I'm just back from a trip to Germany to attend the christening of my youngest grandson. It was a happy family occasion, as was to be expected.
I flew over as usual and caught myself telling quite a few people that the aircraft was piloted by a woman. Now why did I do that? I really don't know. It is not as if I believe women are incapable of doing things which were mainly done by men yonks ago. Women pilots have been around for years and no one comments any more. And yet, this being the first time that I had sat in an aircraft piloted by a woman caused me to comment on it. At any rate, I shut up about it very quickly.
This got me thinking. Deep down we are all impressed if a woman does anything we perceive to be out of the ordinary. We have all these powerful female executives heading big corporations and making tough business decisions and some of them have been so kind as to write books on how to get to the top of the corporate ladder. There is a lot of speculation that we might have a woman president of the United States if Hillary Clinton can be persuaded to run. But is the media going to be more interested in what she wears and how she does her hair than in how effective in politics she will be? Take Julia Gillard, the former Prime Minister of Australia. During her 3 years of office she introduced a variety of important bills and yet the media badgered her about looking dowdy and housewifely and were more interested in her relationship with her husband.
Kind of off-putting, isn't it? And I don't feel any too proud of myself to have been remarking on that woman pilot. Do women still need encouragement and empowerment? I have given up on the idea of women being equal to men. It is never going to happen. The working woman who has children at home knows all about the tug on her heartstrings no matter how supportive her partner is. Children need their mothers because mothers play a different role to fathers. We can't get away from that and once we have acknowledged it, we have a better attitude to both family and work. It is no disgrace to be a mother first and foremost - if you have a good relationship with your children, they will always be there for you. On the other hand, if the company you work for no longer needs you they'll chew you up and spit you out. That's the reality.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Friday, 16 August 2013
Getting inside our heads
Employers have always been interested in what their workers are up to. Naturally. They are the ones paying to get things done. As customers we like to be treated nicely and fairly, too, before we part with our money. So we should be able to understand where the boss is coming from when he/she wants to see inside your head.
There are dozens of companies who concern themselves with understanding and motivating the work force. It's a thriving business. Companies do surveys to get a handle on reactions to company policy. A company called Neumitra has come up with a device which measures stress levels by means of a special wrist watch. The reasoning here is that stressed employees are unhappy and/or could make bad decisions and not work at their most efficient, so it is essential to know just how freaked out they are. So if your company is using this method, beware of engaging in a shouting match at your partner before you dash off to the office. And don't let the turgid flow of traffic get to you, 'cos it could show up on that wrist watch and the HR manager will most likely haul you off to try and get inside your head.
Then there's TinyPulse, which is such a fun name. It is an app which sends out short weekly surveys to workers to see how happy they are and converts the results into graphs so the bosses can see how workers feel. Sounds great. The very thought of it makes me happy, or does it? Suppose it's Monday and I'm in a lousy mood and hate the whole world because the cat died/the car didn't start: how am I going to react to a survey like this? My answers might reflect the fact that I see the world with a jaundiced eye today and could give the wrong statistics for the week and have management scrabbling for new ways to motivate staff.
So what motivates a worker? It's not the money. It's the sense of doing a worthwhile job and getting credit for it. Of being taken seriously as a person. Of having the feeling that the boss is on the level and is going to tell you like it is even if the going gets rough. In my workaday past I have had bosses who wouldn't thank you if you pulled them out of a fast flowing river - they'd complain to you that they got wet while you were doing it. And I've had bosses that I would go through fire and water for, and these were very often bosses who didn't mince words if I messed up on something but were equally ready to praise for especially good performance. Of course no one wants a boss who tells you every five minutes that you're the best. Not even Cinderella at her lowest level of self-esteem would believe that.
It would save companies a lot of money if they used a bit of horse sense when appointing managers or team leaders. Workers like talking to flesh and blood people not reading missives via email. Trouble is nowadays that a lot of communication is made via cell phone or email or other media instead of good old-fashioned face-to-face talking. I once had a boss who sat in the office next door and communicated entirely with me by email instead of sticking his head round the door and asking me for what he wanted. I doubt he would have recognized me if I fell over his desk.
Instead of trying to get inside our heads, it's time for companies to recognize that good managerial skills make for contented employees. You don't need a bunch of consultants to tell you that. All you need is a basic interest in your staff, even the ones you don't gel with, and the ability to make them feel they are doing an important job. If you can get that right you'll have earned your wings and saved on wrist watches and apps.
