Noise: Hear/ Listen, Digest, Excrete

Less than 1 1/2 months into the job, I am starting to receive passionately written letters in my mailbox and ad hoc visitations to my office. I believe these "kind" attention from opportunistic employees is dispensed in a bid to 'suss the new manager out'.
There they will stand, relating in earnest their side of the story, their grievances and difficulties. Woe betide these long suffering souls. Honestly, I am surprised they lasted so long in the company.

Am I the "Messiah" they have been praying for?
Do they think I have the authority to veto decisions made by the executive M.D.?
Are they trying to capitalise on my apparent naiveté?

Here I am, trying to keep my focus in spite of the background noise. After all, apart from learning all about the trade, I am ultimately numbers driven.
Organizational management is definitely part of my R&R but without the fuel ($$), there will be no existence of the organization per se.
First things first. Especially when we're talking about navigating a SME/SMB.

Listen versus Hear:
When you are listening, you are actively trying to hear something.
In contrast, hearing is something that happens without any intentional effort.

Personal modus operandi: Listen, absorb, retain, digest, filter the crap, keep the nutrients, store them for growth, place the nonsense in the recycle bin and restore them to 'trash' crappers in future.

What a Ride!

Was having coffee with a friend when we saw a booth with these kiddy rides outside Toys R Us.

Ivy: Look at those animals. Cute, eh? If I were still a child, I would want to sit on one.
M: Gave me a look of belief.
Ivy: Come on, don’t you have a childhood?
M: Alright. But still…
Ivy: I would allow my (future) child to go for a round if (he/she) requested.
M: I believe you. Like Mother like child.
Ivy: Hey, why not? But he would have to convince me first. Man, those rides sure don't look cheap.

After a while, we saw a fortunate kid climb onto one and start riding laboriously around in circles.

Ivy: It does look a tad ridiculous. Gosh, moving back and forth to manually move that animal. Now, this is crazy.
M: So, still want a ride?
Ivy: Rolls eyes and shakes head.

Before we left the café...

Ivy: Say, how much do you think a ride like that cost?
M: 2 bucks max.
Ivy: I think you don’t know the market rate. I dare say, it’s at least 3 bucks. Let’s go check it out.

Walked over to the booth and I asked the bored looking counter teenager:

Ivy: How much does a ride like this cost?
Guy: $3.20 for 5 minutes for the smaller animals, $4.50 for the big ones.
Ivy and M: (Faints!) >_<

Upsetting the Equilibrium

Something happened to me on Friday that threw off the balance of things.
Call me a creature of habit but I tend to like it when things go as planned, my way. And there I was leading my seemingly uneventful but placid life, planning on setting up new routines for 2008 when suddenly someone walked over to my desk at the end of the work day and in all seriousness tells me he loves me!
How often do you get that?
After I had confirmed it’s not a prank, I freaked out. This is one crisis I have no prior management experience. I was caught unaware, unprepared and dashed out as soon as I could.
Maybe the year is kind and decides to present an opportunity for me to sue someone. Geesh. It’s year end and an immense problem has royally plunked itself onto my lap to handle. To ignore or confront is the million dollar dilemma now. God help me.

In All Silliness

I was running late for my dental appointment this morning and drove a little faster today on the highway.
Some car was hogging the road and as I drove past, I turned to check out what the driver was doing. Talking to a beautiful companion? Or just trying to be a safe driver?
Unfortunately, that guy had a problem with that. I didn’t notice that he was tailgating me until I took a glance into my rear mirror.
I furrowed my brows in perplexity and realized it was the same car I had just overtaken. “Wassup with that fella?”
Satisfied that he had finally attracted my attention, he proceeded to rev his engine and speed past me.
Ok, point taken. You do know where your accelerator is located.
-_-

A big guy trapped in a tiny car with a huge ego problem.

(N.B. I have nothing against economical cars. Just that I am definitely not getting a Getz now. It is really not a very powderful small car.)