It's not what you know…

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Rick Turoczy

Testing the waterIf I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times (just ask Toby and Amy), “It’s not what you know. It’s who you know.”

I firmly believe it. I’ve seen it in action far too many times.

But in order for it to be “who you know,” you have to know someone.

Yeah, it’s kind of a prerequisite.

I am horrible at networking. It scares me. To death. I really, really have a hard time doing it. And I really have a great deal of admiration for the folks who can do it. I have complete awe for the folks who do it well.

So what if you’re stuck in a gig that won’t ever get better, and you need to formulate an exit plan? You’re going to need to know somebody my friend.

Come along, gentle reader. This will be good for both of us.

Penelope Trunk is going to let us in on “Networking for people who hate networking.” Among her tips:

  1. You don’t have to be a manipulator.
  2. You don’t have to be funny and clever. [Yeah, you and I are both breathing a sigh of relief there.]
  3. You don’t have to network when you’re job-hunting.
  4. You don’t have to be agreeable. [I think you’re wrong. Oh wait, I was just making a point.]
  5. You don’t have to get off the sofa. [Wha…? I’m already doing it?]

Oh so now you’re interested? Soldier on, my soon-to-be-the-envy-of-LinkedIn networker.

Posted in Career, Networking | 2 Comments

How to write a better performance review

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Rick Turoczy

A better performance reviewAs I was doing a little Kumquat research, I just happened to stumble upon this article, entitled “How to write a better performance review.”

It’s nearly a decade old.

The problem? It still smells as fresh as a daisy in terms of its guidance. Many of the tips still aren’t part and parcel of training people to handle the employee review process. But they should be.

So I’m highlighting them, in the hopes that you’ll agree and help lead the charge. Some of my favorites?

  • Be complete. Include the good, the bad and the ugly. Don’t be afraid to criticize. Don’t forget to praise.
  • Know what you’re looking for. Evaluate the right things. Concentrate exclusively on factors directly related to job performance.
  • Don’t beat around the bush or sugarcoat needed criticism. Say what has to be said and move on.
  • Be as specific as possible. Use examples. Glittering generalities don’t help much in targeting action or improvement plans.
  • Relate evaluations to previous reviews. Are things better? Worse? The same?
  • Choose words carefully. The goal is clarity.

My hope? Someone reads this a decade from now and says, “Well, duh, everyone knows that.”

Posted in Kumquat, Performance, Review, Tips | 2 Comments

Free to an unhappy home

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Rick Turoczy

Happy Hour is 9 to 5The Chief Happiness Officer has offered to give away free PDFs of his book, Happy Hour is 9 to 5, to the first 50 100 people to comment on the post entitled, “Is your workplace unhappy? Get my book for free.” You’re also allowed to spread the joy, as it were, to anyone in the company, for free.

Now, when I swung by, they were nearing 50 comments. But they weren’t all unhappy types. So there may be room.

Besides, I bet if you tell a real tearjerker, he’ll give you one. Regardless of what number you are. (Toby and Amy, you may not apply.) (UPDATE: Hate to say “I told you so,” but he just upped the number to 100.)

He’s the Chief Happiness Officer after all.

Posted in Corporate Culture, Happiness, Motivation, Passion | Leave a comment

Boing Boing, Little Frog, er, Rabbit

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Toby Lucich

Boing bointHippity Hoppity, hippity hoppity… we know this song. But I’m wondering, what is the thinking that motivates job hopping?

I’m a mover, a shaker. Or easily distracted, whatever. I’m not the loyal 20-year man that many managers want. I get in and am ready to fire it up. And then move on when the speed of change begins to wane. For me, a large corporation let me work internally as a consultant, and was a fertile bed for honing skills that would be useful in my consulting practice.

What is it you want out of your next hop? Security? Challenge? Compensation? Flexibilty? Strong brand? Launch pad for your own gig?

Posted in Branding, Change, Loyalty | 1 Comment

Work is Broken – But are You Growing?

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Toby Lucich

We think work is broken. Not just your role, but the organization, the framework, even the concept of being part of producing something seems to be a bit off bubble.

An interesting new challenge question to explore this idea from Dick Richards:

For what has my life been preparing me?

Are you better for your experiences gained in this role?

