Latest Posts - Page 96 of 203

July 3, 2020June 27, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

The Positives of Grunt Work

Grunt work is often a significant portion of our job that makes it feel like “work.” It is not the fun part of our day. However, there are pros and cons to this well-known task. What is Grunt Work? Let’s start with a definition. Investopedia provides an excellent example. Grunt work is an expression used to describe thankless and menial work. Grunt work can also refer to jobs that lack glamour and prestige or are boring and repetitive. I think the keywords of “thankless” and “boring” are enough to provide the negatives for this type of work. However, we have a bright side we can focus on as well. A Refreshing Grunt I think about Tim Allen’s trademark grunting sound as part of this... Read more

July 1, 2020June 26, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

The Upsides of Niche Requests – Not All Outliers Are Bad

Outliers and niche requests can often push us over the line from a simple solution to a complex one. We commonly can get that eighty percent of the cases addressed in our initial code. However, an outlier gets into the far more difficult final twenty percent mentioned in the Pareto principle. These “new” requirements or missed details can cause headaches and missed deadlines. However, they have a bright side as well. A Stronger Solution First and foremost, the more cases our solution is tested against (and it supports), the stronger it is. In an extreme example, consider a calculator that only adds single-digit numbers. That is not very useful. It needs to handle a broader range of numbers and include... Read more

June 29, 2020June 26, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

The Bright Side of Office Politics

Office politics are one of the most frustrating things in the business world. There are people that live for this challenge. However, they are often seen as detrimental to productivity. We even have some arguments that this as something that needs to be removed from typical work experiences. The Value Of Different Voices One of the essential attributes of office politics is that an organization has multiple opinions on a topic. There are examples we can look at that are purely self-serving. However, let’s refer to that as scheming rather than office politics. Therefore, I do not include people trying solely to protect their job or extend their fiefdom as part of this discussion. We can all agree that people... Read more

June 26, 2020June 20, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

Upsides of Cellphones – Yes, There Are Some

Cellphones have become a constant in many of our lives. They are the first thing we reach for in the morning and the last thing we put away at night. This situation has led to plenty of complaints and worries about these devices. However, there are upsides of cellphones we can focus on to keep that positive outlook. Cheaper Long Distance The ability to talk to people outside of your area code used to cost extra. This feature could be costly. The standard cell phone plans quickly dropped long-distance charges. While many things have opened our ability to work remotely, that may be one of the most impactful ones. Think about those zoom meetings if people had to pay long-distance charges in... Read more

June 24, 2020June 18, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

The Upside of Messaging Tools

Our modern communication within a group is dominated by tools like MS Teams and Slack. These messaging tools are the outcome of several years of working on the problem of quick and thorough communication. We have looked at how e-mail is intended for lengthy or cumbersome conversations. Now we look at tools that are designed for a quick response and often a short one. These provide for much more transactional communication (Q&A) rather than full dialogues. While the tools can be a nuisance and disrupt our day, there are positives in using them. A Paper Trail We have looked at the problem of forgetting details in a complicated conversation. This issue is still a common one faced in simple conversations... Read more

June 22, 2020June 17, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

Email As a Positive – Looking on the Bright Side

We all use email daily. Even though we have seen several new ways to communicate in recent years, it is still a staple of our lives. That is why spam is so common. It is a way to reach almost everyone. Of course, it also means we have more messages we delete than we read. Nevertheless, we can look at email as a positive. It provides us a needed option for communication online. Use Email As It Is Intended The headaches from email come as much from the misuse of it (or more so) as proper usage. The first point to remember is that this is a tool for conversations. It is not intended to do instant response communication. These... Read more