Finding an effective strategy to tackling Workplace Challenges

Posted on by Shane

Alright, I know I said We Wear Khakis is dead, but my registrar automatically renewed the domain for another year. So, since the blog is up and paid for, what the hell. I got in the mood to write another post. So here you have it…. We Wear Khakis from the DEAD!

——-

I’m on a tough project right now with a certain government agency, and in classic government style, everything is endless roundabouts, bureaucracy and finger pointing. The client wants to see Y, but before Y can be done, we have to do X… but before we can even begin to think about doing X, the client has to give us U,V, and W!

Does that even make any sense? Well, in a nutshell, imagine your boss yelling at you for not making a bunch of copies of a document, when the copy machine has been broken for weeks and the boss is the only one who can put in an order to get it fixed… oh, and you’re also forbidden to go to Kinkos next door and get the damn copies yourself. You could go tell the boss they’re a giant, moronic asshole, but then you’d be fired.

Obviously, this is a non-productive environment in the making. And naturally, a lot of negativity starts rearing its head. Co-workers start quietly badmouthing our team’s leadership, our leadership starts micromanaging us, we all start pointing fingers at the client, and before you know it, no one wants to be here anymore.

Now is the time to do a U-turn. No is the time to flank the issue.

In strategic management I was taught there are only a few things you can do when faced with a challenge from a competitor or addressing a tough situation. You can-

  • Attack head on, face to face
  • Defend
  • Retreat and retrench
  • FLANK!

I made the last option, Flank, bold because it’s my favorite and I think most effective.

So, how do I tackle this problem at work? I don’t have the authority or seniority to attack it head first. I’m in no authority to be demanding anything of anyone or setting priorities for any of my teammates or the client work force.

I could sit back in my chair and make sure to simply “CYA” (cover your ass) day in and out, but that isn’t going to improve this particular situation.

I could find a new project or job, but that’s really not even an option.

Or, I could chip away at those around me by making friends with the client personnel who I have to rely onto get my job done. I could try to lift the spirits of my teammates, decline to talk negatively about anyone and keep it to myself, and work to anticipate problems or challenges before they arise. And, I could take a few valuable lessons from simple Game Theory in dealing with not so cooperative individuals.

The key is definitely to flank and be strategic. Of course, it is easier said than done, but like everything, it takes practice and time. And so, I begin flanking my workplace problems today, chipping away at them little by little.

Evolving, Growing, and Moving On…

Posted on by Shane

Dear Khakians,

Over the past year, my co-author and best friend Christian and I have had a great time blogging and trying to build a community around our little corner of the web. Along the way we’ve even had a little success.

We were featured on a couple other great blogs like Lifehacker, Frugal Dad and Mr. Money Mustache, we got custom swag made and walked the streets of New Orleans promoting the site one New Years Eve and Christian even ran a half marathon with his WWK swag on to promote the blog!

It has been a great hobby, but sadly we feel it is time to move on. When we started the blog, we made the terrible mistake of sharing it with people we know. We proudly publicized the website to our friends and family. This has caused a major headache for us. We have been blasted from all sides, by family, friends and even work colleagues. This past post serves as the perfect example, if you happen to read the comments where a longtime friend of mine took my message the wrong way.

Therefore, we’re moving on to a new project. This project is going to be different from We Wear Khakis. For starters, we aren’t sharing it with any friends or family. We’ll be posting under pen names and keeping it a bit mum.

If you’re a big fan of We Wear Khakis and would like to come along for the ride, leave us a comment (there is a tab to the right of the page) or email us at  admin@wewearkhakis.com. Friends and family need not bother asking us where they can find us.

Thanks for reading!

Keeping up with the Joneses is for Bitches

Posted on by Shane

A good buddy of mine just bought a Prius. During his proud maiden voyage to work in his new car he took a snapshot of the gas meter showing a whopping 65 miles to the gallon of gas. This was the equivalent of a teenage boy finding his dad’s stash of vintage Playboys to guys like us.

For a second, I thought to myself, “I think I should get a new car. I’m making a few bucks now, so why not.” Then I went outside and walked around my 2006 Scion XA. I took careful note of each and every ding and even the little scratch on the rear bumper where some asshole let a cart hit it in the Walmart parking lot. God, I hate Walmart.