There are dozens of companies who concern themselves with understanding and motivating the work force. It's a thriving business. Companies do surveys to get a handle on reactions to company policy. A company called Neumitra has come up with a device which measures stress levels by means of a special wrist watch. The reasoning here is that stressed employees are unhappy and/or could make bad decisions and not work at their most efficient, so it is essential to know just how freaked out they are. So if your company is using this method, beware of engaging in a shouting match at your partner before you dash off to the office. And don't let the turgid flow of traffic get to you, 'cos it could show up on that wrist watch and the HR manager will most likely haul you off to try and get inside your head.
Then there's TinyPulse, which is such a fun name. It is an app which sends out short weekly surveys to workers to see how happy they are and converts the results into graphs so the bosses can see how workers feel. Sounds great. The very thought of it makes me happy, or does it? Suppose it's Monday and I'm in a lousy mood and hate the whole world because the cat died/the car didn't start: how am I going to react to a survey like this? My answers might reflect the fact that I see the world with a jaundiced eye today and could give the wrong statistics for the week and have management scrabbling for new ways to motivate staff.
So what motivates a worker? It's not the money. It's the sense of doing a worthwhile job and getting credit for it. Of being taken seriously as a person. Of having the feeling that the boss is on the level and is going to tell you like it is even if the going gets rough. In my workaday past I have had bosses who wouldn't thank you if you pulled them out of a fast flowing river - they'd complain to you that they got wet while you were doing it. And I've had bosses that I would go through fire and water for, and these were very often bosses who didn't mince words if I messed up on something but were equally ready to praise for especially good performance. Of course no one wants a boss who tells you every five minutes that you're the best. Not even Cinderella at her lowest level of self-esteem would believe that.
It would save companies a lot of money if they used a bit of horse sense when appointing managers or team leaders. Workers like talking to flesh and blood people not reading missives via email. Trouble is nowadays that a lot of communication is made via cell phone or email or other media instead of good old-fashioned face-to-face talking. I once had a boss who sat in the office next door and communicated entirely with me by email instead of sticking his head round the door and asking me for what he wanted. I doubt he would have recognized me if I fell over his desk.
Instead of trying to get inside our heads, it's time for companies to recognize that good managerial skills make for contented employees. You don't need a bunch of consultants to tell you that. All you need is a basic interest in your staff, even the ones you don't gel with, and the ability to make them feel they are doing an important job. If you can get that right you'll have earned your wings and saved on wrist watches and apps.
Saturday, 3 August 2013
Things we didn't really need to know
I love the BBC website, especially its "10 Things We Didn't Know Last Week" articles in the magazine section: http://www.bbc.co.uk. There are all sorts of fascinating discoveries.
For a start, Penn State University Pennsylvania have come to the conclusion that fish with interesting surroundings are brainier. If your little goldfish is swimming around in his tank with only your living room as a stimulant and you spend most of your time on your mobile or in front of the television, it is very probable that little goldfish is something of a nerd. Put colourful toys into his water and watch his IQ rise.
Another interesting fact highlighted in a New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com - go to the Europe section on 31/7/2013) is that the French eat less baguettes than they used to. French men eat only half a baguette a day compared to a whole baguette in 1970 and more than three baguettes in 1900. Women eat around a third less than men. The French bakers and millers association are getting worried and have started a campaign to get people to buy bread - if you speak French you can visit their website http://www.tuasprislepain.fr. (have you picked up the bread? for non-French scholars) They point out that good bread is part of French civilization. Eating bread is better than eating chocolate, they reason. Sitting round a table and talking over a meal of baguettes and (presumably) typical French food promotes conviviality. If you buy a baguette on your way home from work it means that you have thought of your family and show your love for them. Heady stuff. But we expect the French to be romantic, don't we?
My theory on the baguette issue is that nowadays there are so many different kinds of food to tempt us that we don't always have to reach for the bread loaf. But the French do have a point. Instead of grabbing that McD burger or a Chinese takeaway, how about we buy a crusty loaf of bread and whip up a healthy salad, which after all boils down (no pun intended) to washing a head of lettuce and cutting up a few tomatoes and a cucumber. Maybe get some cold chicken at the deli. Break out the chilled wine and the meal is perfect. Yummy. I just made myself hungry. Bon appetit.
