One of the things I wanted to add to this site is some reviews and recommendations for gear. Mainly based around travel, but really anything I think I like...
The first one of these is the Briggs and Riley Wide Body Expandable carry-on
Briggs and Riley Carry on
It is the best piece of luggage I've ever bought. I can go all week and not have to worry about space or having to wait for luggage at the airport. It fits in the overhead bins on every aircraft without any issue. I particularly like the suitor that's built in to the cover. It's convenient and solves all the issues of business travel.
It's a pretty basic bag, which is really it's strength. It has just enough pockets to organize things but there's very little wasted space anywhere on the bag.
It comes with a lifetime warranty against everything (including Air Canada) and more importantly it can take the rigours of travel and still look professional.
Don't get me wrong, it's expensive, but it's worth it. Buy it early in your career because it will pay for itself dozens of time over as you beat around the continent trying to make a living and be successful.
More reviews to come, hopefully better written than this one.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Some times the weirdest things hit home
Ever had a weird thing just hit you and make sense?
With all the things that have been going on in the office, the weirdest thing hit home. I was watching an episode of Mad Men and an off-handed comment by one of that characters made me just realize what I'd been missing.
(if you don't watch Mad Men, then a. start, b. the rest of this might not make sense)
There was a debate about doing an ad for a customer and one of the characters said something like, "it's not just about the client, everyone is looking at us, we have to be better." Essentially saying that quality is the only measure of success that matters. And quality will lead to money.
That one line made everything clear for me. I always knew we were being watched and our quality is the most important thing to us, but it was always trumped by what the client thinks they want. In some cases they know and we just do it, but in some cases they are relying on us to guide them. I'm wondering how often we've missed opportunities because we missed the chance to show people what "excellent" could look like.
Maybe it's a moot point, but for me it made all the sense in the world. When you can get your entire staff to think that our quality is our only measure of success, then you really have something impressive.
Now all I've got to do is convince everyone else. And shift how they think. Oi.
With all the things that have been going on in the office, the weirdest thing hit home. I was watching an episode of Mad Men and an off-handed comment by one of that characters made me just realize what I'd been missing.
(if you don't watch Mad Men, then a. start, b. the rest of this might not make sense)
There was a debate about doing an ad for a customer and one of the characters said something like, "it's not just about the client, everyone is looking at us, we have to be better." Essentially saying that quality is the only measure of success that matters. And quality will lead to money.
That one line made everything clear for me. I always knew we were being watched and our quality is the most important thing to us, but it was always trumped by what the client thinks they want. In some cases they know and we just do it, but in some cases they are relying on us to guide them. I'm wondering how often we've missed opportunities because we missed the chance to show people what "excellent" could look like.
Maybe it's a moot point, but for me it made all the sense in the world. When you can get your entire staff to think that our quality is our only measure of success, then you really have something impressive.
Now all I've got to do is convince everyone else. And shift how they think. Oi.
What do you do when you know you're up the creek?
What do you do when you know there's a project that will probably cost you your job? I can't walk away and I can't do anything about it.
For those who say "you can always do something about it" well... You're right, partially. I have this program that will blow up. I know it will blow up, I've told Sr Leadership it will blow up, I've escalated and highlighted the risks, and I'm managing through it as best as possible, but I know that will will go south and that's completely beyond my control. Mainly because the client should be fired, but people just won't do it.
See, there's a big opportunity with this client in one of our other lines of business, but my piece is not, and historically hasn't been good. It was really bad when I took it over and I managed to salvage a success that opened up more opportunities. However, I see the same path happening this time. So I'm being proactive, but I think, in the end, it will all be for naught.
Here's hoping I'm wrong. But the train is a coming and I'm feeling strapped to the tracks.
For those who say "you can always do something about it" well... You're right, partially. I have this program that will blow up. I know it will blow up, I've told Sr Leadership it will blow up, I've escalated and highlighted the risks, and I'm managing through it as best as possible, but I know that will will go south and that's completely beyond my control. Mainly because the client should be fired, but people just won't do it.
See, there's a big opportunity with this client in one of our other lines of business, but my piece is not, and historically hasn't been good. It was really bad when I took it over and I managed to salvage a success that opened up more opportunities. However, I see the same path happening this time. So I'm being proactive, but I think, in the end, it will all be for naught.
Here's hoping I'm wrong. But the train is a coming and I'm feeling strapped to the tracks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)