CJ Words

The importance of project management.

2008-03-19T16:50:00.005Z

It's hardly revolutionary; good project management ensures that projects run smoothly. Clients are happy. The team does a good job. Some newer companies haved turned their backs on this old fashioned project management nonsense. My company is one of those. We're expected to take responsibility for our own work to such an extent that a project manager just isn't need.

Fine, in theory. In practice I am three quarters of the way towards the deadline of an, as yet, unscoped, unbriefed, undefined project. I'm hoping that on the day before the deadline I will finally get a brief. In the meantime the deadline still stands; the writer (me) has to pick up the work.

This text is predatory

2008-03-13T10:49:00.002Z

This is the funniest blog I have seen all week. Even more interesting than the post itself is the blogger's follow-up comments. In questioning the judgement of the ASA's ruling that the new GHD adverts are offensive to Christians, he seems to have inadvertently tapped into people's inner conspiracy theorist and private detective.

What do you think is meant by 'predatory text'? The mind boggles. This text that you're reading right now could be predatory. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Goal setting

2008-03-12T18:04:00.004Z

Having goals is crucial in both a professional and personal context. On a personal level, it’s easy to have vague desires of travelling the world, doing a PhD or buying a house but, without doing anything about it, it’s reasonably likely that you won't get there. It’s all too easy to realise that five years have passed and you have made no progress whatsoever. Visions of ending up as a lonely, unfulfilled layabout float in front of your eyes… (you know the ones). Here’s what Steve Pavlina reckons could be accomplished in five years. Look back at your last five; what did you achieve?

If you’re lucky enough to work for a good company, they’ll actively encourage you to set your own career goals. Goals that you actually want to achieve that hopefully offer some kind of benefit to the company at the same time. Is your company forward thinking enough to help you develop your skills – and even assist you in finding a new job?

The first step of goal setting is, for some, the easiest. It’s to identify your goals. Without knowing what they are, you won't know where to go or how to get there. (Insert road map analogy of your choice.) I, for one, find this rather tricky. It takes a special effort to get in touch with what I really want. I’m more concerned about others’ goals or about my department working well together. It takes more of an effort to step back and ask, what do I want to achieve?

Your goals must be:
Specific - I will manage to go to yoga at least three mornings a week before work
Achievable I will become fluent in Arabic in 5 years by taking evening classes and going on trips abroad)
Positive I will become better at dealing with feedback reviews with my manager by preparing the evidence I have to offer before hand, rather than, I will stop being rubbish at feedback reviews.

Importantly, you have to visualise yourself achieving your goal. This is not meant in some new agey kind of way. You have to actually be able to see yourself doing whatever it is that you want to achieve and wanting to get there. I used to have this vague desire to hang out more with a sports group I attended yet every Friday night, without fail, I’d pass up the opportunity to get sloshed at the local boozer with them. It just wasn’t my scene. I had thought it was cool, but I didn’t realise that it didn’t fit with my values.

The next step is to devise steps to reach your goal. There should be a time limit on certain activities and you should be working on it daily, ideally. Another nice idea is that not only should your goal benefit you in the future but it should also enhance your life in the present. If I’m aiming to enter Gladiators, then the exercise that I do from now until then should be fun and healthy.

Finally, review your goals, regularly. Put them somewhere you can see and make them part of your life. Tick off tasks as you achieve them, think of new activities and write down anything you do that is related. And while planning is great, don’t forget to appreciate what you have now. Right now is where life’s happening, not five years ahead.

Why I started blogging again

2008-03-04T17:01:00.007Z

First of all let me tell you why I stopped. I'd been blogging for about a year or so and was enjoying becoming part of a blogging community. I liked the thrill of tracking visitors and contributing to conversations. However, I hadn't found my niche. I was blogging about Buddhism as a general theme but I'd lost my direction in Buddhism. It wasn't what absorbed me night and day; I wasn't passionate enough. I also wasn't really interested in some of the holier-than-thou philosophical conversations that I was taking part in.

The danger with writing about something like Buddhism is that your writing gets very personal very quickly. That's fine if your blog is a diary style blog or if you can retain your anonymity. But what if your blog is public? You realise that your inner thoughts and fears are being shared with your family, colleagues and partners. I wasn't up for that.
So those are the two main reasons I stopped:
1) I lost my focus
2) It was getting too personal

I've learnt from my experience. I'm trying to find a way to write without going down the journalling style route and I'm trying to engage with the issues that grab me. The ideas that wake me up in the night, the kind of things I want to share with others.