For a start, Penn State University Pennsylvania have come to the conclusion that fish with interesting surroundings are brainier. If your little goldfish is swimming around in his tank with only your living room as a stimulant and you spend most of your time on your mobile or in front of the television, it is very probable that little goldfish is something of a nerd. Put colourful toys into his water and watch his IQ rise.
Another interesting fact highlighted in a New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com - go to the Europe section on 31/7/2013) is that the French eat less baguettes than they used to. French men eat only half a baguette a day compared to a whole baguette in 1970 and more than three baguettes in 1900. Women eat around a third less than men. The French bakers and millers association are getting worried and have started a campaign to get people to buy bread - if you speak French you can visit their website http://www.tuasprislepain.fr. (have you picked up the bread? for non-French scholars) They point out that good bread is part of French civilization. Eating bread is better than eating chocolate, they reason. Sitting round a table and talking over a meal of baguettes and (presumably) typical French food promotes conviviality. If you buy a baguette on your way home from work it means that you have thought of your family and show your love for them. Heady stuff. But we expect the French to be romantic, don't we?
My theory on the baguette issue is that nowadays there are so many different kinds of food to tempt us that we don't always have to reach for the bread loaf. But the French do have a point. Instead of grabbing that McD burger or a Chinese takeaway, how about we buy a crusty loaf of bread and whip up a healthy salad, which after all boils down (no pun intended) to washing a head of lettuce and cutting up a few tomatoes and a cucumber. Maybe get some cold chicken at the deli. Break out the chilled wine and the meal is perfect. Yummy. I just made myself hungry. Bon appetit.
Saturday, 27 July 2013
Women like funny men - really?
An article titled "Women Like Funny Men" recently caught my eye. I have to ask: which women? Let's face it we are individuals not a herd of sex-starved creatures looking for the ultimate thing in men and laughs. I don't know how many women were surveyed, not that I think it's relevant. If you're ticking boxes and you come across the question "would you be attracted to a man who made you laugh?" I guess most of us in the "women" category would answer yes. At any rate a funny guy is better than one who makes you cry, right? That doesn't mean it's the only criteria we'd look for. I guess top of the list would be kindness, thoughtfulness, reliability, boring stuff like that which is so important in any relationship.
To get to the bottom of this interesting statistic I searched the web and found the statement "women like funny men for a fling." Really? Does this include a sleep starved mother with a six week old baby? If a guy makes her laugh she's going to have a fling with him? Where's she going to put the baby while she's doing that?
And following on from the funny guy idea, think about having the supreme joker around all the time. You'd get to hate that laugh wouldn't you? When you are collapsed in an armchair after a hard and frustrating day at the office you want someone who'll listen to your grumbling not a stand up comedy act in your living room. They should have gone for a question which goes something like "would you fall for a man who listens to you and massages your back at the same time?" Now you're talking, right?
So statistics have proven yet again that they are not to be taken completely seriously. And guys, you don't need to dash off and buy the latest joke book. Us "statistics women" like to laugh but we like to be loved, too.
To get to the bottom of this interesting statistic I searched the web and found the statement "women like funny men for a fling." Really? Does this include a sleep starved mother with a six week old baby? If a guy makes her laugh she's going to have a fling with him? Where's she going to put the baby while she's doing that?
And following on from the funny guy idea, think about having the supreme joker around all the time. You'd get to hate that laugh wouldn't you? When you are collapsed in an armchair after a hard and frustrating day at the office you want someone who'll listen to your grumbling not a stand up comedy act in your living room. They should have gone for a question which goes something like "would you fall for a man who listens to you and massages your back at the same time?" Now you're talking, right?
So statistics have proven yet again that they are not to be taken completely seriously. And guys, you don't need to dash off and buy the latest joke book. Us "statistics women" like to laugh but we like to be loved, too.
Monday, 15 July 2013
Mail at a Snail's Pace or Time was
Trawling through the BBC website this morning I read an article on the closure of India's telegram service. It started in 1851 and survived until last Sunday which was the last day a telegram was delivered in the country.
This got me thinking (yes, I do sometimes lol) that a lot of romance has gone forever out of everyday life.
