Sitting is the new “smoking” they say, so we try to fight that by walking around the parking lot or in the shop during our lunch break.

And in these walks – we (obviously) talk.

But not about work.

Instead, we go over conflicting ideas and beliefs about philosophy, principles, human behavior, negotiation and persuasion. 

Weirdly enough, I find these talks very interesting.

We go deep into the ideas as to why these beliefs exist and why we are wired to behave a certain way. Below are some of these discussions:

Is “meeting deadlines” more important than “quality work”?

When you’re under a very tight deadline, you tend to care less about the quality of your work to meet the deadline.

But often, poor quality work ends up coming back to our workload

And worse, it takes more time to fix the problem. So then why do we keep on doing this?

Is buying a house considered a financial investment?

We all agreed it is not exactly a financial investment but it has to do more with improving your well-being which indirectly affects the quality of your wealth. So in that sense, it is somewhat a “financial investment”.

Equity comes into play (this is what most people believe and it’s partly true) but if you run the numbers, the money you’re earning is not all that much if you put all your expenses into account for owning a house.

But then again – I’m talking about average people who does not know much about owning properties (myself included). I’m sure there’s a realtor out there who can instantly squash what I know.

Please note, before you buy into this idea or their idea–do your own research first and see what you come up with 😉

Go for the “win-win” situation: What’s in it for me? What’s in it for them?

Often, we forget the fact that we all work for the same goal. We push the people who owe us information/work for us so hard to give us the information they owe us – to help us meet OUR super tight deadlines.

But did you ever pause and think: What’s in it for them?

Then you say, “That’s their JOB!!”.

That may be true, but note these people can also find ways and excuses not to help you. It’s always been a two-way street. Employees at the lower level has the power to give their superiors headache.

Perhaps next time you ask for help – try not to abuse your power.

Favors are limited – use it wisely.

Whiners suck up your energy.

Some people just love to bitch about something. But since they don’t have the power to make a change, they get others listen to join our cause. Thus, starting a bitch fest – each and every member will  approve and confirm each other’s view, charging each other up to create this force of nature the management can’t say no to.

I think this is how unions started. I’m not saying these people are wrong. In most cases, they are actually right. But what makes it annoying is that we are so quick to start a shit storm as opposed to stepping back and finding a way to solve the problem.

Before you start a “rebellion”, perhaps they should ask themselves, “What am I doing to help solve the problem?”

But if you’re way of helping is only through “pointing out problems” then you’re not part of the solution at all.

Lately, I’ve been entertaining the principle:

Ideal situations do not exist. Make it work.

Our department needs some serious improvement

Says the person who struggles to keep up.

A lot of us are good at finding faults with the current processes. I’m not saying they are not true. But what’s more true is that change cannot happen overnight – it takes time and you need everyone else in that environment to buy off of it.

New employees tend to notice all the problems that happen in a department – but often, that’s all they do – just notice.

What if they took some of their time to create a change by taking the initiative? However, most of us, before we even entertain the idea of taking initiative, we revert back to our defeated state by asking, “Why the hell would I do that? That’s not my job. If they pay me more then maybe I’ll do something about it”.

The harsh truth is that companies don’t give a shit on people who are not valuable to them. The same reasons why you would care less on things that do not provide you any value.

Then, you say “That’s not fair! I’m important in this company as much as anyone else!!”

Again, that may be true, but it wouldn’t hurt to step back and do a reality-check: Is this true?