So that leads me on to why I started again. Firstly, I love blogs. I love reading them and I love the idea of blogging. It's such a powerful and creative choice that gives you the potential to connect, network, share and showcase your ideas. It depends on your reasons for blogging but, if you're dedicated, your blog will take you far.

A huge inspiration of mine is the brazencareerist blog. It's punchy, powerful and has done wonders for the writer's career. Another favourite of mine is badscience: an important, intelligent and compelling piece of work. The distinguishing features of these blogs is that they are part of a community, they have something to say and they say it well.

Another motivation for my blogging revival is my discovery of some really rather bad blogs: poorly written and badly designed. Oh my, if they can do it so can I (and so can you).

Looking for a job

2008-03-03T21:22:00.003Z

Well, I’m throwing myself back into the professional dating arena, aka looking for a new job. I’ve tarted up my CV, I’m checking out the singles sites and hoping to land a few dates soon.

It seems to me that job hunting is something that doesn’t come naturally to us coy and reserved Brits. I’m reluctant to big myself up too much. I find it all rather cringeworthy. I’m also pained to find myself saying things like, I’m passionate about the latest developments in the instructional design process or my primary focus is to become a first class dot net developer. Or whatever. I mean, these things are interesting and, if we’re good at them, they give us a bit of a buzz. But are we really passionately absorbed by them in the way that we claim we are?

What also surprises me in this recruitment process is the corporate speak we all seem to find ourselves using. Recruiters and recruitees alike… until we are recruited, at which point we return to normality and start to talk about developing the wotsit for the new server thingamajig. I was reminded of this earlier this week when my colleague was talking about a recent interview he went on. He was asked the standard, ‘why are you looking for a new job’ question. Instead of stating the truth: I’m a bit bored and my manager’s getting on my nerves; he pulled the old ‘career development’ clichés out the bag.

Just once, it would be refreshing to have a proper honest chat, from both sides, instead of the traditional interview game. Interestingly, the interview process for the job I currently do was the most effective and gruelling I have ever encountered. It went something like this:

Step one: Fill in online questionnaire
Step two: Complete test and answer questions by email
Step three: Write something that would typically be used for the role in question
Step four: Three hour test at the office, doing tasks that form part of the job
Step five: Three hour test doing more tasks, responding to feedback and finally having a chat with my prospective manager
Step six: Handing over my CV

At that point they were pretty sure I could do the job and I was positive that they were the right company for me. Although it takes a fair bit of time and effort, this is a great way of guaranteeing you get a good fit for the job. In fact, my current CEO has remarked that if you were recruiting a footballer on the basis of his ability to talk and answer questions – you wouldn’t end up with David Beckham!

It will be interesting to see how other companies handle the recruitment process and how things have changed in the past two years since I last went job cruising.

Do what you love

2008-02-29T16:56:00.002Z

There’s that line that we’ve all heard in the realms of career advice – do what you love. Do what you love and get paid for it! It sounds like a dream come true. What do I love? Well, I’m quite into cooking, I love eating cake and cycling on the seafront. Now, the last two are unlikely to help me pocket the pounds and to be honest, I’m sure the thrill of seafront cycling would fade if I had to endure it day in, day out; I’d be longing for a nice cosy day in front of the PC. Cooking? Well, I’ve thought about this one and I’ve come to the conclusion that me and cheffing are not compatible. I like to spend hours thinking of what to cook, cooking only when I feel like it and I hate cooking for other people.

My point, other than to give you snippets of information about my fascinating life, is that there is work and there is play and the two should not necessarily bedfellows be. I thrive on my life outside work; it makes me interesting and it gives my life meaning. Similarly, I thrive on my work, it challenges and stimulates me but you won’t catch me thinking about it on a Sunday morning. I write for a living, I play with software and I design elearning. These things interest me, bore me and stretch me depending on my current task. And I like it that way.

Having a distinct line drawn between work and play works for me. I can switch off in my play times and take off my work hat. I don’t need to be responsible, dynamic and intelligent 24/7. Sometimes I want to zone out with a gossip mag and fall around laughing on the floor. My life and personality are multi-faceted and I step into different roles when appropriate. I can be a friend, girlfriend, boss, colleague, customer, student and teacher, but not all at once.

Therefore, you won’t catch me selling my cake eating skills at the market or reviewing Vista on a night out. I think I have the balance right.

