Are you reading this at work?

20 February 2009 at 18:58 (Economics, Policy, Pursuit of Happiness)
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The line between work-life and home-life, professional and personal, is in constant flux.  As organizations search for excellence, re-invent, re-organize, upgrade, and update, the one-time rules on engagement get a bit squishy.  Governing magazine—a freebie for bureaucrats like me—offered an insightful observation on “The Millennial in the Cubicle“, relevant to government, non-profit and for-profit enterprises:

According to a recent Pew Internet & American Life Project study, 70 percent of working Americans now use the Internet on the job. That means that increasingly both the public and the private sectors are having to figure out how to balance the rights and interests of employees and employers in an environment where opportunities to do too much electronic wandering are virtually limitless, and where lots of employees spend most of the day on computers and tapping away at cell phones and other communication devices for legitimate work purposes.

Are you reading this at work?  One reason I’m working on this blog is to look at applications of social media for my “real work” in local development.  Is this blog strictly “real work” then?  Well, not stricktly.  I may be trading time during the work day that I make up by coming in early and staying late or eating lunch at my desk like I am today.  “Real Work” still needs to get done, but the timeline isn’t banker’s hours.

Complaints about overly restrictive use policies and Web blocking ought to be a wake-up call, say many in public-sector information technology and personnel management. Witt’s generation — the “millennials,” who have grown up texting, Twittering and YouTubing, and often doing all of those things simultaneously — are going to push hard for governments to open up on-the-job technology so that they can work the way they’ve become used to. “We’re going to be seeing a new generation of employees who say, ‘What do you mean I can’t look at my Facebook page while I’m at work?'” says Craig Paull, head of IT for Kent County, Michigan.

Devil’s Advocate:  I got some good advice from a prof back in college.  When you’re working for the government, don’t do anything you wouldn’t want in the headlines of the local newspaper.  There was a big buzz for awhile on “running government like a business”.  I like the idea, but the problem is the stockholders are everybody that pays taxes.  The rules are a bit different on the public dime than in private business.  I understand that.

However… public, private and non-profit organizations are all in business.  They have (or should have) a mission, a vision, strategies and objectives if they want to succeed and provide a value in this world.  If you’re gonna do a job, do it right.

Fundamentally, technology has helped create a layer of employees who view work in a whole new way, according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew project. “It’s clear that the boundary between work and play is not as bright and distinct as it is for their parents,” says Rainie. “Nobody has done a systematic study, but as the digital generation enters the workforce, they will have different expectations about the work environment and using technology, and different norms about what they owe their boss versus what they owe their friends.” 

Some of the conflicts are generational.  Baby Boomers tend to think about work and life, paid-work and volunteer-work, differently than my Gen X peers.  The Millenials coming after, who the heck knows what they’re thinking. 

Change is, of course, the only constant.  So you may as well embrace it.  Learn to love Social Media.  Adapt your work life to Twitter and Facebook.  Adapt your home life so your Blackberry habit isn’t quite so annoying to spouse and children.  Some people see these tools extending work into homelife.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t only have ideas between 8am and 4:30pm.  If I figure out a problem for a client at 8pm, I don’t want to wait until 8am to get down the details when I can access work remotely and take care of it then and there.  At the same time, I may be pulling up Facebook at 9am to check on my kids instead of jockeying for PC time at home come 9pm.  Tools are tools, for good or evil.

Get ‘er done, but with balance in all things.

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A Scholar’s Work

19 February 2009 at 12:00 (Economics, Pursuit of Happiness)
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Minnesota Farm

Martin Krieger is Professor of Planning at the University of Southern California’s School of Policy, Planning, and Development.  He blogs tips for doctoral students.  I once thought of being a doctoral student—then I got over it, they work too hard.  Prof. Krieger has a PhD in Physics, so that could make him a rocket scientist as well as a real doctor, I’m not that familiar with his work.  Just before Christmas he wrote:

Most very strong scholars live through their work. They are very productive, and their work reflects their strengths in a deep way. There are of course scholars who work very hard, but are not so strong even if they are productive. But these very strong scholars are in a different league.