Regular readers will know that I am a voracious reader. One of my favourite authors is Somerset Maugham, in particular his volumes of short stories set in the outposts of the Far East where those in the British colonial service spent their days. Maugham's stories are fascinating for the atmosphere of heat, sweat and isolation which they impart. It is another world, when life was slow, a world now gone forever. I am sure life was tough and people had to make the most of it (not so different from today, really, is it?). It was far from romantic in real life, and no, I am not in favour of colonialism but I am interested in people. How did these people cope? Maugham, who travelled extensively, gives us an insight into their lives. "The Club" was the centre piece of their lives. Everyone for miles around visited it and played bridge, danced or simply chatted. New arrivals brought English newspapers often several weeks or even months old but still read with interest. Visitors showed up at distant outposts on the turgid rivers of Burma bringing with them the so-called "book bag", a treasure trove for the isolated District Officer in his lonely jungle home. And the dream of returning to England kept them all going although the reality was that many who had spent most of their lives in service in the harsh climes of the Far East could not settle down in what to them had become an alien country. But that's another story.
Travelling meant getting on board a ship and spending weeks on your journey. When you embarked you boarded a train to your next destination. Travelling meant having your mail forwarded to the poste restante service of one of the old-established travel agencies. Imagine the anticipation as you collected the little bundle of envelopes waiting for you. There was time to order afternoon tea or coffee and settle down to read the news from friends and loved ones and discuss it all over a leisurely dinner with fellow travellers.
Our habit of racing through text messages or emails or trawling our Twitter account is far more stressful and far less fun in my opinion. Sure, there are times when instant communication is a blessing. I'm not knocking progress. I just feel that we've lost a bit of romance in our lives, somehow, and the cessation of the India telegram service brought this home to me this week.
This got me thinking (yes, I do sometimes lol) that a lot of romance has gone forever out of everyday life.
Regular readers will know that I am a voracious reader. One of my favourite authors is Somerset Maugham, in particular his volumes of short stories set in the outposts of the Far East where those in the British colonial service spent their days. Maugham's stories are fascinating for the atmosphere of heat, sweat and isolation which they impart. It is another world, when life was slow, a world now gone forever. I am sure life was tough and people had to make the most of it (not so different from today, really, is it?). It was far from romantic in real life, and no, I am not in favour of colonialism but I am interested in people. How did these people cope? Maugham, who travelled extensively, gives us an insight into their lives. "The Club" was the centre piece of their lives. Everyone for miles around visited it and played bridge, danced or simply chatted. New arrivals brought English newspapers often several weeks or even months old but still read with interest. Visitors showed up at distant outposts on the turgid rivers of Burma bringing with them the so-called "book bag", a treasure trove for the isolated District Officer in his lonely jungle home. And the dream of returning to England kept them all going although the reality was that many who had spent most of their lives in service in the harsh climes of the Far East could not settle down in what to them had become an alien country. But that's another story.
Travelling meant getting on board a ship and spending weeks on your journey. When you embarked you boarded a train to your next destination. Travelling meant having your mail forwarded to the poste restante service of one of the old-established travel agencies. Imagine the anticipation as you collected the little bundle of envelopes waiting for you. There was time to order afternoon tea or coffee and settle down to read the news from friends and loved ones and discuss it all over a leisurely dinner with fellow travellers.
Our habit of racing through text messages or emails or trawling our Twitter account is far more stressful and far less fun in my opinion. Sure, there are times when instant communication is a blessing. I'm not knocking progress. I just feel that we've lost a bit of romance in our lives, somehow, and the cessation of the India telegram service brought this home to me this week.
Monday, 8 July 2013
Mobile Gossip
There's been a lot of kerfuffle about the cashier who refused to serve a customer until she'd stopped talking on her mobile. Having worked as one myself (cashier not mobile, don't get smart!) I must admit that my sympathies are on the side of the cashier. It's a thankless job at the best of times. You are going to tell the customer just how much they must cough up for that trolley of goodies, take the money off them and keep smiling and friendly while you do it. And all the while most of them look right through you as if you didn't exist. Their thoughts are already on driving home and cooking some of the stuff or having a cup of tea before getting started. You are just a little supermarket incident in their day - unless you make the mistake of wanting to be treated as if you were a living breathing human being.
