| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 2111.1 | | ELWOOD::LANE | This space for rent | Thu Sep 17 1992 07:09 | 2 |
| Actually, any kind of announcement about what's going on in this company
would be welcome.
|
| 2111.2 | Please communicate with employees | GRANPA::JNOSTIN | | Thu Sep 17 1992 09:49 | 7 |
| Any announcement at this point would be welcome. It would be great if
senior management would tell us there will be no more layoffs for x
months. It is almost cruel and unusual punishment to put employees
thru the TSFO process as it currently exists. All the rumors and
delays concerning layoffs do not help morale one bit. The lines of
communication need to be opened again. The bottom line is that Digital
is losing too many good people thru no fault of their own.
|
| 2111.3 | Respect?...What's that? duh. | EMDS::MANGAN | | Thu Sep 17 1992 10:18 | 7 |
| No communication by management to their subordinates is a typical example
of why this company has gone so far down hill. Management is
cocky, deceiving, overpaid and spoiled among other things. Personally
I'm tired of being ignored by the managment of this company. We all deserve
and rate some explanations from time to time. I believe its called
respect? A word management never learned apparently. VERY sad.
|
| 2111.4 | | BSS::C_BOUTCHER | | Thu Sep 17 1992 10:24 | 3 |
| And by your comments, I can see you have no respect for
"them"/management. Respect is a two way street as I see it ... or is
it you just want "them" to respect you?
|
| 2111.5 | VP David Stone talk | STAR::ABBASI | Spell checking is a family value | Thu Sep 17 1992 10:25 | 1 |
| well, today David Stone is giving a talk in ZKO in the cafeteria.
|
| 2111.6 | How do YOU spell S-T-R-E-S-S ??? | HERIAM::AZARIAN | | Thu Sep 17 1992 10:31 | 12 |
| I too am astounded by the amount of stress people are put under....
waiting. I don't know too many horror novels that have the amount of
"...waiting...." this company can squeeze into 24 hours. I seriously
wonder how there haven't been strokes and/or heart attacks from stress
related problems..... or wether anyone in the company gives a parrot
feather... what the heck... you can always "lay someone off" while
they're on disability recovering!
How are people coping with stress out there. My other half's 'bout
ready to get me a muzzle.
Lorelei
|
| 2111.7 | Someone has to do the work... | SYORPD::DEEP | Bob Deep - SYO, DTN 256-5708 | Thu Sep 17 1992 10:47 | 7 |
| There was a suggestion in the DELTA conference that the company take steps to
recognize the top 25% of the individual contributors, and assure them that their
work was important, and not currently at risk.
At least that would let some people get back to work.
Bob
|
| 2111.8 | about stress in the work place and reductions | STAR::ABBASI | Spell checking is a family value | Thu Sep 17 1992 10:48 | 18 |
| How are people coping with stress out there. My other half's 'bout
>How are people coping with stress out there.
many way, try screaming loud for 2 long minutes every morning
before you leave home. this will relax you and takes all the stress out.
there is also stress tablets out there, take 2-3 every day with food.
i dont know their names, but if you ask your local pharmacy about
them , they'll know.
try also to move your nick up and down allot during the day, this is good
too since many stress veins are in the nick area.
hope these help.
/Nasser
who_once_had_a_dream_to_be_a_surgent
|
| 2111.9 | Nick of time | DBSALF::QUINN | Crying? There's no crying in baseball! | Thu Sep 17 1992 10:57 | 6 |
| re. <<< Note 2111.8 by STAR::ABBASI "Spell checking is a family value" >>>
I hope "nick" doesn't mean what I first thought it meant! :-)
- John
|
| 2111.10 | | ELWOOD::LANE | This space for rent | Thu Sep 17 1992 11:00 | 9 |
| > many way, try screaming loud for 2 long minutes every morning
> before you leave home. this will relax you and takes all the stress out.
Yeah, but what do you do about the stressed out neighbors?
> there is also stress tablets out there, take 2-3 every day with food.
> i dont know their names, but if you ask your local pharmacy about
> them , they'll know.
You're suggesting I take drugs to deal with work?
