May 31, 2023 5:48:30 GMT NATH45 said:

In the context of this example, those individuals are highly intelligent people and thus, the ability to solve problems and find information when they don't know or understand something is, and should be a given.

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I've had people in the past come to me for advice on whether they should step up and take a bigger role and with everyone I've spoken to, I've said the same thing:

You'll make more money. That's fantastic. But there's a commitment that will be asked of you. You will have to sacrifice. And there will be expectations.

If you're willing to give up some free time potentially, be available 24/7 in some way shape or form and committed to putting the business first above everything else - you'll do great.

But understand the commitment first before signing on the dotted line. For if anything, to avoid a painful conversation in a few months where either you're not being the expectations or you've grown to hate those expectations.

Work/life balance, family, 'you time' should be considered in all decision making.

This is what people don't comprehend about Australia, a high minimum wage doesn't mean higher pay for everyone, just a more compressed pay scale.

I estimate you have to about double your responsibilities for each additional 30% of income.
I have worked on jobs where the guys on the floor are making 130k with overtime but won't move to a 120k salaried position in the office because salaried workers can be retrenched at any time... It's broken, but I don't know how to fix it.

The best position is a sales position with a good and uncapped commission rate because it's as close as you can get to your own business without a business, there's actually a word for it "Intrepreneur"

I work a desk job and make just a bit about the average Albertan salary, which is slightly higher than the Canadian average. Would I like it to be more? Sure, BUT I am happy being worker monkey 564657887. I don't WANT to be a manager and have to deal with the BS my manager does because it means stopping doing the work I actually like such as buying and working with my sites. Not to mention a disgusting number of meetings and having to kowtow to the Corporate types. On the other hand my boss LOVES her job. She loves being a manger, she loves all the meetings and BS, so it suits her. There are luckily places for us both.

Similar to iron maiden I'm quite happy programming all day, solving technical problems and the like. I have absolutely no interest in moving up to a line manager or director position. There are people in my team who have made that leap and they frequently lament about how all their time is spent in meetings and how they'd love to code again. But if they're willing to do that for the money money, good for them.

I'm quite happy where I am, although I wouldn't mind moving to a senior or lead role where I can support junior developers while not losing the time to get my hands dirty, but that's my limit. I also do think there's a part of me that wants to avoid making wider company decisions and having that kind of responsibility on my back. But it's mainly that I don't want to spend 90% of my working in meetings, talking in corporate speak to people.

In a nutshell, I prefer to get things done instead of talking about how to get things done.

iron maiden, Emperor, I tend to agree, there is little sense in taking the best purchaser or programmer and making them a manager.
Why is there always assumption that someone who is great at doing their job would be better in a different role?

It is part of why corporations are broken, it should be possible to advance in pay and recognition level without having to go into a management position.
Where management is broken as a concept, is much as what of referred to as "management" is actually reporting and not managing talent.
Instead we make people sit all day in meetings trying to decide whether the money spent should be in column B or column C rather than focusing on getting the most for that money.

All money should clearly be put into column C regardless of the value you get for it <.<

Reason for the above though is because people believe that some workers are innately smarter or harder working than others, and can be moved into any position and excel.  And employees will take the changes as they get those new skills that everyone claims workers should be trying to get, that make them worth more in the job market.  It is quantity of skills that matters not quality in the modern job market.

Jun 1, 2023 1:08:30 GMT iNCY said:

iron maiden, Emperor, I tend to agree, there is little sense in taking the best purchaser or programmer and making them a manager.
Why is there always assumption that someone who is great at doing their job would be better in a different role?

It is part of why corporations are broken, it should be possible to advance in pay and recognition level without having to go into a management position.

It's a difficult place to be in, many good operators (salesmen, programmers, techs, merchandisers, etc) either lack the ambition to move into a bigger management role or aren't suitable, so the business is forced to hire from outside the business.

And as a result they hire people who may have a solid understanding of leadership and management but they lack the technical or practical knowledge.

And when that fails, the obvious solution is to promote the best salesperson or technician into a management role and have them coach a team.

Does that always work? No. Because it can be two very different skill sets.

