Monthly Archives: December 2007

Nude Numbers 27

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For some reason, the objective data was missing for a few hours. It’s back now.

Summary

Happy New Year everyone! Week 5 of the winter plan was a week off for Christmas. The holidays definitely made me gain weight faster than expected.

Subjective Data

This was a rest week as I was in Oregon for the holidays. I got two runs in, and I felt a slightly familiar sensation of discomfort in my right foot, meaning I need to be slower on my ramp up. Otherwise I enjoyed the rest.

Objective Data

Blue lines == actuals; Gray areas == my target range for that week.

Note: I had no scale in Oregon, so I’m missing weight measurements for those days.

Assessment

Last week was a rest week, and due to some scheduling errors (the error being my inability to read a schedule and see when classes were scheduled) I wasn’t able to get Yoga, spinning or swimming in. Still, I feel I was close enough to plan. I got two fast but short runs in, and the fact that I could feel my foot means I should ramp up running even slower. I’ll adjust targets next week accordingly.

Eating was outta-control for the holidays, but I don’t care 🙂 In the event Eve, Zohn, Eric or Lee read this, the cookies were worth every ounce of weight!!!! Thanks again Eve.

Plan

I’m sticking to the training plan next week, although I’m going to watch the running closely and probably cut one day out of swim-bike-run workouts (because the gym is closed on Tuesday). I expect I’ll slow my running mileage ramp for the rest of the plan.

As I mentioned last week starting January 1st I’m going back on my measured calorie plan: 2,250 to 2,750 calories a week to maintain weight for two to three weeks (i.e. get back in range).

Reminders

My aunt will not be able to run the Dublin marathon in October, so I’m still undecided between New York (November) and Dublin Ireland. If you’re interested in running either with me, let me know. I’m not going to decide until around April. Also, if anyone is interested in doing the Philly Triathlon (June) with me, you’re welcome to join the team!

Presentation Notes

These notes are always presented in SOAP Note format.

Thanks for reading.

– Art

Nude Numbers 26

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Summary

Week 4 of the winter plan. I’m gaining weight faster than desired, and will need to cut in the New Year, but for now I’m enjoying the holidays (yes, even fruitcake). Workouts are on track, and swimming in particular is improving slowly but surely.

Subjective Data

I didn’t slack off this week, probably because JK gave me shit for slacking off last week. But wow… was I tired come Saturday evening (when I wrote this). My eating was not good this week – way too much chocolate and cookies for the holidays. But I’ve decided to just go with it and worry about changing eating when the holidays are over (and the temptations much lower).

I returned to running this week with two 2-mile runs. No pain which was good.

Objective Data

Blue lines == actuals; Gray areas == my target range for that week.

Assessment

My exercise regimen is working well. My swimming is getting better, my kick is propelling me forward, and my stroke always starts out smooth. However I tire very quickly which leads to form breaking down once I exceed 100 yards in a row, so now I’ve got to work on increasing yardage. My brick workout (swim-spin-run) on Saturday was brutal; it was essentially the same workout as Tuesday, but at the end of the week I’m just beat. Hopefully that improves as I get closer to March.

My eating is not in control, and in the New Year I’m going to spend a week or two explicitly counting again to make sure I stay in range. Still, my body measurements aren’t too far out of shape, so nothing drastic required (like the all oat-bran and yogurt diet… yuck).

Plan

I’m staying to plan for the next week, which if you look at the gray areas you’ll see is almost a rest week. Woo hoo! That’s because I’ll be in Oregon visiting J’s family for most of the week. I’d like to get one to two runs in, and get a few isometric workouts in without a gym (i.e. pushup/pullup combos), but I’m not going to be bent out of shape if none of that happens. The reality is I’m fatigued enough that a week off now will be welcomed.

I did modify my plan slightly based on revisiting my holiday schedule (I hadn’t realized I’d be away from a gym for so long), but not in a way that I think impacts my chances of hitting targets. If you look closely you’ll notice a slight difference in the weight-training, running and spinning plans for the next 2 weeks from prior week’s plans.

Reminders

My aunt will not be able to run the Dublin marathon in October, so I’m still undecided between New York (November) and Dublin Ireland. If you’re interested in running either with me, let me know. I’m not going to decide until around April. Also, if anyone is interested in doing the Philly Triathlon (June) with me… especially if you’re a medical school student about to graduate, are having a light fourth year and want to be in great shape for your wedding (you know who you are…)… you’re welcome to join the team!

Presentation Notes

These notes are always presented in SOAP Note format.

Thanks for reading.

– Art

Growing Individuals: Crack the Whip

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(4e of 5 in The Rules of Naked Management)

A Coach or a Friend?

I started taking swimming lessons a few weeks ago. I’d started training for my first triathlon and I didn’t know how to swim.

My coach, Gus, is also a friend and I’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with him and his family. We’ve been to soccer games together (“Football” for the more worldly readers). I’ve babysat his kids. I’ve ridden hundreds of miles with him at my side. He’s a very good friend.

