ghosh, author of A Management Consultant’s Blog.
I found him through The Evil HR Lady Blog. You can check her out in Episode 80. The big challenge in India seems to be managing hypergrowth.
8:12 The big challenge in India is you’ve got lots of people coming into the workforce, but there aren’t enough experienced managers. Sounds like a job for the Cranky Middle Manager Show… I wonder how many of them subscribe to this show?
One cool thing some companies are doing: they’re taking the move to management and breaking it into two parts: one is the technical leadership, the other is the people management. More experienced managers get the people part. Just our luck.
12:45 The unique Indian culture makes an interesting challenge, because there is no family legacy of management in the corporate world. One of the big assimilation training opportunities for companies is a kind of “welcome to the corporate world” training. Another cultural problem is the lack of transparency, which is a nice way of saying it was corrupt. In the end, things are changing, get with the program.
19:37 The biggest development opportunities are in managing people. Not surprisingly, training opportunities abound and many companies are winning awards for their training. Training is becoming a huge tool to keep people in companies because they won’t progress without those skills. Train and keep them loyal..what a concept.
23:54 We love case studies! Here’s one that Gautam’s working with.
29:00 I’m a little bummed to know that most of the resources Gautam’s reading are international… and he gets a little help from his youngest acquisition….some of the sites and books are:
Tom Peters (him again…still hunting)
Michael Specht.. a big shout out to Michael, he’s been a long time supporter of the show, God love’im.
That’s it for this week gang, tell your friends, especially in India… think of all those RSS subscribers….surely then I’d get a steady sponsor……damn i said that out loud didn’t I???
Don’t let the weasels get you down.
The newsletter will go out before the end of the week- honest!
Posted on 01. May, 2007 by Wayne in General
Folks, the first edition of the Cranky Middle Manager Newsletter will go out this week, by Friday. We have links in the newsletter that aren’t live yet, but will be by the end of the week. Imagine forums where you can talk to other CMM listeners! Thanks for subscribing, and thanks for your patience.