Things to do at work, besides work (A Greek Travelogue)

June 22, 2004 | Category: In My Life

Some days, you just can't win.

"What's the schedule?" "Where's the process?" "Are you going to use the new Change Control?" "Do I have some of that budget?" "What pool is providing resources?" "Where is the testing lab? How long is the soak?" "Will this hit the account P&L?"

Being a project manager means putting up with a lot of people wanting to know, in essence, "Are we there yet?"

Ick. bah. stresscakes.

At times like this, I do what I must. To mangle James Taylor (more than he did to himself): For a few moments I take my mind on vacations and I go to Spetses in my mind.

Spetses, Greece (copyright: Member Maurizio42)

Spetses is a smallish island of Greece. After landing at Athens airport, take a cab to Piraeus Seaport and then catch a slow ferry. After about 4 hours of hitting all the islands in between, you'll be deposited at Spetses.

The water is warm there, and the year-rounder folks are friendly; well-seasoned in tourism, with the British being the main visiting population. There are shops, pubs, and disco's at night.

But for those seeking peace; Spetses is an idyllic goal. Outside the 20 square blocks of the main town, most of the island is hushed and quiet and covered in pine trees. Most of the ground - even down to the blue sea -is rocky, and the roads little more than paths. There are only 2 cars on the Island, but about 200 mopeds. A salad of tomato, feta, and onion will cost you about $1. A Diet Coke? $3.

I never got the "Toga" thing until Spetses. They left piles of soft, thin sheets in my room and I eventually realized that they were for wearing. The hottest part of the afternoon, dip in for a swim and then tie a sheet loosely around golden skin. My usual modesty left back somewhere cold; dozens of Spetsians have seen my breasts - back when they were something to see. Not that anyone cared.

Glorious hours lazing in the shade, the world on "pause". Maybe a stroll towards the old monastery. If you get lost and end up at a fisherman's house, the family will probably teach you some Greek and show you their nets and the new hull in process. Maybe invite you for lunch.

At least, they did for me.

Oh! The things I'm doing for my career!

June 20, 2004 | Category: On The Job

Something NEVER.SEEN.BEFORE: Elizabeth, attempting golf.

Everyone in my family has played and does play. I have managed to avoid this one sport all my life.

Until now.

Why did I pick up a golf club for the first time in my memory and standing at an angle guaranteed to do me no favors and whacking at a little white ball like a lunatic with my chest in the way?

Simple: my career.

Twice now, I have bowed out of golf outings that later I regretted.

So I'm sucking it up. Let's have a moment of silence while I write a check to the nice golf instructor...

**Extra credit if you noticed that despite my golf club high up in the air, the ball is still on the tee. That's right boys and girls. I missed. A lot. Therefore, no pictures of an empty tee - despite Bear's enthusiastic cheerleading of "good shot, Mommy!"

El Capitan

June 17, 2004 | Category: On The Job

Being comfortable with my job comes only in lulls. Sometimes I think that is because I am the only woman around. But sometimes I think maybe everyone feels this way at some time or another.

With the budget bump of my new program came a new supervising executive I hadn't worked with before. I call him "El Capitan". He's focused; imagine Martin Sheen's character, on West Wing, as he cuts off another character by saying "OK, What's next?"

Before El Capitan, my status meetings and communication plans tended to go smoothly. I prepare exhaustively - distilling the tentacles of the subprojects to points of risk, achievement, challenge and overall progress (plan, schedule, and budget).

But El Capitan charges into slide decks with a scythe. He's been clearly unsatisfied but with no visible reason why: drilling me on minutiae with terse comments on low-chance risks.

I asked one of my mentors, Sage Reasoner, for advice.

SR: "Learn to get along with El Capitan."

Me: "Uh, thanks."

Tonight, the vendor called me during dinner, to ask me if I knew that he and El were flying into town tomorrow.

If I say yes, I'm a liar.
If I say no, I look like an out-of-the-loop idiot.

What to do?

I said, breezily, "Tomorrow? We'd talked about a face-to-face soon... well, that works for me. Email me a schedule, tonight if you can."

Then I called SR.

Me: "Argggggggghhhhhhhhhh! Sneak Attack! Bwuddah, hudduh, dibbah, doo!"

SR: "OK. What did I tell you?"

Me: "Learn to get along?"

SR: "There you go."

I could actually freaking feel SR laughing at me.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the Vendor's forwarded schedule. I could see by the email trail that he and EC had been plotting it for over a week. That other folks had been aware. I fought back frustration at having so much responsibility yet being left out of the loop.

It took 3 phone calls to set up on-sites with key personnel. I checked that my favorite slacks were back from the cleaners, the weather forecast, and then compiled an agenda, and attached a swiftly created slide deck.

At 10PM, I started closing everything up - satisfied I'd done the best I could. That I was ready for whatever got thrown my way next.

I should have known better.

The vendor called. "El Capitan and I just skimmed the deck you sent. It answers any questions we may have had. So we're going to spend tomorrow with the folks over at VendorB to see if we can hammer out a new cooperative agreement for a different program."

After he hung up, I stared at the phone for a long time.

Then I began to systematically bang my head on my desk.