Pet Peeves About Work

I hate:

• …that when you fall asleep on your keyboard, your face gets quilted.
• …that my keyboard isn't drool-proof.
• …that I can no longer see what's going on behind me because my new monitor has a no-glare screen.
• …that there isn't any part of my monitor to clip my bicycle mirror to, and people laugh at me when I wear my helmet at work.
• …that the woman from QA always interrupts me whenever I'm interrupting her.
• …speakerphones that won't let you interrupt while someone at the other end is talking.
• …that Windows crashes so often.
• …that Windows doesn't crash often enough to be a reliable excuse for anything.
• …that when you set the cell phones they give us on vibrate, you can still hear them.
• …that my boss gives me bad advice that I have to follow.
• …that when I follow my boss's bad advice and the thing implodes, it's my fault.
• …that when someone calls me on a bad cell phone connection from under the airport public address system, I have to make up both ends of the conversation.
• …that to tell whether the sun is shining I have to badge out.
• …that nobody knows what business casual really means.
• …that meetings start and end on the hour, with no time in between, so all our meetings start late.
• …that I get more email than I can possibly read. If anyone really wants to reach me, they text me.
• I hate that nobody knows
  what business casual
  really means…that I get more text messages that I can possibly read. If anyone really wants to reach me, they call me.
• …that I get more voicemail than I can possibly listen to. If anyone really wants to reach me, they send me email.
• …when they change a procedure nobody ever actually followed to some new, more complicated procedure that nobody will ever actually follow.
• …when people CC me so I'll know that one of my direct reports screwed up again. Do they think I don't already know?
• …when my boss tells me what she firmly believes, then asks for my honest opinion.
• …that our whiteboard markers are always dry. I think they must come that way out of the box.
• …when someone puts me on speaker and it's just us on the call, I know they're doing something with their hands but I can't imagine what.
• …when I have to drop the 17 things I'm doing to get training in managing multiple tasks.
• …when a drop dead showstopper problem that I've been busting my tail to resolve for three weeks is suddenly reclassified as noncritical just after I fix it.

I'm sure you have some pet peeves of your own. Don't send them to me. I hate that. (just kidding)  Top    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Games for Meetings: III

We spend a lot of time and emotional energy in meetings, much of it engaged in any of dozens of ritualized games. Here's Part III of a little catalog of some of our favorites, and what we could do about them.

Finding Work in Tough Times: Strategy

If you're out of work and discouraged — or getting there — you're in great company. Better than ever before. Getting back to work starts with getting to work on finding work. Here's a collection of strategies for the job of finding work.

The Focusing Illusion in Organizations

The judgments we make at work, like the judgments we make elsewhere in life, are subject to human fallibility in the form of cognitive biases. One of these is the Focusing Illusion. Here are some examples to watch for.

Issues-Only Team Meetings

Time spent in regular meetings is productive to the extent that it moves the team closer to its objectives. Because uncovering and clarifying issues is more productive than distributing information or listening to status reports, issues-only team meetings focus energy where it will help most.

Red Flags: III

Early signs of troubles in collaborations include toxic conflict, elevated turnover, and anti-patterns in communication. But among the very earliest red flags are abuses of power. They're more significant than other red flags because abuses of power can convert any collaboration into a morass of destructive politics.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Managing Your Boss for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming July 3: Additive bias…or Not: II

Additive bias is a cognitive bias that many believe contributes to bloat of commercial products. When we change products to make them more capable, additive bias might not play a role, because economic considerations sometimes favor additive approaches. Available here and by RSS on July 3.

And on July 10: On Delegating Accountability: I

As the saying goes, "You can't delegate your own accountability." Despite wide knowledge of this aphorism, people try it from time to time, especially when overcome by the temptation of a high-risk decision. What can you delegate, and how can you do it? Available here and by RSS on July 10.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info