Years with a zero in them

Wow, another year has slipped by with hardly a fare thee well.

This is one of those years with a zero in it both by the calendar and personally. The problem with zero years is that everything changes. Age 30 I was looking at the fast approaching end of my military service, age 40 Y2k and all that nonsense. now 2010 and age 50... All of the sudden all I can think about is wait I'm not nearly to the point I should be both financially and career wise.

So, what can I do it is what it is and I am where I am. I don't have any answers other than to keep going the way I am hoping things will get better.

Adventures in Management I

Have you ever felt like you were mopping the floor while the house burned down around you?

What I mean by that is this, have you ever been tasked with something completely asinine. Then, when an actual system down situation occurs that results in an up time percentage reduction you are harangued about why you abandoned your "important task" to waste time fixing this problem that is burning your feet.

Managers, listen to me, I beg of you. DO NOT lose sight of the important things because you have these little projects that are important to someone higher up. If you have a network outage or a server down and your clients cannot connect to the network that is a much larger problem than lining all the spare drives up evenly in the storage cabinet.

I know that you probably get a lot of pressure to complete these tasks. I am sure that they are important, but in the grand "big picture" scheme of things the most important thing is the users. Without the users there is no need at all for us. We must always remember that we exist but to support our clients and if that isn't the primary thought in our minds then we should beware because in this economic climate it is embarrassingly easy to find people that have that necessary customer commitment.

I will add more of these little gaffs as I think of them.

Until then adieu
Brian

The thrill and pain of the hunt

To everyone that knows me it should come as no surprise that I am hunting for a new job. It's not that I am in any way upset or dissatisfied with my job, it is simply that there is nowhere left for me to go in my job.

So far I have taken the more or less traditional path to seeking a job, look at the want ads (well on the internet anyway) talk to recruiters, talk to friends. I have been actively looking now for seven months and I may have to look for another seven.

I am currently at the point in my job search where I actually look forward to the denial emails as at least I can see that someone is looking at what I am sending. There is nothing more depressing about the job hunt process than that horrid silence that is the result of sending your application out only to find... silence. I assure you that it is not golden, it is instead a corrosive agent wearing down the armor of the prospective job seeker. Employers, I implore you, even the meanest, lowliest prospective hire deserves at least a short statement saying "sorry, you are not what we are looking for".

All the job sites that I have subscribed to all say the same things, "stay focused", " don't get discouraged", "your job is just around the corner", etc. etc. ad nauseum. They are right of course, but it is difficult at times to maintain a positive attitude when you can't even get a "you don't fit our current needs" reply.

Now, so far I haven't made it through the first hoop (HR looking at the resumes). Part of the problem is that I am looking for a job that is actually 2 to 5 levels above the one I am currently holding. Some people may think that I am trying to reach beyond my ability and why not look for the next job upstream from where I am at. Two main reasons, I have other skills from my first career and secondly, I now have the parchment to back up my experience.

So, I have the experience both technical and leadership, I have the educational background, and what I feel is a very nice resume. Why then am I having such trouble finding that great job? Well, let's look at the reality and see if there aren't some reasons why I might be having trouble with this:

1. The economy is not doing so well, this is obvious to anyone looking at the job market, especially those who are hunting upper level jobs.

2. I don't have a large social network. This is probably the biggest problem for people who stay in a job for a long period (15 years with the current company and 12 with the one before). We just don't get a chance to go to the places where we can network. This is exacerbated by the fact that I am located in a rural area (closest larger city 90 miles).

3. For larger companies I am largely unproven for the positions that they offer meaning that I, being a member of a small department (currently seven of us covering four US locations) I don't get an opportunity to lead groups as we just don't have the manpower.

4. I lack certain outside certifications such as Sarbannes-Oxley and ITIL or PMP. This is more again an issue of not needing them as I work for a privately held company there is no need for Sarbannes-Oxley, ITIL would be nice as would PMP but the company sees no need for the expense to gain a certificate that to them is unnecessary.