We've all been distracted by people chatting loudly on their mobiles. Every time I get on the bus someone sitting fairly close to me is having the ultimate chat: 'yeah I'm on the bus'; 'I should be home in about 10 minutes'; 'so what did you do then?' (this at least is more intriguing even if I can't hear the other end of the conversation). I was once on the train from Sutton to Victoria Station in London and got the full extent of a landlord's problems. It seems that the tenant in Flat 1B had moved to Flat 5C and the new tenant in Flat 1B couldn't figure out how to use the washing machine. He was talking to the tenant in Flat 5C and running through the solutions with her/him. By the time we got to Victoria Station I felt I could have set up an advisory service for his tenants. At any rate I felt I could get the washing machine in Flat 1B working without too much trouble. Maeve Binchy said she often got ideas from her novels from listening to conversations on buses. This would have been a perfect plot for something like "Murder in the Cold Rinse" or 'The washing machine had me at Start'. Hmm, the possibilities are endless. Next time I'm on the bus I'll pay more attention. There's sure to be a story there somewhere.
We've all been distracted by people chatting loudly on their mobiles. Every time I get on the bus someone sitting fairly close to me is having the ultimate chat: 'yeah I'm on the bus'; 'I should be home in about 10 minutes'; 'so what did you do then?' (this at least is more intriguing even if I can't hear the other end of the conversation). I was once on the train from Sutton to Victoria Station in London and got the full extent of a landlord's problems. It seems that the tenant in Flat 1B had moved to Flat 5C and the new tenant in Flat 1B couldn't figure out how to use the washing machine. He was talking to the tenant in Flat 5C and running through the solutions with her/him. By the time we got to Victoria Station I felt I could have set up an advisory service for his tenants. At any rate I felt I could get the washing machine in Flat 1B working without too much trouble. Maeve Binchy said she often got ideas from her novels from listening to conversations on buses. This would have been a perfect plot for something like "Murder in the Cold Rinse" or 'The washing machine had me at Start'. Hmm, the possibilities are endless. Next time I'm on the bus I'll pay more attention. There's sure to be a story there somewhere.
Sunday, 30 June 2013
What Makes Us Happy
A global survey is being carried out (see details here on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/magazine-23097143) and collated by the World Happiness Data Center in Rotterdam. The World Happiness Data Center? Now that sounds intriguing. And you thought you whistled that happy tune because you were, well, just plain happy. And how do you convert all that data into world happiness? And is everyone happy about the same things? As far as the last question goes, it appears we are all happy about different things. And happiness changes. Well, I guess that doesn't come as a surprise. Kissing Elvis wouldn't make me as happy now as it would have fifty years ago! And here's a nice bit of statistics: the older you get the more content you get. You know your heart is not broken when a relationship breaks up. You know the world isn't going to stop because you wore the wrong dress/hairstyle/lipstick to that party or have a spot on your face before your dream date turns up.
So, what else did the survey discover? It discovered that the main correlation for being happy was leading an active life. Finding a meaning as to the why are we here and what should we do about it does not correlate to happiness. It seems if you get your butt off the couch and get out there and mix with the world you are going to be happier than the philosopher who sits at home puzzling profound life secrets.
The study indicates that being involved in politics makes you happy - who'd have thought all that back-stabbing and mind games we hear about is actually conducive to your happiness? Going out to dinner is another factor in being happy. And people who drink in moderation are happier than people who don't drink at all. So we can enjoy a glass or two of wine with that dinner, safe in the knowledge it's good for our happiness barometer.
Here's one for the battle of the sexes: men are happier if they think they are goodlooking whereas if you (men and women) think you're goodlooking it increases your sense of wellbeing whether you are or not (objectively speaking).
It's a fascinating study and is ongoing. People are encouraged to keep a diary and submit it online to the survey. Abraham Lincoln once said "most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." I think that sums it up.
So, what else did the survey discover? It discovered that the main correlation for being happy was leading an active life. Finding a meaning as to the why are we here and what should we do about it does not correlate to happiness. It seems if you get your butt off the couch and get out there and mix with the world you are going to be happier than the philosopher who sits at home puzzling profound life secrets.
The study indicates that being involved in politics makes you happy - who'd have thought all that back-stabbing and mind games we hear about is actually conducive to your happiness? Going out to dinner is another factor in being happy. And people who drink in moderation are happier than people who don't drink at all. So we can enjoy a glass or two of wine with that dinner, safe in the knowledge it's good for our happiness barometer.
Here's one for the battle of the sexes: men are happier if they think they are goodlooking whereas if you (men and women) think you're goodlooking it increases your sense of wellbeing whether you are or not (objectively speaking).
It's a fascinating study and is ongoing. People are encouraged to keep a diary and submit it online to the survey. Abraham Lincoln once said "most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." I think that sums it up.
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