Then I opened up the car door and got inside. The new car smell was long gone; it actually smelled like gym socks. The driver side seat also looked a little worn… but who was I kidding, my Scion is still a baby. She has at least 200,000 more miles in her.

So why all the longing for a new car? I think its because my buddy has one and a little part of me kinda sorta wanted a new car too just cause he had one. It seems ridiculous when I say it out loud to myself.

New Car

Only Slaves try to Keep Up with the Joneses

In the never ending struggle to keep up with the Joneses you become a slave- a slave to your possessions, to the opinions of others and to your job. Every time you forgo saving or investing in favor of buying thing you don’t really need, or spending money in an unwise fashion, you give up more time, as in more time that could be spent in an early retirement or even time spent now traveling and seeing the world or with family. And time is the one thing in the world that you can’t buy more of.

I’m proud to say that I have largely avoided trying to keep up with the Joneses. My wife and I live in a modest home, drive cars that were practically paid for with cash and carry little debt. All my friends seem to have nicer things than us, but few of them enjoy the level of freedom and security we do.

I even passed up going to a fancier grad school in favor of a smaller, less expensive university (Kennesaw State University over GA State) despite having many people urge me to go to the school with the big name. I decided to save $15 to $20k and go to KSU. Do I regret it after the fact? NO! I walked away with hardly any debt and still landed a job making substantially more than I did before I got the degree. While one of the Joneses would obsess over the name on their diploma, I broke it down on more of a practical and economic level. Not that I’m discounting the value of a degree from a big name university, but at the end of the day, it boils down to you, not where you went to school.

Keeping up with the Joneses is for Bitches

Now that I’ve talked over the whole keeping up with the Joneses phenomena with myself, I’ve realized that if I’d bought a car just out of some sort of envy or petty fake competition, that would make me somewhat of a…. what’s the word I’m looking for… BITCH!

Who are we kidding? Do adults really buy stuff just to look good for their neighbors or show off? Do people really care about what other people think of the brands thy are wearing or the logo on their shoes? Actually yes, they do more so than not. I even find myself caring on a certain level, as much as I try to punch down the petty instinct to care.

If you’re one of these people, today is the day to step back and quit being a slave and a little bitch. Yes, today you can kill two birds with one stone! You can free yourself from the shackles of the Joneses and you can graduate from your pull ups to the big boy (or girl) underwear and quit being a little pee in your pants bitch.

Free yourself slave!

Read the Requirements First Jackass!

Posted on by Shane

Ah, the life of a consultant. Isn’t it so glamorous, with all our jetting around in airplanes and staying in fancy hotels? Always the ones getting bumped up to first class, or enjoying the little extras and perks just for being who we are!

Yeah, that might seem how it is on the surface, but the reality is that we’re in the trenches and always only one major F-up away from a resume generating event (aka- doing something seemingly harmless that gets you fired).

Yesterday, I had just a little bit of a brush with one of these resume generating events.

 Oh Shit

Currently I’m working on a large data migration for a major organization in the Midwest. When you’re dealing with thousands and thousands of user’s data, you want to automate the process of moving their bits around as much as possible, but at the same time, one misstep can literally cripple an organization with a global reach!

So, yesterday I’m sitting at my laptop, hammering away at a script that will handle a small chunk of this migration process. We’re staging everything, testing it thoroughly in a virtual environment, and things are coming along pretty well. I’m feeling good about my geek skillz, the project seems on time and maybe, just maybe if this all works out I’ll get to head back to my room before 8pm after getting up at 3:45am to hit the road to get to the client site by 10am.  Still think consulting is glamorous?

I get an email from a senior consultant with a list of users that we’re migrating this afternoon. My script appears good to go. We’re in business! I’m pumped.

I take the spreadsheet, reformat is appropriately and dump it into the directory with my script so that it can be parsed through. I launch powershell, hammer in a few commands and BAM! The script runs with success, no errors.

I give the thumbs up to my senior consultant. He goes to check my work, and I start poking around at Google plus looking for cheap LOLZ from my OGs of Google+- the Buzz boys (yes, we all actually used to use Google Buzz).

