Ask Lemmy

You can't go in and give 100% every day. You will burn out. Give 70% regularly. Only give 100% when shit really hits the fan. People will think you are a miracle worker.

People are really fucking stupid. I work in IT. I'm a helpdesk tech at an MSP, and I see profound idiocy all day every day. People have no critical thinking skill and seem proud of the fact they don't know shit about anything. People young and old say they're tech illiterate like it's a good thing.

Your boss's priorities are your priorities.

To be cool and not let emotion dictate your behaviour.

If you don't show up, you get fired.

When you're 19, this is a valuable lesson.

These are my grandfather's words not mine: no matter how much of an idiot your boss is, he is still your boss

Join a union the first chance you get, they exist to fight against HR, and to fuck over the company if they try to fuck you over

No one wants to get into the weeds, but you work in those weeds and they'll strangle you if you thrash about while ignoring them for too long.

Understanding where you work fits in the bigger picture, and how it connects to work in other areas, is a powerful tool to suss out problems effectively and inform solutions. Know at least little bit about what's downstream.

Recurring problems are rarely a function of stupidity and incompetence (alone), and much more often a function of imbalance between demands and available resources.

Sales cares about that quarter's number going up, so they will do everything in their power to get that sale. This includes promising the moon and doing no consultation with anyone to confirm there's resources to meet those expectations. Failure to meet those expectations will still be Operations' fault.

In the same way not everyone wants to be an A student, not everyone wants to be a rock star employee. In the real world, those people are the smart ones.

No matter who you are, you are replaceable. If you've become something like a key limb, this is still true. They'll just do without that limb for a while and bitch that no one is doing the stuff that limb took care of it.

It's always better to underpromise and overdeliver than to overpromise and underdeliver. Most of the time, this is a question of framing. If someone tells you something will be ready by Friday, always tell the client it will be ready by Tuesday whenever possible. If it's ready by Friday, you are a [insert a bunch of positive buzzwords] organization. If it's not, that's ok because you said it'd be ready on Tuesday. Check in Monday morning.

If you're client-facing, you're going to get a lot of praise for shit you didn't personally do. Spread the praise freely - people remember this and will be more willing to help you out in the future than they would be otherwise.

Being likeable will get you further than sheer competence. Competence at the right moment is more valuable than likeability. Aim for both. Shorter version: try not to be a dick, while also using your head meat.

Trust, but verify.

You can get away with a LOT if you keep people up to date with what you're doing

Never try and improve things, specifically things having to do with how your job, group, division, it whatever works. Don't try and improve efficiency, optimize workflow, or anything like that. Just do what you're paid to and nothing more. If the company wants things to be more efficient then they can have your boss figure it out on their own. If they don't punish you for trying them they won't reward you for success, so don't bother. Going above and beyond never works out.

Reward for being even slightly competent and having work ethic is more work. To the point where you are doing everything until you break.

If you do something that needed to be done out of curtesy it'll become your responsibility.

If you want to find someone who understand something about the corporation, look at the basement.

People (customers and coworkers alike) are generally not very bright, putting it politely. No matter how foolproof you design a system, the human race is out there absolutely cranking out bigger fools than you even imagined.

for me:

Your

Your

Your

You're represented by your words. It can cost you opportunities.

*You're. I'm sorry for being that guy, but you've made that mistake three times.

Anyways, it is never worth being the hard-working type. I've learned the lesson that once you prove to be reliable, management is going to gravitate towards you and work you to death. That means, they'll want you always helping others, they want you in multiple departments, they want you doing extra tasks on top of everything you do.

So, don't be reliable. Just do what you can and call it a day. Don't over-achieve, especially if the company-related rewards aren't worth it.

We had big layoffs last year. The order of layoffs was troublemakers that couldn't be fired for other reasons > attendance > performance > how recent you were hired.

Being right doesn’t matter if you can’t convince others.

This goes for just about anything in life:

“First seek to understand, then to be understood.”

HR protects and represents the company, not you as an employee.

Don’t touch liquid nitrogen with your bare hands.

Don’t touch glowing metal with your bare hands.

Don’t touch exposed wire with your bare hands.

No matter what, under no circumstances should you ever believe the company or place you work for will back you up.

If a company was placed in a situation where they can get rid of you for any reason, they will and they will do it as fast as possible.

Even if you believe you are irreplaceable, a company will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get you out of the equation.

Even if you have been with the company for 20+ years, if the company sees a way to save a hundred bucks by getting rid of you, they will.

Even if you and your boss and their bosses are buddy buddy and they are the godparent to your child and if you donated them a kidney, they will replace you.

Even if you show that you work the most, bring in the most sales, work the longest, get paid the least, and do work so everyone can slack off, they will replace you.

Also HR is never there for you. It is there to protect the company first and foremost. If you go to them for any reason, you are on a list to be the first to go.