Human as Resource ( was Re: FW: more #$ -at- %#^&$# secretary stuff...)

[JIMCHEVAL <JIMCHEVAL -at- AOL -dot- COM>]

In a message dated 98-05-12 17:59:52 EDT, traceym -at- APPLIEDMAPPING -dot- COM writes:

<< My boss stopped me and said it =
 wasn't a good use of my resources, get the secretary to do it.  >>
And this DOESN'T just happen with 'secretarial' tasks.

A lot of us in the technical world are, I think, naturally helpful.  And have
to learn to be less so.

My first week as a programmer, one of the salesmen came through, introduced
himself, was real friendly.  A short while later, he asked if I couldn't do
some small thing for him (long forgotten).

This gave rise to one of my first corporate tutorials.

My boss immediately told me that:

A.  The salesman should have gone through him before using one of his
resources
B.  If I started doing little things to be helpful, they would suddenly, as if
by magic, become my responsibility.

It's human nature to help, and it took me a while to absorb these lessons.
But they're pretty fundamental in an environment where employees are also
referred to as 'resources' and departments charge back services amongst
themselves.

Jim Chevallier
North Hollywood
== JC's TW page - http://members.aol.com/jimcheval/twone.htm ===