My senior walks over to me and says, “What the hell man, you dumped all the users in the incorrect location. Did you read the updated requirements in my email?”

Oh shit….

My mistake was a relatively small one, but only small because it encompassed a small pilot group of users. I was going to try to un-script what I’d done, but was told I’d only mess it up worse. Dig out all the users by hand and delete them.

It took me about an hour and a half to get back to where I should have been IF I’D SIMPLY READ THE UPDATED EMAIL!

So, learn from my mistakes my dear readers- read the requirements first JACKASS!

Why does Atlanta Transit have to suck so bad?

Posted on by CH

DC MetroMost people seem really hesitant to switch over to public transit. Either it’s the waiting and scarce scheduling of busses and trains, a lack of access, or just not wanting to sit by the weirdoes who tend to ride public transit.

My co-author Shane took on Atlanta public transit for a while and actually had a pretty good experience initially. But after about three months he started driving again. Why? Well, after having his bus die on the highway twice and experiencing a few too many two hour commutes, he gave up. Atlanta public transit simply failed him, regardless how hard he tried to embrace it.

Aside from Atlanta, public transit isn’t so bad in other places. I snagged this photo on my iPhone this morning in D.C. on my way to the client office.  I enjoy using public transportation.  It’s relatively cheap, easy, and low stress as compared to driving on the busy roads around home in Atlanta.

A lot of people dislike the idea of bringing an effective public transportation system to the Metro Atlanta area, but after visiting city after city with well equipped mass transit systems I know that’s exactly what we need too. Change is never easy, but I think if my great home town plans to grow bigger and better – we need to invest in infrastructure.

 

Take Care of Your Employees, Cheap Asses!

Posted on by Shane

My co-author Christian made a great point to me in a recent email. We were having some great back and forth conversation about how various companies work from the inside out.

In our lines of business (both of us traveling consultants), we have the neat opportunity to be a fly on the wall in quite a few corporate offices. You quickly realize that organizational culture really does tend to correlate with how successful a company is as a whole, leading both of us to believe that solid organizational culture does have a meaningful impact on the overall bottom line.

Google Offices

Christian points out:

“One of the coolest parts of my job over the last couple of years has probably been the opportunity to see dozens of office settings. 

I’ve seen offices where the walls were all white, the coffee was tasteless, the employees worked until 4:59pm then rushed home, and no one was terribly enthusiastic about their job.  

Then there were other companies who had immaculate office space.  They served premium beverages (For Free!), the employees socialized, creativity was encouraged, their work spaces were bright, and people didn’t mind spending an extra hour at work to finish a project.  

It’s more expensive to take care of your employees and to go beyond just providing them a paycheck, but in the end all that extra cost actually grows the company’s bottom line, reputation, and overall longevity. “

The Worst Office:

I think back over my years in the professional world and what the offices were like at some of the less than ideal gigs I’ve held. The primary negative example that comes to mind is from my time spent as a lowly consultant for an environmental engineering firm a few years back.

The office at that organization wasn’t much more than a giant cubicle farm. The break room consisted of basically an emptied broom closet with a few tables cramped in alongside a lonely soft drink vending machine. There was really nowhere to congregate or socialize and next to no amenities outside the most hated and disgusting coffee on the face of the earth. In fact, the coffee was so bad that chat around its supreme shittiness was the only thing we employees tended to bond over.

The only place you could go take a quick break was on a few benches outside, next to the stinky cigarette butt thingy. And this little outdoor area only existed so the company could meet a LEED building certification standard.

The Best Offices:

In contract, I also think of two of the nicest offices I ever visited. The offices of Google in Atlanta and Avanade in Seattle both totally blew my mind! Both featured tons of room to relax, great coffee, free drinks and snacks, bright colorful décor, and awesome gadgets like Microsoft Surface computers and Chrome netbooks laying around to showcase some of the recent projects and products developed by the organization.

You would think with all the freebies, gadgets and lounging areas littering their offices, these organizations would have a hard time keeping people focused on work. But ironically just the opposite is true.