I’ve been thinking alot about work-life balance for… oh, most of my life.  We know the Company Man is dead.  Nobody my age will work for IBM for 40 years.  We settled that 20 years ago, yet the 1980s are as far away for my kids as the 1950s were for me.

What is it going to mean to “live through your work” in 2010?  Does it mean the gosh-awful 80 hour work-weeks of doctoral students (and professors)?  Or the undergrad working two jobs just to scrape by?  Can it mean more?

Let’s go back back to the future. Look at 2010 thru the lens of 1910, when the majority of US population (54%) was still rural. Before the industrial revolution, the norm was life on a farm or in a small shop. You lived with your work—you got up, did the chores, had lunch with the family, rested on Sunday, got stuff done.  The farm was (and is) hard work, but it’s a life worth living.

It’s easy to work your life away; easy to live for your work.  To live through your work, though, that seems to me something more—to find expression for your life in what you do for a living.  To be strong in your chosen vocation is going to mean going the extra mile, but we can adapt schedules and communication tools to recreate the seamless farmyard where sometimes we’re balancing “real work” on Saturdays so we can picnic with the family Thursday afternoon.

Sounds like hard work, but work worth living.

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your bias for dealing with change

11 February 2009 at 18:01 (Economics)
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Speaking of Change… there are three schools of thought on handling this economic “sea of change”…

  • The academic approach will struggle to apply logic to the circumstance and forecast the end (Confusionism).
  • The creative and/or artistic approach seeks to make peace with the current situation, waiting patiently for resolution (Buddhism).
  • Or finally, the pragmatist will realign interests with the flow and current of the time (Taoism).

While you might not be a fan of eastern religions, one of these three orientations describes your bias for dealing with change. Based on our informal polling, it seems we have a lot of budding Buddists in economic development. The majority of economic development marketers I talk to are returning to the basics and hoping a 10-15% decrease in revenue will be the extent of the pain. In other words, they plan to wait it out. Personally, I believe this approach in this situation – an extended economic downturn – could be fraught with professional risk in a business known for its skewed metrics: “what have you done for me lately?”

Philisophical perspective, Kevin Stuart, Blane, Canada Ltd.

Three guesses which is my bias? Think logically.

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Groundhog Day

2 February 2009 at 15:00 (Pursuit of Happiness)
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Think what you will of Bill Murray or Andie MacDowell, their performance in Harold Ramis’ 1993 movie Groundhog Day is a delightful little romp through the world of PunxsutawneyPhil and small town America.

One can take Groundhog Day as a simple comedy, a diversion from our mid-winter blahs.  Murray’s self-centered TV weatherman gets what’s coming from him, with MacDowell and Chris Elliott’s original Larry the cable guy along for the ride.

However, if you’re inclined to put on your thinking cap, Groundhog Day—both movie and day—can be much more.  What is it with this “Six More Weeks of Winter” thing?  Growing up in Fargo, where we have 8 months of winter and 4 months of extreme heat, I always assumed the negative case was 12 more weeks of winter.  Of course it’s 6 more weeks until Vernal Equinox as any calendar will tell us.  Wouldn’t it make more sense if it DID see it’s shadow then that means the sun is shining, so it should be LESS winter? 

Anyway…. the collective wisdom of Wikipedia gives us something to think about:

Philosophy

Groundhog Day is a tale of self-improvement, to look inside oneself and realize that the only satisfaction in life comes from turning outward and concerning oneself with others rather than concentrating solely on one’s own wants and desires. As such, the film has become a favorite of Buddhist, Christian and Jewish leaders alike because they see its themes of selflessness and rebirth as a reflection of their own spiritual messages. It has even been dubbed by some religious leaders as the “most spiritual film of our time.”

I have some other problems with the film, like the fact it was filmed in Illinois, not Pennsylvania, but I’ve got some of my own self-improvement to get done this Monday morning.  Congrats to the Steelers, and by the way, bundle up.  Phil just saw his shadow.

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