This morning I had a typical coaching experience with Gus. I had just finished a 50-yard dash in the pool, my breathing was heavy, and my legs were burning. I wanted nothing more than to rest and catch my breath. I looked up at my friend Gus and said “give me a second”.

But my friend wasn’t there. Instead my coach was, and he just said, “No. Do it again.” And I was off. Dear God, sometimes I hate my coach.

Now here’s the interesting thing: I am a much stronger swimmer today than I was four weeks ago.

Of Carrots… and Sticks

The last two parts of this essay talked about what you need to do to get an employee growing their career:

That’s good, and in reality most of the work that must be done is borne by the employee. So far, as a manager, you haven’t had to sweat, and as I’ve always said, laziness is good.

But all that was carrot. For many people carrots aren’t enough – it’s always easy to “start tomorrow” or “wait until next week”. Sometimes you need a stick to get folks moving.

Coaching

Earlier I cautioned managers to get over themselves and realize there isn’t that much they can do to force someone to grow their career.

Now I’ll modify that slightly: assuming you’ve done the stuff mentioned above, there is one thing you can do: you can be the source of honest feedback on whether progress is being made, and you can reward and punish if progress is made or not made.

To do that, you need to remember you’re not a friend, you’re a coach. And sometimes Coaches need to ‘crack the whip’, or ‘be harsh’ or ‘be demanding’ in order to get the most of their charges(1).

That’s what Gus was doing this morning, and that’s what you need to do too.

The Whip

Now I’m not recommending you keep a whip by your desk (although I’ve known someone who did that). Instead, be serious about managing your employee to complete their small steps, rewarding them when they do, and punishing them when they don’t. Small steps are measurable and are black-and-white: Your employee either scheduled the mentoring lunch or they didn’t. They either signed up for the PMI course or they didn’t. Don’t worry about the larger goal – the employee will track that. Instead, just remember what small thing they said they would do, and hold them to it.

As usual, everyone has a different style with this, but here’s what I like to do. I track the one small step each employee told me they would complete, and when they would complete it by. And then every time I meet them, I ask them for status. EVERY DAMN TIME (Several folks who’ve worked for me will tell you how annoying I am about that(2)).

I make it their #1 goal on their goal list for the quarter. When they miss the step, I tell them I’m disappointed but make them set and tell me another one. And if they consistently miss their small step goals, then I start trying to move them into some other position (or “manage them out”). I reward in reviews those who made their steps; I don’t reward those who missed them – even if the rest of their work was stellar.

In reality, I’ve had a few employees miss their first and second steps, but never more than that. My experience is that your employees get really serious about following through on their career growth goals (or they leave) when you start tracking their small steps closely.

Self-Flagellation

Sometimes you’ll have an employee tell you they think their next small step is to “have my manager talk to Bob in Operations about a transfer to his department.” Yikes! This goes against my principle of laziness: your employee is trying to get you to do something, and if you don’t do it they can claim that you caused them to miss a goal, and if you do it, you could lose them! They’re trying to get you to crack the whip on yourself.

OK, don’t panic!

First, do you think that’s the right next step for them to take? If it isn’t, you’re their manager, and can tell them to pick another step. If this person isn’t a star on your team, you have a duty not to pass him or her on to Bob (and they should NOT be surprised to find this out). You should make your employee aware of where the gaps are and encourage him or her to start fixing them.

But what if you person is a star… well, that’s fine too, because if you’ve been tracking closely, you’re now about to fire your stars…

(which I’ll discuss next week, unless I’m too stuffed from Holiday feasting).

– Art

(1) I do believe coaching is about 50% teaching, 40% motivating and only 10% cracking the whip, but all the earlier stuff I’ve talked about covers the first 90%.

(2) No comment on other things I’m annoying about.

Nude Numbers 25

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Summary

Week three of the winter plan, and I’m still tracking well. No injuries so far. I worked in extra rest due to fatigue and holiday parties, and I’m gaining weight slightly faster than plan, but all in, things look good.

Subjective Data

I slacked off slightly this week due to social commitments (damn you Ryan J) but it was worth every second of it. I’m definitely feeling very tired by the end of each week, and had to take an extra rest day (Monday) this week to recover. I also skipped Yoga this week, but that was because I’d been up until 3:30am on Friday night.

My eating was good all week until the weekend when I met holiday parties and holiday cookies.

Objective Data

Blue lines == actuals; Gray areas == my target range for that week.

Assessment

I’m still broadly tracking to plan. As mentioned above, my fatigue level was very high on Monday but as part of the new me, I decided to rest as a result, which means I only spent 2, not 3 days in the weight room. I also skipped Yoga due to fatigue. But all in, I’m quite happy with the training work.

My weight is gaining faster than I’d like, but not worryingly so; it just means I’ll probably have to cut in late January or February to get back on track. I’m discovering that staying on track with eating in the weeks leading up to Christmas is nearly impossible.