If I were to tell you the name of the super serious, penny pinching environmental engineering company, you’d probably admit you’d never heard of it. In fact, that company doesn’t even exist anymore (go figure). On the other hand, both Avanade and Google are multi-billion dollar a year enterprises.

So, next time you go looking for a job, take a hard look around at the office and what people are doing. If they’re all huddled down in their cubes, working in the confines of drab, pictureless walls, cringing as they take another sip of their disgusting coffee in-between constant glimpses at the time, maybe you pass on that gig given you have the luxury and look for a career somewhere a little more forward thinking.

*We also wrote about organization culture once before. Check it out!

 

A Fitness Plan for Busy People

Posted on by CH

Getting married, getting older, and now a few years deep into my career I have realized just how precious time is.  When I’m not on the road for work I’m doing my best to spend time with my wife, friends, and family.  When I’m not doing that I’m trying to tackle a few of my own personal projects, some house work, or maybe even just trying to squeeze in some time to mow the lawn,  and finally, when I’m not doing any of that I want to take care of myself – that means hitting the gym or doing something active every single day.

With those priorities in mind I thought it would be helpful to talk about a fitness plan to address the “life of a workin’ man” and although I have covered fitness extensively in previous posts – I thought this might be more helpful in an everyday use kind of way.

Work out when you can and make it up if you miss a day

Since life is busy schedules may vary from day to day and week to week so a workout plan with flexiblity is key. So, I’ve divided the my own workout plan into 7 “days” throughout the week instead of forcing myself to do “X workout” on Monday and “X workout” on Tuesday.  This way if I can’t make it to the gym on Monday or Tuesday, no problem, I’ll just do it later in the week.  Less structure in this way is more flexible.

The Plan: Seven days of fitness for busy folk

1 day: Upper body Tone and Strength Training (Gym Required)

One day a week you should focus on strength training and toning your upper body.  That should include lifts like bench press, curls, push-press, dips, pull-ups, etc.  Your workouts should consist of sets of no more than 10 reps and you should reach failure toward the end of each workout.

I enjoy doing compound lifts to get the most out of my workout.  That includes sets like combining curls into a push-press or a skull crusher into a close grip bench.  Strength training days are focused on building muscle so skip cardio on these days.

1 day: Lower body tone and strength training (Gym Required)

For Lower body strength training days apply the same rules for lifting as above.  You should include lifts like lunges, calf raises, squats, leg press, leg extensions, etc.  I usually try to do equal workouts to address my quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and buttocks.

I usually try to schedule my lower body workout days around my intense cardio days since cardio usually requires a large amount of leg usage.  If you are too tired you may take away from the effectiveness of your overall fitness program – you might even hurt yourself in the process.

2 days: Cardio and Body Weight Exercises (No Gym Required)

Do something that elevates your heart rate for at least 30 minutes.  I usually shoot for an hour if I have time, but do whatever you can.  In between running or biking (at stop lights, every 20 minutes, etc.) I do pushups, lunges, dips, or whatever I can while I’m taking a break.  This gives me an opportunity to do some maintenance on my muscles while also getting in that much needed cardio.

If I’m in the park I usually stop at every few park benches and do a set of incline bench press and dips on the bench.  Shoot for about 100 of each during your workout.  As I mentioned earlier, it might be helpful if you can schedule cardio days around your leg workout days.

2 days: Light Cardio and Active Living

You can’t make it to the gym and you can’t spend an hour running everyday, BUT you can do something active.  Maybe you go play Frisbee or Basketball with your friends.  Maybe you walk your dog for an hour.  Hell, maybe you just mow the grass and do some good ole’ fashioned yard work.  The key is JUST DO SOMETHING!

If you are really feeling active – do a light jog.  These days should serve as “active rest” days.

1 day: Flexibility, Rest, and Abs work

One thing I have seriously neglected throughout my athletic career is flexibility.  For some reason it has always fallen fairly low on my priority list – BIG mistake.

Recently I tweaked my back and I’m fairly sure that had I concentrated on stretching a few times a week it could have been avoided. Having said that spend at least an hour or so each week stretching – real stretching.
Also, set a goal to do at least 250 reps to tone those abs.  I suggest doing this several times a week if possible.  Remember you can do this anywhere – including in your living room or hotel while watching TV.