Posted in Career | Leave a comment

Blogging at Work? What would Happen to You…

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Toby Lucich

if your company found out you were blogging at work? (This link was live, but apperas to have been pulled.) What if you found out your employees were blogging or reading blogs. Instead of doing their work?

Would you get iFired?

Posted in Accountability, Autonomy, Career | 3 Comments

Want to work from home? Tips on making your work and life intramural

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Rick Turoczy

Working from homeFor many of us, working from home holds a great deal more appeal than sitting in a noisy–or worse yet, deathly silent–cube farm, day-in, day-out.

I know that I’m more productive here than I ever was in the office. And I hear many folks echoing the same sentiment. And when you cut the commute down from a matter of miles to steps. And the access to the fridge. And…

Oh I could go on and on and on.

But what if you have to build the argument to get that opportunity?

Look no further than Productivity 501‘s expansive list describing how to “convince your boss to let you work from home.”

To hit the high points:

  1. Research the technology
  2. Position yourself for success
  3. Determine the business reason you should be allowed to work from home [HINT: It’s not the access to the fridge noted above.]
  4. Prepare your proposal
  5. Establish a trial period

(Hat tip to LifeDev)

Posted in Autonomy, Boss, Change, Corporate Culture, Motivation, Tips | Leave a comment

World of Warcraft taught some how to win the recruiting war

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Rick Turoczy

Red 5Sorry, but the geek in me compells me to say, “This is Red 5, standing by.”

Phew. Now that that is out of the way…

Red5, founded by former members of Blizzard Entertainment (the company behind titles like World of Warcraft), deserves recognition for its compelling, creative, entertaining, respectful, drool-inducing recruiting campaign.

If only everyone paid this much attention to detail. If only everyone spent so much time researching candidates that they were willing to go to these lengths to talk to them. If only everyone were so considerate and respectful. If only everyone cared this much.

How much?

Well to give you a taste before the jump, imagine listening to this on your own personally engraved Apple iPod Shuffle, delivered via FedEx, in a beautiful nested-babushka-doll-esque envelope system:

This is Mark Kern, President of Red 5 Studios and former team lead for World of Warcraft. I came across your blog on the net and was impressed with the depth of your inquisitiveness regarding game design, programming and mathematics. Your work at [insert gig of person here] is impressive and we’d love the chance to meet you. At Red 5 we’re assembling a team of incredibly talented individuals dedicated to pushing the envelope in online entertainment. We’re building a new type of game company and a new type of game. And we believe you’re someone who just might fit into the Red 5 family. Log into red5studios.com and enter the code found engraved on this iPod. We’ll tell you all about it.

And now, the more complete descriptions:

Why don’t people seem to care this much about their potential employees?

As usual, Seth Godin nails it. In his compact and pithy way:

The reasons are simple: most recruiters don’t really care about hiring the very best people, and/or recruiters haven’t yet realized that they are marketers too.

Please feel free to share this link with the next body-shop recruiter that calls you.

Posted in Corporate Culture, Creativity, Recruiting | 3 Comments

Employee types from Kathy Sierra

Posted on March 20, 2007 by Rick Turoczy

Okay, I know she’s using employee types to describe software applications.

But, I mean, c’mon. Strip that away and you’ve still got some archetypal employee types.

This is well worth the read: Creating Passionate Users: Is your app an ass-kisser?

I think I’m somewhere among the “Showoff,” the “Anal-Retentive Guy,” and “Brilliant but tempermental.”

Posted in Corporate Culture, Employment, Truth, Workplace | Leave a comment

Kumquat oh Kumquat, how mysterious are thee?

Posted on March 20, 2007 by Rick Turoczy

KumquatLet me count the ways.

We’ve received a number of inquisitive emails about our “little side project.” No, not Return, silly goose. The other side project. The one to which we affectionately refer as Kumquat.

And we really appreciate all of the responses. Thank you.

For those of you who were able to compose emails without using expletives and calling us names, thank you even more.

So we were a little cryptic. Call it “heightening the mystique” or “creating intrigue.”

Or call it what most people called it: confusing.

Well, now there’s a list of frequently asked questions about Kumquat.

If you have others, please post them here, and we’ll work to get them answered as cryptically… err quickly as possible.

Posted in Kumquat | 2 Comments