Staying motivated when working on your own

2008-02-28T15:29:00.004Z

I work from home. It’s an aspect of my job that gives me great flexibility yet at the same time really challenges me to be productive and responsible. It’s a very adult position; I have no-one to babysit me, supervise or check up on me. I’m simply trusted to get the job done. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days when I didn’t deserve that trust but here’s how I manage to make it work for me:

A quick win – if I can achieve something early on in the day, it gets me feeling capable and positive for the day to come. For this reason I start by focussing on something small, even if it's something entirely unrelated to work (such as my weeky budget). This way, I achieve something quickly, I then feel good and it benefits my working day.

Have a target – as a content writer, it’s easy to wallow in a sea of words and while away the hours, crafting a masterpiece. This isn’t always productive or even useful. I have agreed with my coordinator a target of how much I should produce a day, as a very rough guide (as different jobs will always require different amounts of time and no-one will frown on me if I don’t stick to the target like glue).

Personally, I find there’s something fresher about words that come out in the flow than words that are painstakingly arranged, subtracted and jigged around. My work always improves when I come to it with a fresh eye. Without fail. So the hours of wallowing and hair pulling really are not a good investment of my time.

Do what I feel like – I work to my strengths and I work with my moods. If my brain is stuck in a fog that even a hefty dose of caffeine won’t lift then I won’t waste my time trying to write. What I produce will be bumpy and awkward and I’ll have a thoroughly miserable time. I’d rather tidy my desk, fill out my expenses or even have a nap. I’ll come back to the writing when my mind’s in the right gear and I’ll work through the night if need be. Obviously this is a worst case scenario and some ‘can’t be bothered’ moments need to be pushed through, but I think the traditional notion of the 9-5 working hours are coming to an end.

Creativity doesn’t happen on demand (although it does require a certain discipline) and flexibility benefits workers and business alike.

I've been away...

2007-05-18T15:13:00.001Z

I wish I could say it was to some peaceful isle where I pondered the nature of existence. Alas, I was merely stranded without internet connection after I moved house. For someone whose job is online and who is normally online daily, it was a pretty gruesome challenge. Where oh where would I find out about the news/ the weather/ the name of that thing I saw in a film the other week?!

I'm not sure if we've (I've) become addicted to the internet, but on filling in a 'support network' questionnaire the other day, I did list it as fulfilling two of my social needs. The experience of working on an offline computer was strangely peaceful; whilst it no longer had the pull of the internet, it was a place where I could purely focus on one task. That's quite rare.

However, I'm not a Luddite and the world is changing. Socialising and information is accessed increasingly through the web. It's a natural reaction to view new ideas as inferior or potentially damaging; we mistrust them. But for kids (myself not included) it's becoming an integral part of their lives, often pushed by schools. Interactive learning and ICT are big news in education.

I've learnt to embrace the blogosphere and the sharing of ideas and thoughts with like minded people from all over the world is something I find novel and stimulating. I'm less enamoured with the social networking sites of Myspace and Facebook's ilk. Various blogs have talked authoritatively on their shortcomings in social interaction so I wont go there, except to offer my amateur take on it, which is: they just don't feel right. I react against them and see them as largely superficial, juvenile and a substandard replacement for the real thing.

But I expect in 50 years it will seems as harmful as a telephone call. Speaking to someone that's not in front of you?! Preposterous!

McLanguage control

2007-03-20T11:41:00.002Z

Apparently McDonald's aren't too happy with the OED's definition of McJob:

"An unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the
expansion of the service sector."

Why do they take issue with that? Well, it's clear that the definition is not exactly complimentary to the valid career choice one makes by working in a fast food chain. But their main gripe? It's out of date.

The reason I'm drawing attention to it, other than being a linguist nerd, is that McDonald's seem to have a very basic grasp of lexicography. Dictionaries are meant to represent the language that is spoken and used. They are constantly revised: new words are added regularly; meanings are adjusted; words become archaic and redundant.

Trouble is, if I refer to a job as a McJob to you, you probably know what I'm trying to say as we both understand the connotations. McDonald's cannot alter these just because it doesn't paint them in a good light. The definiton hasn't been chosen arbitrarily; it reflects the meaning that people intend and understand.

Mcdonalds attempted to coin the optimistic term McProspects to reflect their understanding of the a career in the fastfood industry. Unfortunately, you cannot create a word, define it and then stick it in the dictionary. New words are coined daily, but they really have to catch on otherwise you'll just be talking to yourself.

A spokesperson for the Oxford English Dictionary says: "We monitor changes in the language and reflect these in our definitions, according to the evidence we find." Exactly.

On a different note, has anyone seen the Fast Food Nation film? It's due out here in a few weeks.

Boost your memory

2007-03-19T15:54:00.001Z

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've not been sitting with my feet up eating ice cream, nor have I been meditating in the Himalayas, unfortunately. I've been looking for somewhere to live and after seeing 14 flats in two weeks, we think we've found the right spot... unless someone gets there before us.