Questions?

You know where to leave ‘em.

How to create amazing bullet points for your resume

Posted on by CH

Last week I wrote an article about building a resume, then I realized the hardest part is getting the bullet points to accurately describe exactly how awesome you are at your job.  So at the request of a few friends I’ll describe my thought process.

Step 1: Describe, in plain English, what you do.

“I have 10 clients.  The total revenue from those clients is about $5 million.  I help them manage IT risks.  I do some audit, attestation, and business consulting work.  Some of the broad systems I deal with frequently are Windows, Unix, AS400, Accounting Applications, and related databases.  I frequently submit reports on business risks.  I usually manage 1 – 5 people on an engagement.  I budget billable hours. I build client relationships. I deal with C-Suite level people.  I deal with managers and staff level IT and accounting personnel.”

Step 2: Put what you do into simple bullet points.

  • I manage 10 clients worth $5 million dollars in revenue each year.
  • I work with IT risks.  I submit reports that describe how to mitigate those risks.
  • Some of the technology I work with is Windows, Unix, AS400, Databases, and accounting applications.
  • I manage 1 – 5 people per engagement which equates to 80 to 250 billable hours per week.
  • I build client relationships with people at various levels of the company.

Step 3: Make those bullet points awesome. Use action verbs, quantify your work, and give specific details about your area of expertise. 

  • Directly responsible for the management and execution of client work for 10 clients worth approximately $5 million in revenue annually.
  • Detailed understanding of Compliance and Attestation related reporting experience including SOC 1 reporting, IT internal Audit, and IT related Sarbanes Oxley Auditing.
  • Supervision of  1 – 5 project staff and up to 250 billable hours per week.  Duties include project execution, review of project deliverables, upholding project budget, and client management.
  • 3 years technical expertise with Windows, Unix, and AS400 based applications and databases specifically related to IT risk management.
  • Practiced client relationship manager having direct and frequent contact with individuals from all levels of the corporate environment.

Dear T-Mobile, thanks for enhancing my negotiation skills!

Posted on by Shane

I have always been a bit weak at business negotiation. I’ve never been good acting or feeling like I am being pushy. But here recently I was forced to buck up a bit and sharpen those pushy negation skills, compliments of T-Mobile, and I walked away with some good tips to share on negotiating with your phone company.

T-Mobile

My wife and I are both long time T-Mobile customers (seven years for me and nine for her). I became a Tmo customer due to a terrible experience with Cingular/AT&T. Compared to the soulless bastards at the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, T-mobile was like a breath of fresh air.

I used to feel like the balance between phone offerings and pricing was just right over at Tmo. Sure, they didn’t always stock the flashiest or newest phones, but their pricing was a lot more competitive and customer service kicked ass over past experiences I’d had.

Then the AT&T and T-Mobile merger was announced in early 2011. I groaned but knew it was inevitable. When the deal fell through, I was ecstatic but knew it was probably the beginning of the end for Big Magenta in the United States. Since then customer service has plummeted while prices seem to creep upward.

Great, you love T-Mobile. What does that have to do with negotiating a better deal?

Oh yeah, I actually had a point to the article once upon a time…

Over the past year, my wife’s phone bill has been plagued with phantom “Premium Services” fees that we could never seem to get to go away. Month after month, we’d call and have these strange $10 charges for NOTHING be removed and given empty promises that they’d be blocked.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S III released. I leapt for joy until I realized it would cost considerably more on T-Mobile than other carriers and Tmo wanted me to “upgrade” (as in raise the price on) my old $25 a month unlimited data plan to $35 a month. For the frugal Khakian, things weren’t going so well.

Nice Guys Finish LAST!

I called Tmo and tried being the nice guy, politely asking about the bogus “Premium Services” charges or how I could upgrade my phone without all the extra fees. The service reps were always nice but never did much for us.

Then finally, I had enough, and through the shenanigans ended up unlocking the secret to getting what I wanted out of my mobile plan. I have to credit my buddy Josh E. for helping me with the discovery.

