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 non-critical 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.

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:

Corrales Mentales

Perhaps you've achieved every goal you've ever set yourself, but if you're like most of us, some important goals have remained elusive. Maybe you had bad luck, or you weren't in the right place at the right time. But it's just possible that you got in your own way. Getting out of your own way can help make things happen.

Dealing with Deadlock

At times it seems that nothing works. Whenever we try to get moving, we encounter obstacles. If we try to go around them, we find more obstacles. How do we get stuck? And how can we get unstuck?

False Summits: II

When climbers encounter "false summits," hope of an early end to the climb comes to an end. The psychological effects can threaten the morale and even the safety of the climbing party. So it is in project work.

Just Make It Happen

Many idolize the no-nonsense manager who says, "I don't want to hear excuses, just make it happen." We associate that stance with strong leadership. Sometimes, though, it's little more than abuse motivated by ambition or ignorance — or both.

Holding Back: I

When members of teams or groups hold back their efforts toward achieving group goals, schedule and budget problems can arise, along with frustration and destructive intra-group conflict. What causes this behavior?

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

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming August 22: Dealing with Credit Appropriation

Very little is more frustrating than having someone else claim credit for the work you do. Worse, sometimes they blame you if they get into trouble after misusing your results. Here are three tips for dealing with credit appropriation. Available here and by RSS on August 22.

And on August 29: Please Reassure Them

When things go wildly wrong, someone is usually designated to investigate and assess the probability of further trouble. That role can be risky. Here are three guidelines for protecting yourself if that role falls to you. Available here and by RSS on August 29.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenhVWhZVRKZislNGJFner@ChacMBKxCKYsODqiNENPoCanyon.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, USD 11.95)
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, USD 28.99)

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 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented 6:00 PM June 29 (Eastern Time), Monthly Webinar, Technobility Webinar Series. You can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.