Trying to defend WFH [working from home] is such a cliché. Well, viewing things as clichés is such a cliché. Anyway...
I was dialing in to all these conf calls the other day. From home I might add. One after the other and suddenly I realized - that I wasn't going to beat early morning traffic. So I shot an email to my manager explaining my dilemma and suggested being in by noon. He approved. This is around 9am in the morning and I have already been on two conf calls from 7am. At around 1pm I realize that a) I'm still at home, b) it's 1pm and c) I haven't had lunch and I'm hungry like a wolf. So I shot my second email, arguing the above and suggested staying at home. He approved - again. So I kept working.
At around 3pm in the afternoon - after 8 hours of straight work with no food I'm about to pass out. I have kicked ass and they day is not yet over but I need lunch.
I cook a quick pasta, eat in my home office and keep working until 5:30pm when I realize I should enjoy the benefits of working from home and run down to the bank, the flower shop and to the cobblers to knock things of the household to-do-list.
Okay, let's step back for a moment and give this some thought. Working 7am to 5:30pm is ambitious. Doing it undisturbed and focused is more than a miracle. In my eyes I delivered very high productivity in the comfort of my own home. It comes down to that I alone am my toughest boss. I dreamed about morning and afternoon walks with a latte taped to my hand. Maybe drop by the local International Magazine Store. Even a quick stop at the wine cellar would have made this whole equation heavenly. But nooo - pushing the envelope is all you can think of you over-achiever.
The cool thing was to be able to stop at 5:30pm and be home by 5:30pm. It didn't give me a lot of time to decompress but on the other had I didn't have to commute or chase other people's agendas. I gotta say that my stress level was closer to zero than one.
But the true benefit was that by 5:31pm I had a Cohiba Siglo II lit between my lips and a glas of Muga Gran Reserva '95 in my hand. That is worth all the diss for defending WFH as a win-win for you and your company. In the end of the day - who is going to believe you - slacker!
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Sunday, September 19, 2004
The Art Of Global Travels
I've just spend the past 2-3 weeks travelling around our globe; making pitstops in places such as Oxford, Beijing, Taipei, Chicago, Napa Valley, London, Kowloon and Hong Kong. I've travelled by fot, by air, by cab, by bus, by train and by tube / subway. I've had dumplings, thai, all kinds of chinese, japanese, italian, british, french and american food. I've met old friends and made some new.
Travelling this fast and far gives you access to a new dimension. The time to reflect is very limited - it all comes down to first impressions and instinct. You don't have time to give people the benefit of the doubt. If something is broken it needs to be fixed. Solutions become more important than the problems.
Language plays a huge roll in understanding a culture. Communication in English only opens up the door, makes the connection, creates the contact. It all comes down to how your counterpart is 'translating' his thoughts into English. That process can be very different in his / hers mother tongue. The thought / output relationship is very seldom 1:1. It takes patience and a lot of follow-up questions to understand the core content. This creates a challenge in cultures that asking 'too many' questions could be percieved as rude or prawling.
Assumptions drives behaviour and is always a good starting point. I've yet to develop the global managers 5-minute guide to assumption analysis. But a lot of understanding can be achieved in a relatively short period of time. I'm using coffee breaks, lunch and dinners to raise 'softer' issues, to make the human connection that brings people from a corporate mindframe to just being themselves. It's all about building TRUST, to associate your brand with truth, influence and deliverance.
My Top 5 Favorite Travel Accessories:
1. Blazer - Enough pockets to keep phones, keys, passports and tickets organized and makes you look good even after 20 hours on a plane.
2. Treo 600 - Outstanding gadget that puts Address Book, Voice, IM, SMS / MMS and Emails in the palm of your hand. Necessary to stay in contact with HQ.
3. iPOD - 20GB of music that makes you rock in the air or in your hotel room.
4. Bose Headphones - This noise-cancelling headset reduces the jetlag by filtering out irritating noice as well as creating your own high quality audio system.
5. DVD's - I usually bring 10-20 DVD's so I can watch my own favorite movies while travelling. The airline's choice of movies is to mainstream.
Travelling this fast and far gives you access to a new dimension. The time to reflect is very limited - it all comes down to first impressions and instinct. You don't have time to give people the benefit of the doubt. If something is broken it needs to be fixed. Solutions become more important than the problems.
Language plays a huge roll in understanding a culture. Communication in English only opens up the door, makes the connection, creates the contact. It all comes down to how your counterpart is 'translating' his thoughts into English. That process can be very different in his / hers mother tongue. The thought / output relationship is very seldom 1:1. It takes patience and a lot of follow-up questions to understand the core content. This creates a challenge in cultures that asking 'too many' questions could be percieved as rude or prawling.
Assumptions drives behaviour and is always a good starting point. I've yet to develop the global managers 5-minute guide to assumption analysis. But a lot of understanding can be achieved in a relatively short period of time. I'm using coffee breaks, lunch and dinners to raise 'softer' issues, to make the human connection that brings people from a corporate mindframe to just being themselves. It's all about building TRUST, to associate your brand with truth, influence and deliverance.
My Top 5 Favorite Travel Accessories:
1. Blazer - Enough pockets to keep phones, keys, passports and tickets organized and makes you look good even after 20 hours on a plane.
2. Treo 600 - Outstanding gadget that puts Address Book, Voice, IM, SMS / MMS and Emails in the palm of your hand. Necessary to stay in contact with HQ.
3. iPOD - 20GB of music that makes you rock in the air or in your hotel room.
4. Bose Headphones - This noise-cancelling headset reduces the jetlag by filtering out irritating noice as well as creating your own high quality audio system.
5. DVD's - I usually bring 10-20 DVD's so I can watch my own favorite movies while travelling. The airline's choice of movies is to mainstream.
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