It's so satisfying when I click on a link like this and find the ultimate affirmation that I'm doing it right... I think you should expand on this, though, as the only new gimmick I learned was the one about keeping your company's guidebook open.
What Davis Aurini needs to do is make a video where you two on sitting on couches and having a 30 minute to an hour discussion with you about absolutely anything and then post it on YouTube. I'm still hoping he posts the show he did with Libertarian Realist.
There was a period during my time at a Megacorp, where I did exactly as you describe. Being an older tech company meant we had stashes of components that rivaled Radio Shack. When I'd get things done and needed to look busy, I’d head back to the store-room or lab (managers will not set foot in a lab). There I’d help myself to pieces that otherwise would populate a land fill, and keep my hands-on skills sharp. I once even built a rudimentary robot-brain completely out of stolen parts.
That little machine won a competition, and enthralled kids when I was called on to demo it.
As all good things, this too would come to an end. Executives (and HR?) implemented a new clean-up policy that effectively forced us to get rid of this sort of thing. :( Any equipment or parts we could not justify keeping, when to the recycle bin (I'm pretty sure that means China)
Keep a spreadsheet or Word document open on the screen? Check. I kept a Critical Path Method construction schedule open, and nobody in the office understood what that was.
Do independent contractor work on company time? Check. I wrote professional journal articles for pay, and the material looked just like the briefs I was supposed to be writing for the job.
Work towards being self-employed? Check. I've been self-employed for the last 15 years.
I have one to add: Always walk around the building carrying a file folder under your arm. People assume you are on your way to a meeting.
8 comments:
It's so satisfying when I click on a link like this and find the ultimate affirmation that I'm doing it right... I think you should expand on this, though, as the only new gimmick I learned was the one about keeping your company's guidebook open.
This guy has it all figured out:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/story-man-outsourced-china-could-135701981.html
What Davis Aurini needs to do is make a video where you two on sitting on couches and having a 30 minute to an hour discussion with you about absolutely anything and then post it on YouTube. I'm still hoping he posts the show he did with Libertarian Realist.
Great work!
There was a period during my time at a Megacorp, where I did exactly as you describe. Being an older tech company meant we had stashes of components that rivaled Radio Shack. When I'd get things done and needed to look busy, I’d head back to the store-room or lab (managers will not set foot in a lab). There I’d help myself to pieces that otherwise would populate a land fill, and keep my hands-on skills sharp. I once even built a rudimentary robot-brain completely out of stolen parts.
That little machine won a competition, and enthralled kids when I was called on to demo it.
As all good things, this too would come to an end. Executives (and HR?) implemented a new clean-up policy that effectively forced us to get rid of this sort of thing. :( Any equipment or parts we could not justify keeping, when to the recycle bin (I'm pretty sure that means China)
“How to Look Busy at Work”
You’ve just given an apt description of the baby boomer generation. . .
What's up with the background, Cap? Do you and Aurini live in the same high-rise apartment?
Keep a spreadsheet or Word document open on the screen? Check. I kept a Critical Path Method construction schedule open, and nobody in the office understood what that was.
Do independent contractor work on company time? Check. I wrote professional journal articles for pay, and the material looked just like the briefs I was supposed to be writing for the job.
Work towards being self-employed? Check. I've been self-employed for the last 15 years.
I have one to add: Always walk around the building carrying a file folder under your arm. People assume you are on your way to a meeting.
Douglas Adams: The Joy Of Work.
~YB
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