All year I’ve been saving a little bit of money each week for Christmas gifts.
Today I hit the internet, and now it’s all gone.
Does it really make me such a bad person if I like money more than I like Christmas? Really?
Month: November 2014
All year I’ve been saving a little bit of money each week for Christmas gifts.
Today I hit the internet, and now it’s all gone.
Does it really make me such a bad person if I like money more than I like Christmas? Really?
Evaluating Performance When Only Results Matter
It’s mid-year performance review time where I work. I am not really participating.
It’s partly because I’m a dangerous rebel with a maniacal aversion to authority figures, and partly because my peers and our leadership team have talked it through and we all agree the whole thing would just be a bit of a waste of everybody’s time. Mostly it’s the latter, but anyway.
There are several reasons why this exercise wouldn’t represent time well spent: For one, I have a new role at work – a spot on the org chart that I actually acquired just yesterday. It’s a title bump more so than some kind of seismic shift in my career, but nevertheless discussing how I performed in the position I held last week is a little bit moot, and even more so is discussing how I plan to progress upward. I don’t plan to progress right now, I plan to more firmly establish myself in the metaphorical chair in which I newly sit.
The biggest reason it would be a waste of time, however, is that we work in a results only work environment. I’ve written about ROWE plenty of times before, but in as few words as possible the ethos here is that as long as I’m delivering results then what I do with my time is up to me. If I’m not delivering appropriate results then I get fired – which is entirely fair. Throwing out the more traditional (outdated!) clock-punching approach to work means the more traditional approach to performance reviews goes out of the window as well, however. In order to know I’m delivering the results that are expected of me my performance becomes a constant, ongoing conversation with my leader. Even if we wanted to we couldn’t possibly confine the discussion to twice-yearly meetings and still continue to be effective, so why continue to hold the twice yearly meetings if we’re already addressing this stuff as a matter of course? They’re not necessary.
So if all this is true (and it is, you can trust me), why am I asking for a twice-yearly performance evaluation that focuses on my methodologies and ignores my results?
The reason speaks to what I see as the biggest gotcha in a ROWE – you have to be fastidiously careful about what a “result” is. In my workplace ROWE has been around for a little while now, but it’s a concept still well within its formative years. I’m confident that on balance we’re doing it very well, but I don’t know that we’re yet sophisticated enough within the framework to not be making mistakes, or that our implementation of the framework has yet evolved to become sophisticated enough for our organization.
If I worked on an assembly line producing children’s toys then the results of my work would be obvious, very tangible and very easily definable, but this is the knowledge economy here! Nobody I’ve ever met or heard of produces toys anymore, with the notable exception of Bertha, the toy making machine.
I digress.
I work in a project environment, which I believe has the potential to compound the problem I’m talking about. I’m taking plenty of liberties with the details here, but basically what happens in my work life is a project comes along and my leaders assign it to me. I then go away and do some things, and eventually a “result” (hopefully but not necessarily a completed project) pops out the end. My leaders of course take some interest in how that all happens, but nevertheless that bit in the middle is the Jason show to all intents and purposes.
I agree entirely that the end result is the most important part of that story, and that’s absolutely the result on which I should primarily be judged. It’s certainly not the only result here, however.
Every meeting I go to has a result for which I hold at least some degree of responsibility. Every conversation I have, every action I take, every action I don’t take… there are results to all of those, and you’re kidding yourself if you think those results are entirely unimportant.
The best way to explain my point is probably with a negative example: it’s possible to achieve results by treating people like idiots, micro-managing them into the ground and generally making their lives miserable. I’ve never worked for a boss that managed that way and I hope you haven’t either, but they’re out there, and they’re where they are because they’re presumably achieving the results upon which they’re evaluated.
I have no desire to be that guy. It goes against my own moral compass most importantly, but it also doesn’t measure up against the way that my employer (or indeed any enlightened organization, I would hope) defines leadership. Eventually behaviour like this would come back and bite me, and this is my career we’re talking about here, my livelihood.
There are many reasons, then, that being that kind of leader isn’t an avenue I would ever wish to explore. But could I get away with it in the short term? Sure! Could I do it long enough to achieve a positive result or two? Probably! Could I be doing some scaled-back, less villainous version of it right now without even realising it? Ah! Now there’s the important question.
There are things I do to actively solicit feedback about myself and my methods from the teams with which I work, but I can understand why somebody may not feel comfortable giving me criticism to my face and could be holding something important back as a result. Nevertheless, criticism is what I want. It’s how I’ll ensure that I continue to be a leader as opposed to a boss, how I’ll grow, how I’ll evolve, and how I’ll firmly establish myself in my new metaphorical chair.
So that’s why once or twice a year I’ll be asking my leaders to reach out to some of the people I’ve worked with and provide them an opportunity to give feedback about me in a safe, anonymous environment.