Step 1: Gain some leverage if possible

Over the last few years, my wife and I avoided renewing our contract and now it had expired. Phone companies hate you to be without a contract. Why? Cause you can walk out on them if they piss you off. This is a big black eye to the industry as a whole in my opinion, an industry where customers have to be retained with legal agreements- that’s another post for another day.

Step 2: Be ready to pull the trigger and walk away

After getting hit with what seemed like the 10th “Premium Services” fee for $10 a month, and enviously watching a punk play with his Galaxy S III for the 15th time while waiting endlessly in line at the grocery store, I was fed up, finished, THROUGH!

I pulled up Boost Mobile’s website, selected our new phones and went to the checkout page. With credit card in hand, I called T-Mobile and simply started the conversation with these five words:

“When does my contract expire?”

“Sir, is there something I can help you with regarding your service?” The representative asked, completely dodging the question.

“I’m sick of these bogus charges month after month, and I’m not paying extra for a Galaxy S III while increasing my data plan cost just to have the phone.”

She replied as calmly as could be, “Sir, I’m sorry you’re unhappy, I can help you with this…”

I replied slightly exasperated, “Look, I’m on the Boost Mobile site. They offer service at X Price for XY and Z Features. I have my credit card in hand and I’m changing plans.”

Step 3: Don’t be afraid to point out short comings- fairly but sternly

T-Mobile must have a bunch of androids working for them, because I was unpleasant that day and the rep stayed cool as a cucumber. I wasn’t rude but I was quick to point out all of T-Mobile’s recent shortcomings like their increased pricing, more expensive phones, lack of selection, etc. It wasn’t easy for me to turn into such a jerk, but it was important.

…and finally, T-Mobile started talking business with me…

Step 4: Make a GOOD deal and solidify the agreement verbally

I ended up a happy customer that day. T-Mobile met the Boost Mobile pricing, gave me a credit on the account to bring the cost of the Galaxy S III phone down and reimbursed us for all the “Premium Services” fees while permanently blocking them. They also didn’t require me to increase the cost of my data plan and allowed me to add data for my wife’s phone for $10 a month. Oh, and they politely offered to throw out the bullshit $35 upgrade fee for getting the Galaxy S III!

I made the representative repeat back the entire deal to me verbally, and I repeated it back to them several times before agreeing, just to be safe. T-Mobile didn’t lose either. They got a two-year extension at about $110 a month out of us.

The moral to the story is, if you want to get anywhere you’re going to have to buck up a bit and play hard ball. Gain some high ground, be ready to walk away, know what you want and solidify the agreement.

How to make your resume irresistible

Posted on by CH

I was helping my father-in-law out with his resume the other day and I realized that some people do not realize just how awesome they are – especially when it comes to putting it on paper.

I remember a few years ago when I went through the whole process of building my first resume.  Looking back now, frankly, I realize that when I started I had no idea what I was doing.  After what seems like countless hours of internet research, talking to professors, and visits to the career center I managed to become somewhat of a self proclaimed expert on resume writing.

Today I have helped what seems like a couple dozen of my friends and family build resumes and after a couple dozen call backs for interviews I realized I had an effective formula for knocking down an irresistible resume.

Resume

Build a Better Resume:

1. Start off with an awesome template.  Like this one.

2. Quantify your accomplishments.  (100 people, $1 million, 25 Factories, etc.)

3. Don’t be modest.

4. Be relevant. (include skills specifically related to the job you want.)

5. Be brief. (One page)

6. Be specific.

7. Start each bullet point with an action verb. (Managed, Supervised, Budgeted)

8. Have more than one resume. (Customize your resume to fit the job you want.)

9. Get your resume into the right hands. (Don’t just submit it online, find out who the manager is and email it to them directly, even if the website says not to.)

10. Unless you have insider knowledge – leave out personal stuff.  (i.e., unless you know you attend the same church as the manager don’t include it on your resume.)

11. Avoid paragraphs.

12. Use one sentence bullet points.

13. If you are at a loss for bullet points.  Start by writing down what you do everyday, how it provides value to the company, how much value, and then describe the highlights in a few bullet points.

14. Do not lie.

15. Do make your menial “data entry” duties sound vital to the company, because they are.

16. If you are submitting electronically, submit a .pdf.

17. If you are submitting a hard copy, use resume paper.