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Do you want mustard on this sandwich?
For a number of reasons I have been thinking about sandwiches
recently. Some the kind you eat and others the kind you find yourself in when
you are in your 50's with children and elderly parents.
I was thinking about the eating kind while working with some wonderful students
at Wilfrid Laurier
University where we are working
with the Student Union Executive. I have been debriefing with them around their
Kolbe results.
Invariably two questions arise with each debrief...
"What would be a good profile for someone who I was looking to date?"
and "What are my best career options."
I can't really offer a lot of advice on question one but question two is
different.
And that's when I tell them about my short lived career at A&W. In 1968 I
was looking for a summer job and applied to the local A&W. I was hired and
put to work loading the trays for the girls to take out to the cars. Yes this
was a real drive-in. But my career aspirations were cut short when the manager
asked me after my second shift if I was trying to sabotage the system. You see
I just couldn't load the trays in a prescribed way every single time. The root
beer always was supposed to go in the upper right hand corner, sandwich in the
middle, fries to the left.
Not my trays.
After another shift my manager had a heart to heart with me and my short-lived
career in food services came to an end.
About a week later I got a job running a stage in a park for way more money,
normal hours and the ability to do things the way I thought best. It was
possibly my best summer job ever.
The moral of the story is believe in yourself, trust your instincts and follow
your passion. And don't have a Preventive Follow Thru load the trays.
Enjoy the summer.
Gordon
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Talkin' 'bout my generation...
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As a card carrying 50+ I am officially part of what has been called the Sandwich Generation.
With both children and aging parents the meat in the middle can get awfully thin.
We have just spent a significant amount of time in the last year helping to care for a parent. We were thankful to be close enough that we could assist however we could. Often that would be in ways that were unexpected. I have cooked an awful lot of chickens and roasts, cut grass, done errands, fixed toilets and more. We have also provided (and received) comfort, hugs and helpful ideas from may friends and family.
Mostly I think it was helpful that we could just physically be present. A large part of that was due to our work arrangement. As self employed individuals understand, we can work all the hours we need to, regardless of the day of the week. And so for many months our routine has been to work Monday to Thursday and then relocate for Friday, Saturday and then return home Sunday.
In our circle of friends there are several who are following their own brand of reorganized work schedule to be part of significant relationships needing assistance.
The need for this type of reorganization will only grow over the next five to ten years. The challenge will be for employers to manage the process in a way that allows their most valuable employees the flexibility to schedule their productivity in such a way that there is not a point where employees simply have to leave work (usually with little or no notice - either temporarily or permanently) to deal with one or the other sides of the sandwich. With engagement being a key corporate value business runs the risk of having greater numbers of dis-engaged employees unless the issue of flexibility is addressed. If business success is all about results, what is stopping corporations from embracing the results economy and moving away from the time and effort model we have been so familiar with for the last 100 years? Is it the risk in having to give up the other old chestnut "command and control?" Or is it the macho idea of "I can work more hours in a week than you can and I can prove it ."
What we are witnessing is a "feeling around in the dark" for a new model of work that makes sense for both employer and employee where both are engaged and committed to the results. The first step has been business embracing telecommuting and working from home. What are the next steps? To see the future, look to the start-ups, the innovators and those companies that can't survive living in the past.
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