Because results matter. All of them.
Late Night Links – Sunday November 16th, 2014
It’s that time of the week again, and we’re still behind from the six weeks I took off. Let’s just get going right away, then. Post-haste, if you will. Quickly.
- Could Your Washer Really Charge Your Smartphone from Across the Room?
Possibly. It can probably give you cancer while it does it too. - Armed Man Dressed as Batman Tries to Rob Armoured Vehicle in Halifax
- A True Hero
- Checky Tells You How Often You Check Your Phone
Interesting. It would have been more interesting to install this before I got my smartwatch to see how it changed. - Public Library Fees Eliminated Ahead of Schedule
I’ve talked about this before. I think it was lunacy that the Calgary public library had fees to begin with. I will join now. - The Inspiration
- There’s About Seven Sports Combined to Make This Ridiculous Game
- Save on Funeral Costs by Donating Your Whole Body to Science
Uh… good plan? - DogVacay, AirBnB for Dogs, Nabs $25m in Funding
This is how Charlie goes on vacation. - PSA: Change Your IP Webcam’s Default Password, if You Haven’t Already
This is awesome. I could spend a good chunk of my day watching nothing happen in other people’s homes. It’s strangely engaging. - Chinese Programmer Sticks Windows 95 On an iPhone 6 Plus
- Download Android Lollipop Now for Your Nexus 5 or 7
I did.
And that’s it for another week! Until next time, then.
A couple of weeks ago, the Moto 360 went on sale here in Canada. I got up at 5am and hit the internet. My intent was to reserve one in a local store so that I could go and pick it up later that day, but I was out of luck there. Instead I ordered one from Telus.com and it arrived in the mail two days later.
I’m not a tech reviewer – not much of a writer either, for that matter – but I wanted to post to talk about my first impressions during the week and a half I’ve had this thing on my wrist.
When you take the device out of the box and fire it up it takes you through a few brief setup steps, a quick usage tutorial, and then that’s really it. If I had to describe my first 10 minutes with this $280 device in a single word then I’d go with “underwhelming.”
It doesn’t take long, however, to figure out that’s the beauty of the 360 (and, I would assume, all Android Wear devices): this is, first and foremost, a watch. It doesn’t try to be a computer on your wrist, and nor should it.
Aside from telling the time, the functionality my watch provides is more or less just another screen on which to view my Google Now cards and Android notifications, but in practice this is more useful than I ever thought it would be, and I am a huge fan as a result.
When I get a text or an email, or even a Lync message, a quick glance at my wrist is all it takes for me to decide if it’s something important enough for me to take my phone out of my pocket (or maybe even sit down in front of my computer), or if it’s something that can wait. If I want to open the message (or whatever) on my phone then a quick swipe left and a tap is all it takes – when I get my phone out, the relevant content is already on the screen.
If a quick (one or two word) reply is all that’s needed then I can just talk into my watch. I don’t know that I’d do this in public necessarily, but it is actually a useful function despite my knee-jerk initial opinion about it.
The watch face itself is configurable and there are several designs to choose from. I’ve gone for “classic,” a simple watch face that displays free/busy information from my calendar in a subtle, unobtrusive way.
Talking of my calendar, this is yet another killer feature for me. Being able to see details of my next meeting at a glance (and being able to swipe to see the upcoming stuff that follows it) is hugely useful (although again, I didn’t realize how use useful it would be until I had it).
Battery life has been a talking point in early Moto 360 reviews, but I have no concerns in this area. I have ambient mode turned on, and when take my watch off at the end of the day it usually has 30%-40% battery remaining. It certainly requires charging every day, but that’s fine by me.
So should you get one? Well I love mine and I’m glad I bought it. I recognize that this is a first-generation device though. It will be followed, no doubt, by versions with improved functionality, better displays, better battery life… in a year or so there will probably be smartwatches available that make my watch look like a relic of time gone by. If you’re not OK with that then wait until version 2 hits the shelves. For me, I’ll consider upgrading when that happens but the functionality I get from this model is worth the money to me, even if it turns out that I change to a newer model in 18 months time. If you think in the same (geeky) way as me, get your chequebook out and snap one of these things up. I’d recommend it to anybody.
Let me know in the comments if you have questions about it! I’d be happy to answer them.
A couple of weeks ago, the Moto 360 went on sale here in Canada. I got up at 5am and hit the internet. My intent was to reserve one in a local store so that I could go and pick it up later that day, but I was out of luck there. Instead I ordered one from Telus.com and it arrived in the mail two days later.
I’m not a tech reviewer – not much of a writer either, for that matter – but I wanted to post to talk about my first impressions during the week and a half I’ve had this thing on my wrist.
When you take the device out of the box and fire it up it takes you through a few brief setup steps, a quick usage tutorial, and then that’s really it. If I had to describe my first 10 minutes with this $280 device in a single word then I’d go with “underwhelming.”
