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Subject:RE: Friday philosophical - the age thing From:"Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:08:54 -0700
I agree; whiners need not apply. If I didn't like the hours I was
regularly expected to work, I'd get a new job.
I would again add, however, companies in which overtime is _a way of
life_ are probably headed for insolvency. If everyone always has to work
overtime, this means that the company is short staffed. There are
several possible reasons for this. If it is because the owners are
greedy, the whole corporate culture is going to stink. The company will
be staffed entirely by the naive, climbers, and sado-masochists. Not
somewhere I want to work. If it is because there isn't budget for the
new hires necessary to do all of the work (and this is more likely),
this means that the company is not sufficiently profitable to sustain
itself indefinitely and certainly not profitable enough to please
investors.
Leonard C. Porrello
SoleraTec LLC
www.soleratec.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Vickery [mailto:cvickery -at- arenasolutions -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:19 AM
To: Leonard C. Porrello; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Friday philosophical - the age thing
Sorry, I may have come off a bit glib there. There are certainly those
who work hard and complain about the long hours. I've just seen numerous
examples of people who complain about long hours when they are not
working for most of that time.
YMMV
Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+cvickery=arenasolutions -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+cvickery=arenasolutions -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of Leonard C. Porrello
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:17 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Friday philosophical - the age thing
What about the people who keep track of how hard everyone else is
working? Where do they fit into your ontology?
Leonard C. Porrello
SoleraTec LLC
www.soleratec.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Vickery [mailto:cvickery -at- arenasolutions -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:08 AM
To: Leonard C. Porrello; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Friday philosophical - the age thing
In my experience, it's usually the people screwing around the most that
complain about being overworked the most.
Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+cvickery=arenasolutions -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+cvickery=arenasolutions -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of Leonard C. Porrello
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:10 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Friday philosophical - the age thing
The only job I ever hated was with a company in which all-nighters were
a badge of honor and a way of life. They had one big project and, for
all the "hard work", failed to deliver a workable product. They are out
of business. All nighters are a way of life only under poor management
in companies in which no sane person would want to work, companies that
are most likely headed for insolvency.
Leonard C. Porrello
SoleraTec LLC
www.soleratec.com
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
om] On Behalf Of John Hedtke
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 9:38 AM
To: voxwoman; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Friday philosophical - the age thing
Very good point, Wendy! I think all of us have heard the "C'mon,
lads, there's but one more hill to go!" speech often enough that we
all can identify it as such. Only rarely--and I'm not coming up with
specifics, but I'm thinking there was one, once--has the corollary
idea of "And here's what's in it for you" even been suggested.
I sure don't mind working some extra time to meet a deadline and be a
pro, nor even making a CEO's bottom line better, but I'm not
interested in sacrificing myself indefinitely purely for the benefit
of lining someone else's pocket who really doesn't care about me
except what he can get me to do. The ancient principle of "What's in
it for me?" tends to override that these days.
Yours truly,
John Hedtke
Author/Consultant/Contract Writer
www.hedtke.com <-- website
Region 7 Director, STC
541-685-5000 (office landline)
541-554-2189 (cell)
john -at- hedtke -dot- com (primary email)
johnhedtke -at- aol -dot- com (secondary email)
At 04:52 AM 3/11/2008, voxwoman wrote:
>Remembering my own Young Turk days, I'd also like to offer another
reason
>why we "more seasoned" professionals tend to avoid jobs and projects
that
>require those late nights...
>
>After a few years of promises of overtime or comp time or promotions
(none
>or few of which actually pan out), and after being downsized a few
times,
>you start reacting to "you can take comp time for the work" the same
way as
>you react to "the check is in the mail".
>
>Not only that, but as you get older, the odds are that you've also
acquired
>a spouse and children, and if you're working 18 hours a day, you aren't
>going to see any of those people at all. Quality of life issues start
>rearing their ugly heads.
>
>I got out of engineering and into tech writing to AVOID having to pull
all
>nighters and work weekends to meet ridiculous schedules. It certainly
wasn't
>for the salary or the prestige, or the joy of seeing your manual
holding a
>door open (and yes, I've actually SEEN that).
>
>Wendy
>
>(yep, I'm new. Howdy!)
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