mrsnesbitt
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Inspiration for your Monday morning : MAYONNAISE JAR & CQuite a few of my ex-pupils keep in touch with me via e-mail. One being Katie who sent me the following this morning.
Take time to read it through.....
Have a good week
D
THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND COFFEE
>
>
> When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours
> in
a
> day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the coffee....
> read
on,
> if you haven't seen this before!
>
> A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in
front
> of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large
> and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He
> then
asked
> the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
>
> The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the
jar.
> He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas
> between
the
> golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
> They agreed it was.
>
> The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of
> course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the
jar
> was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
>
> The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table
> and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the
> empty
space
> between the sand. The students laughed.
>
> "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to
> recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the
> important things - God, family, your children, your health, your
> friends, and your favorite passions-things that if
everything
> else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
> The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your
> house,
and
> your car.
> The sand is everything else-the small stuff.
>
> "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no
room
> for the pebbles or the golf balls.
> The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the
small
> stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
>
> Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play
with
> your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner
> out
to
> dinner. Play another 18.
> There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
>
> " Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.
> Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
>
> One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee
> represented.
> The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you
> that
no
> matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple
> of
cups
> of coffee with a friend."
>
> Please share this with someone you care about. I JUST DID.
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wellington womble
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I've heard (an admittedly slightly less americansied sentimental version) of this before, and kept meaning to type it out for you - denise has saved me the fingerwork!
In that case it was rocks, pebbles, gravel, sand and water, and the moral of the story was always put the big rocks in first, otherwise they might never fit in at all. I like the golf and coffe with a friend though - I presume our version had been edited, as it was a study skills session, and was supposed to encourage us to work!
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Bernie66
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Yes, I have been fed that one at some "management skills course" I went on not too long ago. Something about prioritisation or the like i think.
Why couldn't they just say to keep everything in perspective and concentrate on the really important things in life rather than whatever is "in vogue" at the time? Too much fancy jargon and not enough reality!!!!!!!
Not that they p*ss me off or anything!!!
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Bugs
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OH tells a story of management gatherings where they ask everyone to reach as high as they can in the air and hold their hand there. Then they say now reach even higher (I guess some keen types stand up at this point) and then the presenter says "why didn't you reach as high as you can the first time round" 
This isn't to detract from Mrs N's attempt to cheer us up, just makes me laugh the things people say. I used to work with a lot of people who had all attended the same very odd self-help/self-improvement course, with all those buzzwords flying around I could have opened an apiary. 
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Bernie66
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We tend to do alot of
"BLAMESTORMING - Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible. "
And have a regional mangare who comes in and act like a
"SEAGULL MANAGER - A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves"
And then the different types of manager i work with emerge and show there true colours. We have a few that suffer from-
ASSMOSIS - The process by which people seem to absorb success and
advancement by sucking up to the boss rather than working hard.
And then a few turn into a
"STRESS PUPPY" - A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.
or at least start
"TESTICULATING" - Waving your arms around and talking b*llocks.
And the rest of us have a
"SALMON DAY "- The experience of spending an entire day swimming
Upstream only to get screwed and die.
Some of the quotes that i would be accused of being negative if i used in work at the moment
Negative~realistic~not a huge amount of difference at times!!!
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jema
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Work can skew your perspective.
I was once in a work place where I was labelled negative and cynical, and you can wonder how true this is 
I then moved on to a small company where quite a few of the staff thought they had morale problems. I was always able to smile and think, "you simply don't know what a really crap workplace is like"
It also taught me a lesson about reaching higher, I was a technical high flyer at the first work place, moving to a new work place put me a little in my place. A couple of clever things I did within a few days, established me, but reality is I had to pull my socks up and strive harder.
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Snowball
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Negative....that's the one that really gets me going at work.
Trying to explain that what they have asked you to do is a physical impossibility and then being told that you are just being negative. You need to look for solutions instead of problems they tell me.
When you point out the solutions, like give me more staff, they either turn aggressive or walk away. 
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Bernie66
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I am not saying that i am negative about my workplace, even if it does come across like that!
At the end of the day,if i don't like it then i have the choice about finding another job same as the rest of us. My arguement is against those who expect the impossible and will not listen to anyone who does not agree with their ideas. My way or the high way is the mentality i cannot get around.-why pay me as a manager and then not let me manage? I have a proven record or would not be where i am but am being stifled by a senior manager who will not let anyone else have ideas that disagree with his.
I cannot play the game as it is not a long term realistic option merely a short term fix to get someone off your back.
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jema
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| Bernie66 wrote: | | if i don't like it then i have the choice about finding another job same as the rest of us. |
In my first work place there was a half way decent redundancy package  and since they were so clearly heading for disaster in my department, there was every incentive to stay for the pay off
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Bernie66
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Totally understand, and i hope it worked out for you the way you wanted it to. Too many people are "Proffessional Whingers" who cannot get through a day unles there is something to moan about. These are the ones i was referring to about having a choice. I am where i am through choice in that i can go and work as aretail manager in other places with roughly the same salary if i choose to, or should the situation get too bad. I do not have any misgivings on that score. I do however still have an issue with someone who pays you as a manager but only expects you to manage their way and to theuir ideas-they mat as well pay a robot.
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jema
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| Bernie66 wrote: | | Too many people are "Proffessional Whingers" who cannot get through a day unles there is something to moan about. |
I know the type of people you mean, but there are also those who get genuinely quite depressed about a poor work place, and depression does not act as an activator for people to get another job.
