Job Discussion Forums

[jdl]

So much to learn! No wonder it takes more than one lifetime.

[gaijinalways]

Damn, which one are you on ?

[jdl]

Interesting thing about life...doesn't come with a scorecard. I guess the 'big boss' lets us find our own way and keep our own line scores. The greatest demand of all.

[johnslat]

Dear jdl,
But it does seem to come with a lot of rule books, many of which are contradictory.
Regards,
John

[jdl]

Indeed it does seem so! The greatest demand. Human understanding is limited in that way I guess...all the more reason to develop a good relationship with the boss whether in the workplace of life or the staff room over coffee. Good relationships lead to better understandings and generally a more enjoyable game and fewer xxx in the box score. It is all fun after all..... right?

[gaijinalways]

[jdl]

Very true, gaijinalways.

Many agendas, strategies and gamesmanship. To go back to the old sports analogies and philosophy to which coaches forever refer, "Don't be distracted by attempts to throw us off our game. Play our game not theirs...we can't win thier game...but we can win ours. If we let them set us back on our heels by responding and reacting rather than acting we play into their game plan. Let us take the game to them...make them respond to us"

Now this may assume that office politicians have a game plan...very few do. So dealing with them and orchestrating an outcome can be easier than thought. Generally people are reactive in nature and will follow the flow. The one who sets the flow or redirects the flow controls the activity.

"Oh yes, always leave it on the ice/field/court..and always smile when shaking hands"

Don't ya love sports for their life metaphors?

or another approach may be "The secret of success is sincerity , and once you learn to fake that, you have it made." - Jean Giraudoux

but the easiest in the long run and most enjoyable in the short run, as John suggests, is to play nice.

[gaijinalways]

"Nice guys finish last", didn't someone say that?

But I would modify that to "Being nice doesn't always work" (regardless of how much we would like it to).

[johnslat]

Dear gaijinalways,

"Being nice doesn't always work" (regardless of how much we would like it to).

True, it doesn't always work, but in my experience, it works a LOT more often than being not nice does.

"In a July 6, 1946 interview with Red Barber, Durocher had been commenting on the common belief at the time that if a team's players got along well, they would naturally play better than teams with difficult or irascible players; noting some of the players on the Giants who had reputations as personable individuals, notably Mel Ott, he observed that they were all "nice guys", but would nonetheless finish last (while his Dodgers were in first place), summing up his argument with, "Nice guys; finish last." Durocher later noted that the remark was quoted accurately in the published interview, but came to take on a different meaning when some incorrectly thought he meant that such a team would finish last because it included "nice guys", when in fact he had meant that there was no correlation (and in fact, saw it more as an ironic situation) between the personalities on a team and their level of play. (See 1966 Chicago Cubs, below.) Thus the quote "Nice guys finish last" has long been attributed to Durocher, including an entry in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Many historians assert, however, that the famous four words never were actually uttered by Durocher; the quotation as it is remembered actually came from headline writers distilling Durocher's quote that "The nice guys are all over there, in seventh place, not in this dugout" into a pithy soundbite"

By the way, the Dodgers never got to the World Series that year, being beaten in the NL playoffs by the St. Louis Cardinals, a team he had once played for (who beat the Red Sox in the World Series.)

[jdl]

Great bit of baseball lore, John. The stuff of legends. The media hasn't changed has it? Sacrifice the facts and context for the 'sound bite'. Reassuring to note that some things seem to be constant keeping our faith that all is well and good and immutable.

Thanks for the lore.

[housecattn]

Excellent reads. Thank you very much all.

As a manager in anon teaching field I applaud the wonderful insights here and will offer some I try to live by.

This is a management philosophy from the best boss I ever had and sadly while it is great for the folks who work for you often it is NOT understood by those you may work for.

Give all the credit
Take all the blame
Make sure your folks have what they need to do the job
then get out of their way

Thanks Again, Mike

[jdl]

housecattn,

"Give all the credit
Take all the blame
Make sure your folks have what they need to do the job
then get out of their way"


Pretty well says it all, doesn't it. Thanks

[gaijinalways]

johnslat posted

[jdl]

Housecattn's quote actually...sorry for the confusion...should have made my lifting of Mike's words obvious. My mistake. I will have to master the quote function!