The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #285 Bingsop’s Fables Stanley Bing
Posted on 28. May, 2011 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel welcomes back business humor legend Stanley Bing. In addition to talking about humor in the workplace and why corporate conspiracies are just a theory,we’ll talk about why humor is like porn, the first business satirist and potentially lifesaving advice for smart alecks everywhere.
Meanwhile check out these upcoming webinar workshops. PDUs are available for PMI Members
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams June 24th
Web Presentation Basics June 27 and 29
Show Notes:
0:00 Welcome back Stanley Bing to the show. In his honor we dedicate the show to Hori the Scribe, the first business satirist and author of the Papyrus Anastasi. A long and proud tradition we try to uphold.
4:25 The quote of the week is from George Bernard Shaw. If you’re going to tell people the truth,make them laugh or they’ll kill you.
5:30 Welcome Stanley Bing back to the show along with his alter-alter-ego Bingsop. His latest book is “Bingsop’s Fables: Little Morals For Big Business”. We look at the original Aesop and discuss if being funny in the workplace has its hazards. He talks about the day he was “outed” as Stanley Bing at work and whether it worked for him or against him.
10:34 Can you do good work and still be willing to make fun of corporate society? Does Stanley love or hate what’s known collectively as “Corporate America”? Turns out the answer is yes. Here’s the important lesson: people are crazy whether at work or not.
13:36 Stanley and I share something of our backgrounds, so entering corporate America was a bit of a shock. Does he believe in corporate conspiracy theories? Nope, it requires excellence of execution that just ain’t there.
16:13 Many of his morals are obvious but no less amusing. Remember to always invite the finance guy to dinner as they tend to approve their own expense accounts. There’s also a reason some people make it to the top and others don’t and it’s Darwinian at best. Crazy, mean people are destined for greatness as well as ignominy.
21:00 Is Stanley Bing basically an optimist or a pessimist about human beings? It’s a bit of both. That being said, don’t discount paranoia as a world view. We discuss the difference between skepticism and cynicism. We discuss our mutual disrespect for Ayn Rand and the civilizing effect of society.
24:00 Here’s a discussion we’ve never had on this show: how the TV show Mad Men does or doesn’t reflect the real world. Alcohol and workplace affairs sounds like a pretty good day at work to him. Here’s another question: does booze in the workplace get a bad rap?
Check out StanleyBing.com
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #241 Analytics At Work with Robert Morison
Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by Wayne in Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to Robert (Bob) Morison about his new book, “Analytics at Work- Smarter Decisions, Better Results”. We also talk about the father of demographic studies, who should have seen his own fate coming, and a quote from Arthur Conan Doyle that helps explain why we are each a mystery but collectively we’re horribly predictable. Darwin was an optimist.
Bob Morison uses small words to explain Analytics to me without making my head explode.
June 28th’s workshop will be also be How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. Find out more here
As always, use the discount code cranky to save 10%!
Also, check out our new BNET blog on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
If you want a copy of our FREE white paper “3 Reasons Remote Teams Fail- And How to See It Coming” click here.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show, everyone. Today we are talking about analytics. Rumor has it you can actually make good decisions with this stuff called “data”. Crazy, right? Still, it’s an old idea and we dedicate this show to the father of English Demographics and actuarial tables John Graunt. Statistically, he should have seen the trouble he’d get into.
2:37 Our quote of the week is from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is why you know what most people will do in any situation, but individuals will make you crazy. Are you an” insoluble puzzle”?
4:34 Welcome Bob Morison back to the show ( he was here in the early days, you can hear that interview here). He’s a numbers geek, which I decidedly am not. Why is good data so important and how can we use it intelligently?
8:30 Bob is a smart guy, besides his use of the word “informate”. When is it useful and when is it just paperwork? Turns out you actually have to ask. You have to create a culture where people can challenge numbers without it getting personal. Turns out he’s not a born geek, he’s had it thrust upon him.
11:57 He gives us an example of good data like finding patterns. Oh, so THAT’S what analytics are good for
13:18 How do you get the team excited about getting the numbers and using it to bring them all together. This involves actual conversation and stuff. Managers need to facilitate these discussions and help the introverts demonstrate value.
16:40 How do managers make it okay to challenge and question data? Bob is a big believer of assigning gadflies or instituting the equivalent of Question Period). You have to challenge your assumptions on a regular basis.
21:30 According to research, analysts and geeks are happier with their work than the rest of us. Why? Turns out because they’re allowed to do the part of the job they really care about. Crazy notion. Also, if you just have them doing reports and not tackling the problems they’ll go running for the hills. They’re a lot like engineers , which makes sense, but they also want to work on the challenges that matter and that they’re appreciated. Oh good, that’s our challenge again.
25:00 Social networking is vital to these people, but a lot of companies try to lock them up because the data is proprietary. Companies need to figure that out. Connecting and sharing is vital. What are you keeping close to the vest that is worth more when you share it?