In the meantime I leave you with this:

Now what was I going to write about... ah yes, improving your memory! According to the Guardian, it consists of 5 easy steps:

1) Use memory techniques
If you're introduced to someone called Kate, who looks a bit like a gate, put these ideas together in your mind and hey presto; no more embarrassingly tapping people on the shoulder because you can't remember their name.

2) Develop new mental skills
No, not telepathy or using the Force. Learn a language, play chess or practise saying everything backwards. ekil tahT.

3) Eat clever
The school dinner ladies were right. Eat fish and you'll be bright. (And maybe a poet too, if you eat as clever as me.)

4) Reduce stress
You know when you're stressed, you just can't find the toothpaste and the measuring tape? Me too. Just chill and they magically appear. Seriously.

5) Meditate
Something to do with 'cerebral', 'cortex' and 'thickening'. Exactly.

So, if you see me chilling on the sofa at work, speaking hcnerF, eating fish fingers and sitting in lotus position, I am NOT just skiving, ok?

An ethical code for robots

2007-03-07T21:26:00.001Z

This is the stuff of the future... or the not so distant future, it seems. South Korean experts are drawing up an ethical code for robots to ensure their - and our - welfare. Is it enough to prevent robots harming humans and humans harming robots? If robots ever achieve a similar intellectual state - would it be advisable to suggest, or even dictate, a moral code which covers actions, honesty, speech etc...

Should this kind of moral behaviour be preprogrammed, or should robots benefit from as much freedom, and the chance to learn from their own experiences, as us? (Although they undoubtedly will find a way to break their programming, as in all the good science fiction movies.) If not, should we not reprogram ourselves? I could indulge in a bit of hardcore hypnotherapy to ensure that I act perfectly morally and soundly - then I'd be some kind of super human that you could all emulate. Although I wouldn't have achieved any level of awareness or understanding, and perhaps that's the key.

Interestingly, the super team drawing up this ethical code include futurists (whatever they are) and a science fiction writer. Would it be useful to have a representative from each religion - then we could have moral, compassionate robots with an acceptance of all religions and none. Wow. Then they'd be better than us. This blog has some unique suggestions as to what the 'bot's code of conduct could be.

One of the robot team has fears of a robot on human action, 'Imagine if some people treat androids as if the machines were their wives.' Would this be wrong? How would it differ from sex toys, or cyber sex? Human beings have been unecessary companions for a while now. Most techno-with-it people communicate and hang out with other beings on the web, virtual friends are as popular as 3D ones. I suspect with the rapid advancement of technology, ethical dilemmas such as these will become more important. Until then, we can just laugh at the techno-nerds.

Conservapedia

2007-03-01T18:10:00.001Z

This is great. It really is. I came across the new craze (?) via Wired magazine. Conservapedia is 'a conservative encyclopedia you can trust.' That's right, not only does it serve America's conservative majority (let's not worry about the readers in the rest of the world) but reassuringly it 'is a much-needed alternative to Wikipedia, which is increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American.'

Really, how so? Well, Wiki commits the heinous crimes of using 'the anti-Christian "C.E." instead of "A.D."'. Anti-Christian, or just neutral? I think, but correct me if I'm wrong, that a huge percentage of the world's population are not actually Christian.

Oh and another terrible Wiki faux-pas is to use British English spellings, 'Look up "Division of labor" on Wikipedia and it automatically converts to the British spelling "Division of labour..."' I mean, we're using English as a world language here, I presume? Therefore it must be American English, dammit; the most original and pure!

I love the romantic tale they tell of the myth known as Buddhism:

Legend has it that Buddhism's foundations lie with an Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama, who, after observing the suffering of his people, longed to discover the reason for suffering and pain. There are many romanticised accounts and theories as to the course of Gautama's life. One particularly simplified story proclaims that he went into meditation for a long time seated under a tree, and after finishing his period of meditation formed Buddhism.

(I admit, I anglicised the spelling here.)

On a serious note, I'm wondering what purpose such an encyclopedia has. It clearly serves a purpose for an archive of censured and biased information for a particular audience (and not just those poking fun). But as for claiming to be an unbiased, educational, clean and concise reference tool - I just don't get it. Self-delusion or pure propaganda?

For some good examples, check out the pages on homosexuality and evolution.

Schnews

2007-03-01T08:37:00.001Z

Alzheimer's sufferers are denied drugs costing a pittance while the NHS squanders millions on junkies and image consultants

The Daily Mail; you gotta love 'em. Talk about loaded language! For a bit of background - The National Institue for Clinical Excellence (NICE) gets together and decides which drugs should be available on the NHS, based on cost, need, effectiveness and priority.