5. Finally, Regardless of what position I am seeking I am going to have to relocate this adds another burden on a potential employer who likely can find what and who they need closer to their location.

Ok, I have given several reasons why it would be difficult for a person in my situation to find that holy grail job that we are all looking for. However, I know that if I am patient and if I keep applying for jobs I will eventually find what I am looking for. I just have to keep reminding myself that my job is out there and I will only miss out if I give up.

Brian

Navy Leadership Lessons

One of the best things about the Navy is that you get unparalleled opportunities to learn things that you just cannot learn in the civilian world. I assume that the other branches of the armed forces are much the same but my experience is with the Navy.

The way Leadership in the Navy works is interesting and in some ways mirrors civilian business and in others it veers wildly. There are actually two navies, the enlisted navy and the officer navy. Both are actually mirror images of each other and consist of ascending ranks of increasingly senior members culminating for the enlisted part in the MCPON or Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, the acknowledged senior most member.

The nice thing about this kind of structure is that junior petty officers (the ranks from E4 to E6) can exercise leadership and responsibility while having senior personnel that they can look to for mentor ship. This is especially important because you start at a low position and as you gain seniority and experience you move to higher ranks. This also, by the way is unlike the civilian world in that you can't be hired as a Chief you have to ascend to that level. Because personnel move up through the ranks there is always a cadre of senior personnel to rely on and learn from which increases the stability of the entire military structure.

OK, now for the reason behind the long winded explanation of the military rank system. I mentioned in an earlier entry how not to be a manager. It struck me after writing that entry that the best bosses that I have worked for were all five to twenty years my senior. What this really meant was that they were seasoned and knowledgeable about not only their field but about how to manage. Younger managers almost always have a couple of major shortcomings. They are either lacking in the necessary leadership and management skills (not having had the time to develop them) or are woefully ignorant of the area that they are responsible for.

Now, before devolving into a rant about knowing the skills you are managing I want to say that you do not absolutely have to know everything about the area you are managing to be an effective manager. However, I believe that it is a crippling handicap to lack expert or at least basic knowledge about your area. My reasoning is that of you at least have a good basic knowledge you can at least as reasonable questions.

Now, back to the Navy and why I am writing this entry in the first place.

What the Navy taught me was first how to do the job I enlisted to perform and secondly by example I learned the skills and developed the tools to manage when I rose to a level where I would be expected to lead others. Again, I will re-emphasize that no matter the management problem that I might run into there was someone senior to me that had already faced the same problem.

If you cannot see how valuable that is try to solve a computer problem without referencing the web. One of first places I go to troubleshoot a problem that I haven't seen before is to google the error to see who else has had to live through the problem. I may not necessarily find the full answer there but I can get the guidance necessary to help me troubleshoot the error and arrive at a possible solution.

I am proud of the time I served in service to my country and more importantly I am appreciative of the skills and tools I gained while there. I firmly believe that when considering management positions I am sure that there are many errors that I will not have to worry about because of the training I received in the US Navy.

How to manage... NOT

Like many people I have worked for a variety of bosses from friendly to hateful, joking to always serious, the whole spectrum really. However, this post is more about what not to do as a manager.

1. Don't pretend to know something if you don't. By this I mean that you may be able to get away with a little BS to the people you report to but the guys that work for you will know in a heartbeat if you don't know what you are talking about. This definitely falls under the old rule of "it is better to keep quiet and be thought a fool rather than opening your mouth and removing all doubt".

2. Don't play silly games with time off. If you authorize a vacation day or just a day off then treat it as such. This means that unless the building is aflame or falling down leave the person alone. Nothing ruins your workers faith quicker than not letting them have time off to themselves and their family.

3. I understand that there are times when you have to work late to complete a necessary task. However, expecting someone to work late constantly or expecting 60 hours (or more) of work a week while only paying for forty is an insult and yet another way of ensuring that you are not going to be very popular.

4. Speaking of popular... while no-one wants to be hated you ARE the boss and it is not your job to be a buddy. It is your job to ensure that the necessary tasks are completed in a timely fashion.