There's something terribly wrong with this picture.
|
| 2111.11 | | FINALY::BELLAMTE | Me fix! Want bannana NOW! | Thu Sep 17 1992 11:00 | 2 |
| UNLESS YOU'VE HAD YOUR NICK REMOVED BY A SURGENT!
|
| 2111.12 | What's for lunch!???... | HERIAM::AZARIAN | | Thu Sep 17 1992 11:30 | 17 |
| If I scream for 2 min each morning (I arise at 5:am!) the neighbors
will slice my "nick"... where ever the heck that is! :-) I wouldn't
take anything "with food".... I've put on 45 lbs since I started here.
Stress->food->stress->food. I should stop eating the food and just rub
it on my hips!... it lands there anyway!
I'd love to attend a brown bag lunch session.... however since they've
right sized our group.... i rarely see much lunch anymore... just a
quick 15 at the desk usually. It's really difficult to balance
things. Getting things done correctly, on time, economically for
Digital is more often than not detremental to the fibers of my being.
My 6 year old said "Mama... just tell them you CAN'T do it!" My but
that just sounds sooooo easy.!
Anyone got an order of Moo Goo Gai Pan!! yum yum munch
gotta run
|
| 2111.13 | it's not over | XLIB::SCHAFER | Mark Schafer, ISV Tech. Support | Thu Sep 17 1992 11:32 | 4 |
| re: .0
Well, maybe you haven't heard the rumor that Bob Palmer is going to mix
up "senior management".
|
| 2111.14 | mixing? | GRANPA::JNOSTIN | | Thu Sep 17 1992 11:44 | 4 |
| re: 13
Hope the rumor is true. A little cutting along with the mixing would
be beneficial too. Please keep us informed if you hear more. October
should be an interesting month.
|
| 2111.15 | Fruit salad upsidedown | HERIAM::AZARIAN | | Thu Sep 17 1992 11:49 | 3 |
| Maybe Mr. Palmer doesn't realize that management has been "mixed up"
for years! They need to be UN mixed! :=-)
|
| 2111.16 | "Birdcage Management" | PHDVAX::RICCIO | Help me Mr. Wizard! | Thu Sep 17 1992 12:08 | 20 |
|
I hope he (BP) does something to get rid of the "birdcage management"
that's been going on for the last few years.
What's birdcage management you ask?
Picture a great big birdcage with lots of birds sitting on their
perches. Someone comes along and shakes the cage. The birds all fly
around frantically, then eventually settle back onto a perch. Some
times it will be the same perch, most times it's not, but you still
have the same birds in the same cage, not much has changed. In fact
the only thing that gets changed is the paper (people) on the bottom,
after a fair amount of being "dumped on"
feeling like month old news paper lining the cage bottom, Phil...
|
| 2111.17 | EXACTly! | CSSE::CHAMBERS | | Thu Sep 17 1992 13:56 | 5 |
| re: .16
Hmm, that was VERY well put.
TC
|
| 2111.18 | Stress tablets = vitamins | ICS::NELSONK | | Thu Sep 17 1992 14:16 | 4 |
| I think the "stress tablets" that .8 (?) referred to means
high potency vitamins, like Stresstabs, Centrum, etc.
.16 should win some kind of prize for that note....
|
| 2111.19 | The Bird Cage | AUSTIN::KUHLMAN | | Thu Sep 17 1992 14:35 | 17 |
| This is a quote from an interview we did after a reorganization at
another company, around 1988.
"I don't think anybody's figured it out yet! I don't think anybody
has taken the time. Everybody's working so hard at defining their
perch. I've got this image that you've got this big bird cage ...
and everybody has their perch. And then along comes a new vice-president,
and bang they hit the cage with their baseball bat and all the birds
fly up in the air. And they take out a couple of perches and then
everybody comes down to land. And they work real hard at getting their
perch stabilized, and now I got a job definition and I'm building
my empire again. And just about the time everybody gets settled and
starts singing again, here comes the next king, right. The king's
dead, long live the king. BANG! They hit the bird cage again and everybody
flies up, and it's just crazy! You never have consistency.... Any
time you change the organization all [the] commitments are gone! And
what the hell's the customer do with that!..."
|
| 2111.20 | WANG invented it ?? | POBOX::PETROVIC | | Thu Sep 17 1992 16:18 | 10 |
| To the best of my recollection, wasn't it WANG who pioneer the
"Bird Cage Theory of Reorganization" ? And, in fact, isn't the
previous quotation from a former WANG VP?