Jun 1, 2023 1:08:30 GMT iNCY said:

iron maiden, Emperor, I tend to agree, there is little sense in taking the best purchaser or programmer and making them a manager.
Why is there always assumption that someone who is great at doing their job would be better in a different role?

It is part of why corporations are broken, it should be possible to advance in pay and recognition level without having to go into a management position.
Where management is broken as a concept, is much as what of referred to as "management" is actually reporting and not managing talent.
Instead we make people sit all day in meetings trying to decide whether the money spent should be in column B or column C rather than focusing on getting the most for that money.

Promoted to level of incompetence. Classic business.

So this quote is on my wall at work, I am aware that it probably wasn't Aristotle that originally said it, but it still stands to reason.
I decided at the start of this year to write down what I wanted to believe my principals were.
Following that I did a continual audit of my actions and attiudes.
My premise was that if my actions and principals didn't match then one would have to give way to the other.
There is no point having systems or principals you don't use.

This has been going well for me and I am seeing both become more aligned which has lead to a better quality of life.

Ironically, not 9 months into the year I stumbled upon this book on Audlible.





It has been a very interesting listen, I am not done and while no one thing has knocked me off my perch....
What he goes at great pains to explain is that if you spend time developing your principals then every decision is easy.
It doesn't mean you will always get the outcome you want, but if it doesn't work you revisit and tweak your principals.

This programmable and repeatable explanation of decision making based on preset criteria is something I discovered earlier this year.
It is something I have always done as a keen problem solver, it is why I still have a lot of success where others fail with machine repair.
I haven't really lent into it though, this is something that I am going to focus more on now... My next post in this thread will be about that specifically... Unless I get distracted.

Speaking of distraction, I am now the proud owner of two different Boox devices, I love them and I think they are fantastic for distraction free thinking and deep work.



It's like the Remarkable the device that is all over Facebook, except this one is not crap.
I also lashed out on a new phone:



I have been daily driving it for two weeks and I am surprised I like it so much
What I really enjoy is having a physically smaller phone for making calls and simple messages.
I cam from an S22 Ultra+ and the Notes before it and I think we are at the limit of how large single screen devices can be and still useable.
For showing customers videos or looking at plans or drawings the open screen is incredible.
I am pretty hard on my phones so it will be interesting to see how long this lasts.

The side by side mode is great for work, if you want to copy someone's email signature into a contact or look something up on the internet while you are typing an email and copy and pasting.
Infinitely better than the experience of hot switching apps.... I am sure Apple will do this at some point soon.

Has anyone seen this analogy floating around on Twitter or a News Site, I keep bumping into it.



Entrepreneurship is like one of those carnival games where you throw darts or something.
Middle class kids can afford one throw. Most miss. A few hit the target and get a small prize. A very few hit the center bullseye and get a bigger prize. Rags to riches! The American Dream lives on.

Rich kids can afford many throws. If they want to, they can try over and over and over again until they hit something and feel good about themselves. Some keep going until they hit the center bullseye, then they give speeches or write blog posts about "meritocracy" and the salutary effects of hard work.

Poor kids aren't visiting the carnival. They're the ones working it.
This is straight up nonsense.
It conflates Entrepreneurship with a Zuckerberg style unicorn of starting a billion dollar idea and having it pay off.
Straight up bullshit as it is only one of the ways that people can succeed.
c mentioned how if you don't have a college education you can't get a loan, again the bullseye mentality.

You don't need to hit the bullseye, not the first time and maybe not ever, you can make a decent living just hitting the dart board.
Is life unfair? Of course it is...

So yeah the poor kids are working in the carnival, they save up enough to throw one dart, make a bit of coin and next time throw two.
I know so many successful people who started with nothing, working for wages then started working for themselves, then hired hired one person... And then another.
This is the way business used to work before the days of venture capital.


Step 1 - Acquire a skill, any skill in demand - Develop knowledge of that space.
Step 2 - Learn to sell, I mean really learn the ins and out of pitching, handling objections and closing.
Step 3 - Combine Step 1 and 2 in an area where you can deliver value.
Step 4 - Decide what will be unique about your offering
Step 5 - Start selling.