It doesn’t take long, however, to figure out that’s the beauty of the 360 (and, I would assume, all Android Wear devices): this is, first and foremost, a watch. It doesn’t try to be a computer on your wrist, and nor should it.
Aside from telling the time, the functionality my watch provides is more or less just another screen on which to view my Google Now cards and Android notifications, but in practice this is more useful than I ever thought it would be, and I am a huge fan as a result.
When I get a text or an email, or even a Lync message, a quick glance at my wrist is all it takes for me to decide if it’s something important enough for me to take my phone out of my pocket (or maybe even sit down in front of my computer), or if it’s something that can wait. If I want to open the message (or whatever) on my phone then a quick swipe left and a tap is all it takes – when I get my phone out, the relevant content is already on the screen.
If a quick (one or two word) reply is all that’s needed then I can just talk into my watch. I don’t know that I’d do this in public necessarily, but it is actually a useful function despite my knee-jerk initial opinion about it.
The watch face itself is configurable and there are several designs to choose from. I’ve gone for “classic,” a simple watch face that displays free/busy information from my calendar in a subtle, unobtrusive way.
Talking of my calendar, this is yet another killer feature for me. Being able to see details of my next meeting at a glance (and being able to swipe to see the upcoming stuff that follows it) is hugely useful (although again, I didn’t realize how use useful it would be until I had it).
Battery life has been a talking point in early Moto 360 reviews, but I have no concerns in this area. I have ambient mode turned on, and when take my watch off at the end of the day it usually has 30%-40% battery remaining. It certainly requires charging every day, but that’s fine by me.
So should you get one? Well I love mine and I’m glad I bought it. I recognize that this is a first-generation device though. It will be followed, no doubt, by versions with improved functionality, better displays, better battery life… in a year or so there will probably be smartwatches available that make my watch look like a relic of time gone by. If you’re not OK with that then wait until version 2 hits the shelves. For me, I’ll consider upgrading when that happens but the functionality I get from this model is worth the money to me, even if it turns out that I change to a newer model in 18 months time. If you think in the same (geeky) way as me, get your chequebook out and snap one of these things up. I’d recommend it to anybody.
Let me know in the comments if you have questions about it! I’d be happy to answer them.
CloudFlare Adds SSL To All Customers In Advance Of Google’s Focus On Security
I’ve written recently about SSL and how you can enable it on your website without spending a lot of (or even any) money. I’m a big fan of Cloudflare and their free service offering, and this feature just makes it better still.
Google dancers have been in a tizzy recently after the company announced that secure websites will be ranked higher in listings, a move that has made a..
CloudFlare Adds SSL To All Customers In Advance Of Google’s Focus On Security
List of sovereign states and dependent territories by population density – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I was reading a book just now that led me to look up this information, and it’s fascinating. There’s a nugget of information from it below.
On average, per square mile:
- Canada has 9.28 people.
- The United States has 84.09.
- The United Kingdom has 679.
- The Macau region of China tops the list 54,882
Late Night Links – Sunday November 9th, 2014
Well, I did warn you in my last late night links post that it would be a while until my next post. Six weeks have virtually flown by, but I’m now firmly back in real-life after my vacation. We’re probably not going to get through everything from that time tonight, but let’s at least get started, shall we?
- The Best Android Wear Apps
I have an Android Wear watch now. I’ll write more about it soon over at my blog. - Cyanide & Happiness #3697
A nullion. - Canadians Willing to Drive Further for Cheap Gas: Survey
The is the kind of thing people who can’t do math do. - BBC Scotland Has a Bad Day
- Crews Collect Enough Tree Debris to Fill McMahon Football Stadium 20 Meters Deep
This is old news by now, but still interesting. - Doug Ford Booed After Listing Jewish People he Knows
- Plastc Want to be the Only Credit Card You’ll Ever Need
Interesting… - That Tumor Really Means Business
- These Stunning Driverless Trains Are the Future of London’s Tube Network
- 30 of Our Favourite jQuery Plugins from the Last Few Months
I do enjoy a good jQuery plugin. - Notti Smart Light Does Notifications and Wake-Up Calls with Style
Can you ever have too many smart devices? I would like to propose that no, you cannot. - Google Launches USB Security Key Support to Keep Accounts Safe
I have two-factor authentication enabled already. Do I go the extra mile with it? I might. - Going to the Airport? Don’t Forget Your Hazmat Suit!
I forgot mine. Luckily it was fine. - Korea is Taking the Double Down to the Next Level
I’d try it. - What If #118: Physical Salary
That was a lot to take in, congrats on making it all the way to the end. I’m not done with my list of flagged articles from while I’ve been away, but we’ll pick this up next week, same time, same place. See you there!