The 'Alzheimer's sufferers' are clearly much more deserving of any drugs than the nasty 'junkies' who are obviously just having a bit of a laugh and don't really need any treatment - all they need to do is stop, right? And they probably can't be arsed. In fact it's nearly as much of a crime that the Daily Mail has wasted valuable ink referring to them in seven letters, as the NHS 'squandering' millions of pounds on them.

I suppose the reworded version wouldn't make the front page:

NICE have limited the amount of drugs available on the NHS for treating Alhzheimer's disease, however, treatment is available for drug addiction.

How do you feel?

2007-02-26T15:16:00.005Z

I've just discovered a remarkable little website thanks to gstar. The website is called We Feel Fine and it is a delightful gem, tracking and categorising the changing feelings in the blogosphere. Every few minutes the We Feel Fine Monkeys 'harvest feelings' from the world's weblogs, making a note of the blogger's age, sex, location and the current weather conditions. Any blogger who uses the words "I feel..." may find their feelings contributing to the dynamic landscape of this site.

The result is a beautifully crafted and animated collection of the ever changing feelings of the world - it reveals a startling window to the pain and the joy felt by real people, right now. Is it art, is it research, is it fun? Perhaps it's all three, nevertheless it is intriguing, saddening and inspiring.

Check it out... and be aware next time you document your feelings!

I feel happy to have found it.

Are you muzungu?

2007-01-24T10:05:00.001Z

I was at a talk yesterday, given by two colleagues who had just returned from doing some charity work in Uganda. In and amongst all the stunning photos, cute stories of village children and tales of goat kebabs, the phrase 'white people' kept popping up and it was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. The term was used to describe the volunteers who go over to help the mainly black (and Asian) native people.

However, not all volunteers, travellers and tourists to the region are white. In fact the representative from our company, who went last year, is black himself. Therefore the liberally applied 'white people' term just cannot be used to describe all foreigners who come out to help.

When I questioned it, I was told it was a translation of the word muzungu, which means white person and this is the term of address and exclamation of general excitement and amazement when a non-Ugandan person is spotted. Regardless of the words direct translation, when we translate words, we translate the meaning in context and not the literal translation.

For example, in Japanese the term gaijin literally means outside person. However, on my return to England I would not refer to all the non-Japanese I had seen as 'outside people'. Even if I was relating some Japanese conversations about gaijin , I would most likely translate it as foreigner, or perhaps Westerner, depending on the context.

The Ugandans use the word muzungu to refer to visitors who are not Ugandan. True, they may be mostly white but not exclusively so. We have to be aware of the power of our words and talking about the help that 'white people' offer Uganda, to a multicultural London audience is just not right. It alienates those who are not white. A more suitable term may be foreigner, although these word is not free from controversy. Or perhaps Westerner as these may be in the majority, but I'm sure there may be Indians or Japanese, for example, who may fancy a bit of a holiday or some volunteer work, so the term Westerner doesn't really fit the bill either.

A little bit of Wiki magic reveals the origins of muzungu to be a description of 'one who moves around'. Not exclusively white then, hey?

Brighton, baby

2006-12-05T17:27:00.001Z

I've done it; I've joined Brighton Bloggers. Check out my coding wizardry in the form of the little Brighton Bloggers button, down the right hand side of the page. Wow, I'm good! What do you mean it's a just a bit of copy and paste? Shush now!

Brighton Bloggers is a digital collective of local bloggers, writing about a diverse range of topics. One of my personal favourites is Naked Translations. A local translator blogs about the precise technicalities of word meanings and translations. It’s guaranteed to appeal to your inner nerd. Another little gem is Sex and the Seafront. Its blurb is pretty self explanatory, ‘It's a gay guy writing from a gay view point living in a gay town with gay friends, so perhaps you should expect a little err gayness’! Marvellous!

The bloggers seem active, opinionated and interesting: a local community of writers, commentators and thinkers. Ah, if we were in Paris during the renaissance, we'd be smoking our cigars and tapping away in cheap apartments on the Champs.... It feels good to be part of something local. Brighton has always held a special place in my heart; I'm born and bred here and, despite years of wandering, I always come home.

I’m also pleased that the writers of Brighton are making a little more noise. Usually the visual and performing arts dominate the creative scene. Notable events include the bi-annual Open Houses and the Brighton Festival. Sometimes words need to shout louder than actions.

2006-11-25T16:26:00.001Z

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