Bob’s Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #239 Family Drama Means Work Drama Sylvia LaFair
Posted on 25. May, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today we look at the role our family dynamics play in how we work with others. Sylvia Lafair is the author of “Don’t Bring it to Work- Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success”. We also look at Peter the Great (unless you’re related to him) and a quote from Helen Keller.
Sylvia Lafair will tell us how family dynamics impact how we work. A little therapy for your workday.
June 28th’s workshop will be also be How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. Find out more here
As always, use the discount code cranky to save 10%!S
Also, check out our new BNET blog on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
Now you can get 3 of the best Cranky interviews on project management on one CD for $15 plus postage
- Green PM
- Lazy Project Management
- Managing Projects Across Distance
Click here to learn more and to purchase this CD. Contains a discount coupon for all Greatwebmeetings.com webinar workshops.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we are talking family dynamics and how the way you work with your family is probably also your MO at work. As exhibit A we present Peter the Great who treated pretty much everyone like his dimwitted half-brother.
2:37 The quote of the week is from Helen Keller. Nothing like being deaf dumb and mute to make you appreciate your family. I find keeping them in another country works too.
4:07 Welcome Sylvia Lafair to discuss how family dynamics mirror work dynamics and vice versa. I wrote on her blog recently and it’s good to talk to her. It would be lovely to leave all the family drama at the door and not bring it to work….except that we do. Procrastination, for example, goes back to refusing to clean your room even when you know you should get it done. When stress hits, we all revert to patterns we learned as kids.
8:00 Yes, I just confessed that the amygdala is my favorite part of the body. Emotions are incredibly powerful and can’t just be ignored. It’s in the hard wiring. Yes, I blame my challenges with reward and recognition on my mother which is neither fair nor relevant to 2010. Oh, and apparently is a big ole Drama Queen.
11:49 I watch this play out with my kid at work. We can transform these patterns but we have to see them first.
12:42 Does this mean we have to psychoanalyze all our employees? How important is it we know their story? Not as important as knowing what patterns show up in their work.
15:00 Sylvia walks us through coaching a chronic procrastinator. She gives us very specific language for having the conversation. Two key things. You need to ask: What do you want as an outcome? and you need to shut up.
19:50 When giving feedback, it’s important that you expose yourself first (not in the bad HR way). This leads to mirror neurons firing in their brains and they relax. If you don’t come in as a friend, the threat response takes over.
21:00 Sylvia’s process is OUT- Observe, Understand and Transform. It takes a little work but we get her to talk more about transformation and how it happens.
25:00 Is this all Western Freudian nonsense or is it internationally relevant as well? Sylvia finds families are families. Only the terminology changes.
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Follow Wayne on Twitter
Follow Sylvia on Twitter
Wally Bock’s 3 Star Leadership
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #235 Death To The Performance Review! Sam Culbert
Posted on 24. Apr, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today we look at something that makes everyone cranky- the annual performance review. What do they really accomplish? If you ask Sam Culbert, author of “Get Rid of the Performance Review: How companies can stop intimidating, start managing and focus on what really matters”, the answer is not a whole lot. Also we look at an official witchfinder and recite a little doggerel verse just because we’re bored.
Sam Culbert says we should kill the performance review…. and I thought I was cranky………
Don’t forget May’s How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams webinar workshop. Click here to learn more and register.
June 28th’s workshop will be also be How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. Find out more here
As always, use the discount code cranky to save 10%!
Also, check out our new BNET blog on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
You can also follow us on Twitter
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show all ye who labor and are sore weary…especially of doing performance reviews. Since these things are so often witch hunts, we dedicate this episode to a real witchfinder… Matthew Hopkins. Good news, you’re not a witch. Bad news, finding that out killed you. I’ve worked in companies like that…..
4:04 The quote of the week is from Lord Byron ….. are you the Boring or the Bored?
4:45 Welcome Dr Sam Culbert to the show. He’s crankier than I am, and mostly about performance reviews. So what’s wrong with them? He uses a word I have never used on this show…..although highly tempted from time to time. The problems include: they’re not objective, the standards are bogus and it kills the trust between managers and each employee.
7:30 Being a pessimistic historian, I am curious as to where the performance review came from. Turns out the real culprit is “management by objectives”- a flawed concept to start with. Astonishingly I find myself defending
HR and Sam will have none of it.
12:42 The HR department should be seeking alternatives instead of keeping the Kabuki theatre going. Sam claims it’s in their interests to keep these things alive. They get to keep the dirty little secrets.
14:28 Oh, and the notion that pay is tied to performance reviews is nonsense, it just ticks off the employee and frustrates us managers.
19:08 Don’t get him started on 360 degree feedback either. Anonymous sniping is not feedback.
22:02 There is a difference between a “job description” and describing the job- the unique way each person tackles the job to accomplish their results.
25:30 So what’s the alternative to the Review? Sam calls it the Performance Preview. Constant,candid conversation about the goals, how they’re doing all along the way and honest communication without fear.
30:30 How do companies do this preview without a paper trail? Sam doesn’t seem to understand the insane need for documentation in companies. Sam’s goal is to make work fit for human consumption….
Sam’s Resources