I did look for a deep water pool this week, but there is nothing in New York that I can get into without getting a club membership which is more than I want to spend.

Plan

Staying to plan. Changes include adding running and shifting my lifting targets to 75% of max, 6 reps, 4 sets and 3 exercises per muscle group.

Presentation Notes

These notes are always presented in SOAP Note format.

Thanks for reading.

– Art

Growing Individuals: Remember Michael Jordan

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(4d of 5 in The Rules of Naked Management)

Who?

In the mid-Nineties, the Chicago Bulls’ star player, Michael Jordan, decided to retire even though he had plenty of playable years left in him. Even more surprising, he decided he’d go play professional baseball.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Jordan didn’t achieve the same level of success between the bases as he did between the baselines. Within two years, he admitted that baseball was not for him.

But when he attempted to return to basketball, no one would have him. Team after team passed on him. They wouldn’t even consider him for a coaching position. Eventually Michael ended up having to take a low paying job in retail to support his family.

At best, Michael Jordan is but a sad footnote in the history of basketball, and a sad but common parable of the human race: a man following a dream, only to have his life destroyed in the end.

…

Bare with me… I’ll get back to that (obviously false) story in a bit.

Why Assume It’s True?

A few weeks ago (I’m behind…) I wrote about the importance of encouraging your employees to dream. Without a dream to move towards, they won’t push themselves. Once they have a dream, it’s usually fairly easy for them to envision a few small steps they can take that will move them closer (for example: go ask a potential mentor to lunch).

And yet, often there is a hesitation to take even the small step; a worry that if they fail in achieving their dream, their professional lives will be over. Often this hesitation is strongest in your stars as they think they have the most to lose. And as a result, too often, your employee never takes the first step.

That’s where the concept of “Looking at the Negative” comes in.

The Power of Negative Thinking

Let’s revisit the process again for getting something done:

  1. Daydream: Form a vision of what you want do.
  2. Be Lazy: Come up with one small step that moves you closer.
  3. Look at the Negative: Look at the opportunity cost of that step, and if it’s too large, go back to step 2.

Then, TAKE THE STEP!

We’ve covered the dreaming and being lazy in the last article, but “Looking at the Negative” is the key to dealing with hesitation. As a manager, your job is to force your hesitating employee to look at the negative. Yes, I mean force: Make them uncomfortable; Make them list all the things that could go wrong and the consequences; Make them squirm as they try to justify why such trivial things are stopping them.

Do this, and all sorts of obstacles will vanish under the scrutiny of examination. For example, your employee may worry if they ask a mentor to lunch that they’ll be rejected, but when they think about it out loud they’ll see the only real worry is schedule availability, not personal rejection. They may worry that they’ll be laughed at if they do an architecture talk in front of the entire Engineering division, but will quickly realize that the worst result is someone offering free help in presentation skills afterwards (really…).

In addition, if an employee verbalizes the negative before he takes his step, and decides to take the step anyway (for example, realizing that some assholes will laugh at you if you give a sucky presentation, but trying anyway), it makes it much easier to get through the bad when it happens.

In general you’ll be amazed how successful a technique it is to get your employees to verbalize their fears out loud.

But occasionally one “negative” or “opportunity” cost may not be easily dismissible: Your employee, particularly your stars, may worry that they’ll lose their job and destroy their careers if they fail in their next career endeavor.

That’s where Michael Jordan comes in.

The Consequences of Failure

Here’s the truth about career development: if you are a star today, but fail in something different tomorrow, you will always be welcomed back in your old role (although not always at the same company).

If you were an excellent engineer, and then fail in marketing, someone will always take you back as an engineer.

If you were an amazing designer, and then fail as an account manager, someone will always take you back as a designer.

And, as if you believed the bullshit I wrote at the top of this article, if you were a great basketball player, and then fail in Major League Baseball, basketball will welcome you back as you decimate all opponents again and win another three championships.

I’m not suggesting that people plan for failure – quite the opposite, you should expect and envision success.

But realize that if you don’t succeed, it’s not that big a deal. That’s what Michael Jordan teaches us. Even if (in the unlikely event) your employee fails in a new position, they can always fall back.

Oh, there will be some short term embarrassment (Jordan definitely got shit in the media), they may need to find a new company because their old job is filled, but once they go back to being a star again in their old role, naysayers shut up really really quickly.

As a manager, when you see someone hesitate because of fear of failure, coach them to think through what the real consequences are, and most will see the light: in career development, risks are rarely as dangerous as they appear.

Cracking the Whip

Now, if you’ve done the steps I’ve been writing about, and with a bit of luck, you’ve now gotten your employee to actually take one small step towards a brighter career future.

How do you (again remembering how little you matter in this process) get them to take the second step?

Simple… be a manager and crack the whip… which I’ll talk about next.

– Art