Jeremy's World
Do what you like because you like it. Be who you are with no apologies.
6
The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of North Carolina.
A big part of my job is managing projects. Big projects with complex dependencies, multiple milestones, stakeholders wanting date commitments, etc. The last one in particular is always a challenge, and if a Project Manager tells you otherwise they are lying. It’s never possible to say – with any reasonable certainty – that a given project can be done on a specific date or will take a specific number of hours. Disagree?
The usual game that’s played is to put in some CYA padding. The PM’s internal conversation goes something like,
“Ok, I don’t really know the specifics of the project yet, but we can usually do them in 3 weeks. I’ll commit to 4 weeks ‘just in case.’”
Back to the question in the title…How long is your commute? 10 minutes? What if there’s traffic? 20 minutes. What if it’s snowing? 40 minutes. What if, what if, what if. All of these “what if’s” reflect the obvious reality that there is always uncertainty with things like this. Sure, we can’t plan for every “what if,” but in the project world with padded estimates, we try to give ourselves wiggle room.
What inevitably happens is the client says, “Whoa, can’t we do that faster?” It turns into a negotiation on timelines that were ambiguous, padded swags in the first place! The padding goes away in the negotiation, something happens, and a date is missed. How has this worked out traditionally in the software world?
I received this recently in an email from a friend of mine. You’ve seen these before, often propagated by opponents of the current administration, etc. For some reason, I actually found this compelling and thought I would post it here. Particularly the comment about how the current representative structure may no longer be relevant given advances in technology. Anyway, an interesting idea…
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that happens is that they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers need to find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well. Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.
I feel our government should not be immune from similar risks. I therefore am recommending the following cuts to be implemented by the president.
Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members and Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State). Also reduce remaining staff by 25%. Accomplish this over the next 8 years. (two steps / two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.
Some yearly monetary gains include:
$ 44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay / member / yr.)
$ 97,175,000 for elimination of the above people’s staff. (estimate $1.3 Mil in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Mil in staff per each member of the Senate every year)
$ 240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.
$ 7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members who’s jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion / yr)
The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and would need to improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country?
We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.
Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established. (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)
Note: Congress does not hesitate to jump on a train for home when there is a holiday, even when the nation needs real fixes for real problems. Also, we have 3 senators that have not been doing their jobs for the past 18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators &congress.
Summary of opportunity:
$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.
$ 282,100,000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.
$ 150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.
$ 59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.
$ 37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.
$ 7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.
$ 8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings.
Big business does these types of cuts all the time.
The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of North Carolina.
With that out of the way…
Maintaining a consistent corporate brand is generally obvious as being important in the business world. We all know Coca-Cola is dominantly red with that fancy script font. We know Microsoft simply has their name as a logo and in a specific/custom tilted font. The company you work for likely has standard letterhead and business cards. What about looking beyond logos, color schemes and printed media? Specifically: Is it important to maintain a brand on the web?
I think the simple answer is probably yes. People should have a similar experience with your organization regardless of the medium, no? Here’s where it gets even more interesting (to me anyway)…
Fear, uncertainty and doubt. Ever heard of it? It tends to creep in with me during certain seasons of, well, fear, uncertainty or doubt. Right now that FUD for me is my professional life. My career is in flux right now and that can be pretty scary. I thought I would have found the right position by now but I haven’t. FUD. “Did I really screw up leaving my last position in search of a good fit?” “Will I find a better fit in this market?” “What if there’s a gap…How will I pay the mortgage and feed my family?” FUD.
But, that FUD seems to permeate other parts of my life with me. If I’m facing it in one area, for some reason I begin questioning things even more. God, faith, church, religion in general are usually the victims.
My latest doubt revolves around Biblical accuracy (again) and the nature of God (again). I was watching a show on History International the other day covering historical Egypt. They were finding and exhuming corpses that were reliably dated as being from around 3000 BC. That’s certainly possible, even for Biblical literalists who scoff at the millions-of-years determinations by carbon dating. So, these Egyptian people died in the middle of regular Old Testament times, right? Here’s the rub…They mentioned one who died at “about 52 years of age, a relatively advanced age for that time.” Contrast that with Biblical accounts of people living hundreds of years right around the corner from Egypt? Smells funny to me. And, the shorter lifespan version is more logical to me, and there is archeological proof. Not so much with stories about Methuselah. Why trust the Bible?
The nature of God…We’re beginning a new series this week at church called “Prayer (a quick-start guide). In Christian circles (or other faiths, I imagine) I constantly hear, “I’ll pray for you about X” and “Prayer really is a powerful thing.” I’m hearing that a lot with my job hunt and also with some potential family matters we are facing. But does that matter? I mean, is the nature of God such that he will make up his mind and act based on what people pray about? Is he sitting there saying, “I know JD is looking for a job that’s the right fit…I’ll point him to it if enough people pray for it.” Or, “I’d show JD the path to the right job but I have to hear the words from him.” Does that sound like an all-knowing, all-powerful God to you?
I’m not buying it. If God is an active participant in our lives (and I’m not convinced he is), is he really swayed by what we say? Is thinking it the same as saying it? Will he only act in our best interests if we ask him for it? But I thought God always acts according to “his will.” So…my prayers wouldn’t really impact anything if he’s going to act in his will anyway, right? If that’s the case, then what’s the point of prayer?
I’ll let y’all know if they run me out of my church. 
I had a meeting today with Susan at Peace Montessori to discuss the technology venture I am kicking off at Calvert. We didn’t meet at my office…Nope…We met at the school. This is a school of very little people. So, our meeting was happily conducted at a very tiny table and chairs that fit my 5 year old just fine. Yep, all 6’2″ and too many pounds of me.
Thank god there aren’t pictures! And no, the chair didn’t break so shaddup.
As part of my work at Calvert - and with our push in the social media arena – I have launched a new online community! It’s called ChimeInOnline.com and the purpose is to attract people interested in early childhood education, particularly pre-school through about 3rd grade. Why are we doing this? There are two major reasons:
1. We have a theory on a particular product & service that I am researching. I want to spur conversation in the topic are and see if any nuggets come out of that may validate, modify or junk our theory *before* spending the time and money to build it.
2. Emily is 5. I have a personal vested interest in the subject matter! As I mention on the site, even if a "business" doesn’t come out of this, I don’t think this is wasted effort. In fact, it may be *more* valuable as a resource for parent, teachers, grandparents, etc. for helping instigate change and improvement in early childhood education. How cool would that be?
Check it out if you’re interested: www.ChimeInOnline.com
//End Shameless Plug
Some of us here at work have been charged with delving into the world of social media and how it relates and can be used in a business setting. I don’t know what the impact of this is, but we gotta start somewhere. I’m now "Linked In" here. The case is being made that this is the future of marketing and PR and that more intimate relationship building is the key to business more so than traditional marketing & PR avenues. I guess I’m still a skeptic…I fail to see how writing on my blog or re-connecting with a former co-worker to say, "hey" can be considered "work." I’m not producing anything, I’m not selling anything, I’m not providing any services to generate revenue. Obviously networking is a key business skill. But where does it fit in the grand scheme of doing business?
I guess we’ll see where this leads!
Back to top