I sort of considered myself lucky. I am able to be quite single tracked, and thus able to devote my mind to an enjoyable technical aspect of the job, whilst Rome was burning all around
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Bernie66
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I would never put anyone down who was genuinely depressed, far from it. I would however take to task anyone who would snipe at any "change \ progress" that takes place in the workplace. I am not a singleminded as you sound and tend to take to heart any unjustified criticism or sniping. Maybe i need a thicker skin to do my job.
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jema
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I think by and large you need to try and see change as positive and adapt to it.
But you cannot always put the rose coloured glasses on and say its all for the best.
When for example you see a set of Dinosaurs in management who are overdue for a mercy killing, being sent on expensive courses to try and change their attitudes, you just know you are in trouble.
When you are told your manager who knows nothing about software development is there because "he's a manager, he has to manage some department" then you just know you need to keep your CV polished 
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Bernie66
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I know that feeling~ keep your CV polished.
There is a huge difference between weeding out poor dinosaurs and deciding that the management labour cost is too high so therefore all senior managers must write a list of those to be chopped. When i was in sainsburys theydecided to cut out a level of management and lost from one store, over a hundred years of experience overnight. This type of experience is not replaceable and caused the store major problems for the next few years-and the company by the look of things if it was the same across the country which i am led to believe that it was.Yes it cut the labour cost immediately, but in ht elong run how much in the way of sales and profit was lost when the "fresh faced newcomer who lacked the experience and depth of knowledge missed opportunities and handled things in a worse manner than the experienced manager would have done?
Companies of that size should move gradually rather than in fits and starts and should even trial new ideas before launching them across the board-that's a novel idea!
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mrsnesbitt
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| Quote: | | This isn't to detract from Mrs N's attempt to cheer us up, just makes me laugh the things people say. |
It wasn't really posted to cheer people up, just to pause for thought...pardon the pun! Katie is only 14 and sometimes I think it is good to learn from the younger generation and not get too serious about our own positions/attitudes.
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Nanny
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mayonaise jarwhat hacks me off i think is that the staff who have been here a while (ie me 15 years and others even more) are told we are negative when we can see that the idea is completely flawed and frankly just won't work damn it !!!
but the man won't listen and makes the changes anyway and we have to go along with it even though we know it won't work and it causes great upheavel and huge problems and someone will get hurt one day but we still have to do it.......................
having done a canvas of other forces today i find that they tried the selfsame idea that is being foisted here upon myself and the supervisors and have returned to the previous system which is the one we are now running....................
please tell me HOW not to be negative under these circumstances...
there is only one person who thinks this will be successful and that is the guy that thought of it.......apparently the other 10 of us are wrong.............along with 4 other local police forces of course....
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jema
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We had rather the opposite problem, we had a system that chronically was not working.
In a simplified nutshell we had a team of pretty good mathmaticians and a team of pretty good software engineers. In this situation it should be arranged that someone figures out a problem that needs solving, the mathmaticians work out the algorithm to solve the problem, the softwhere engineers then design a program to incorporate the algorithm.
Instead managment thought that mathmaticians should "design" the programs, even down to things like menu colours and then the software engineers would "type in the code".
Obviously this simply did not and could not work like that in practise
But then they decided to fix things by introducing "quality standards" which turned ouyt be be having loads of people defining documents to set in stone a totally broken method of working 
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Nanny
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mayonaise jarso is it "us" or "them" that's wrong?
i know hardly anyone that is happy in their work. most people are disgruntled whatever their job is.................
everything is too complicated, too accountable if you like. every employer is so busy covering his own back that he forgets that his employees are the ones who are actually doing the job and that perhaps they might know the best way to do it......and as for those who are promotion hungry and walk all over you to get another rung up the ladder - well i have little time for them....they get over promoted and then can't hack the job they are given or feel the need to rearrange things to make their mark........
maybe that's why downsizers are downsizers..we have all had enough of the life of the modern employee thank you and want to find something with slightly less hassle involved......
i know of few chickens that would stab you in the back to get promoted
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jema
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Not everyone is unhappy, it is just some places are broken.
A few years after working in a broken place, I was admitedly working a 7 day week, but it was from home, I made my own decisions, and if anyone in the company beurocracy was getting in the way of me doing my job. I was able to call direct to a vice president and they would unjam the deadlock 
Some places get it right, others build big management structures that stop things being done
But I think you are right about people who want to downsize, wanting to ditch a lot of the complicated and soul destroying crap out of their lives and do something more simple and rewarding.
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Bernie66
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unhappy is probably the wrong word-frustrated at being suffocated of any chance of doing what i am caperble of is more like how i feel at times.
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jema
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| Bernie66 wrote: | | unhappy is probably the wrong word-frustrated at being suffocated of any chance of doing what i am caperble of is more like how i feel at times. |
That can be very depressing and deblitating. I spent a few months being a cog in a big machine at AT&T. For a company that is meant to be innovative, they were pretty bad, not receptive to people with any ideas. I was capable of so much more than I was allowed to do. It was one of the most well payed and cushy jobs I had had up to that time, but remains the job I was gladest to leave
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Res
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| Bernie66 wrote: |
"SEAGULL MANAGER - A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves" |
I know "2" like that, but as the management are all family, theres not much chance of change.
Made us laugh though, good quote!
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Bernie66
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Couln't call it well paid and or cushy, but it is secure(at the moment) and the hours are pretty standard. I have two very beautiful daughters to feed for the next five years and have to take their welfare into consideration when bemoaning my employment at present. Ialso get to have a weekend with them evry other week which is better than the supermarkets gave me. I guess i should stop moaning
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