How's my memory? I desperately hope that I'm wrong, else our future
looks rather bleak!
/mp
|
| 2111.21 | Someone similar | AUSTIN::KUHLMAN | | Thu Sep 17 1992 18:15 | 2 |
| I don't know if Wang invented it, but the quote came from elsewhere.
|
| 2111.22 | | SYORPD::DEEP | Bob Deep - SYO, DTN 256-5708 | Thu Sep 17 1992 21:13 | 13 |
| I heard Phil's version (.16) at the US Team Meeting (You remember..Don Z's DVN
where he talked about snow days!) In fact, I remember that distinctly
because I was attending Network University at the time, and the people from
Los Angeles kept asking what the hell a snow day was, and why we needed a
location manager to decide when to have one.... but I digress...
The bird cage analogy was brought up in our meeting after the DVN. Our US Team
representative, who will remain St. nameless, said "Hmmm... that's an interesting
way of looking at it... I'll pass that along."
I guess he passed it to Phil. 8^)
Bob
|
| 2111.23 | Build respect, build confidence, build success but you're at the bottom of the hill now | KERNEL::BELL | Hear the softly spoken magic spell | Fri Sep 18 1992 07:06 | 50 |
|
Re .4 (BSS::C_BOUTCHER)
> And by your comments, I can see you have no respect for
> "them"/management. Respect is a two way street as I see it ... or is
> it you just want "them" to respect you?
While I'll not speak for the author of .3, I personally have little respect
for "management" as a whole as a result of two things : a series of mistakes
masquerading as managers and the birdcage approach discussed recently.
I had a first class manager when I joined DEC, I now have an excellent one
again but it's been a rocky path in between. The next level of management
has been pretty good (on the whole) but between these M2s and the top there
has been only one person to inspire confidence (Pier Carlo Falotti, who left).
As you say, respect is a two-way street. I respect the above managers as
they are competent in their jobs, trustworthy and inspiring. In turn, I
feel that they respect me. The "us & them" attitude only comes into play
outside of this building. At one time I respected many more of the (far
too many) higher levels but that hasn't been the case for a few years now.
Maybe I'm too hard on them these days, not giving them the benefit of the
doubt, being too cynical of the latest "grand plan" that they dream up
before giving it a chance. My view is that I'm being fair - they get the
respect they deserve, the respect that they earn, no more and no less.
Basically, I'm a customer for their services and, like any customer, if the
supplier consistently screws up, fails to deliver what was promised, breaks
trust and substitutes excuses, the customer eventually gives up on them.
It takes a lot more effort to win back a customer that you've lost than to
retain one in the first place.
If you are one of the good managers who feels offended by reading this, I'm
sorry - you are in the minority and are getting the blame for the errors of
your colleagues/superiors. How to rectify this situation ? Well, one way
is to shoot the messenger so you don't have to hear unpleasant truths.
Another is to listen and act but - Catch-22 - if you're prepared to listen,
you're probably not part of the problem anyway. A third is to carry on
ignoring the problem. Unfortunately, when "the top people" appear to be
building up their own liferafts [eg., stock option -> cash] while shooting
messengers and their compatriots, the effect of those _really_ trying at
the lower levels is somewhat reduced.
Maybe Bob Palmer will cut out the dross at the top but from seeing the way
that Ken's visions were distorted by the dead layers, I'm not exactly over-
confident about this. We'll see. We've started to get all the nice memos
to show us how much the birds on the perches care but we've also see all the
mess from their previous flapping and squawking.
Frank
|
| 2111.24 | It fits | PHDVAX::RICCIO | Help me Mr. Wizard! | Fri Sep 18 1992 13:37 | 5 |
|
Regarding where I heard "birdcage management". I honestly don't
remember, but it certainly fit.
|
| 2111.25 | Heard a Variation c. 1968... | CGHUB::PENNEY_W | Baffled by Bureaucracy | Mon Sep 21 1992 09:54 | 8 |
| c. 1968.
IBM-Information Marketing Division-moved to SBC, since sold to CDC,
long ago & far away...
"Throw the chickens up in the air, & they'll all come down to roost-but
in [slightly] different places."
|