5. One of the worst traits of a lackluster boss is their reluctance to back their employees. It is one of the few things that you are responsible for that you MUST do. If you do not back your employees to your bosses and other departments you are effectively cutting your own throat. I can guarantee that they will hang you out to dry at the worst possible time. This doesn't mean that you are protecting them when they are wrong, not at all. What this does mean is that you are in charge of your employees and you are responsible for what they do so you had better keep on top of things. Protecting them from people who want nothing more than to make you and yours look bad in front of senior management should go without saying.

6. Micromanagement, this should be a jailable offense. Nothing says I don't trust you better than micromanaging your employees. Give them tasks, give them guidance, answer their questions, hammer them if they do not complete their tasks on time, but never, never ever hover over them. They can either do the job or you should find jobs they can do or replace them.

I am sure that as time goes by I will find more bad management habits. I only hope that your bosses are smart and have already learned these valuable points.

Sea Stories II

Probably the most frightened that I have ever been in my entire life occurred one day while on watch in the engineroom. We were running fairly deep and other than that it was an entirely routine watch. I was about halfway through the watch and was taking readings on the DeLaval lube oil purifier when all of the sudden I was knocked down by a blast of water.

Please let me take a moment to elaborate, water in the people tank (our name for the interior space of the submarine) was just about the most dangerous thing you can have happen. Not only is the flooding casualty a dangerous, potentially deadly situation it is exacerbated by the fact that the equipment that makes the submarine move and maneuver through the water is all back in the engineering spaces and is negatively affected by the fact that salty seawater is spraying all over it.

Fortunately, I do not, as a rule, panic (I save that for afterward) I called the flooding in as a controlled leak and requested to maneuvering for all available engineering personnel to report to engines aft (where the leak was in the submarine). To make matters worse, we were running deep due to numerous contacts and really could not afford to reduce depth (one of the most important features of a submarine is the ability to remain undetected). The engine room supervisor and auxiliaryman aft showed up at that point with damage control material and we proceeded to make our way though the blast of water to the source of the leak. I was holding a DC plug to the leak while the Aux aft was trying to drive it in with a short handled sledgehammer.

Finally, we managed to get the leak reduced to a manageable level and started to investigate for damage to equipment.It turns out that the leak was due to a grease valve (a one inch diameter hole) coming loose. The water spray extended more than 40 feet and put about 3500 gallons of water into the engine room in the 10 minutes or so that it took to slow the leak. Later that day, we were able to ascend to periscope depth where the plug was removed, the missing grease replaced and a new valve installed.

I can honestly say that barring a major fire, flooding is the single most dangerous casualty that can occur on a submarine. However, the danger was minimized because we were knowledgeable of how to address these casualties due to the high level and quality of training that was provided.

One thing that I mention to every student that I mentor is that if they want training that they cannot get anywhere else they should look into a tour of duty in the Navy or Air Force.

Sea Stories

I spent 12 years in the US Navy (mainly in submarines). Like anyone who spent time in the service I have many stories about my time there that range from the hilarious to the horrible. One such story is about qualifying subs. One of the requirements to be on a submarine is that all hands must qualify submarines. The submarine qualification basically states that you are familiar with all the major systems on the sub and can be useful in a casualty anywhere on the sub. I like everyone else that has qualified subs had to balance my time between work, regular watch station quals, and sleep (that thing we non-quals always talked about but never seemed to get), and, like everyone else I was having trouble getting my signoffs.

I finally came up with (what was to me) a good plan, I would find an Auxiliaryman (A-ganger) and trade some skill I had for knowledge that he had. I approached a guy named Leeman Burke and found out that he wanted to learn how to play guitar. Since I knew how to play guitar and needed to get qualified subs and Leeman was qualified subs and wanted to learn guitar we struck a deal.

I wondered at the time though while learning and teaching of either of us were going to achieve our goals, as initially, his playing was as good as my knowledge of the ship's steering system. However, with practice, practice and yet more practice we both achieved our goals and I got qualified subs.

The point I want to make here and the reason for this entry is that almost every success you will have in life is a group effort.