Tune

Monday, 19 June 2000
You're probably familiar with the grumbler, the croaker, the nagger. Things are never right. There is always something wrong. Everybody is happily doing their job and here he comes with a stunning list of catastrophes.

Yes, I must admit. I'm quite close to the critic. He is more like my own character than the other types. I might discuss the other ones some other time. Have a look at the following matrix with two axes:

  1. A heart or no heart in the business
  2. A heart or no heart in colleagues
These two axes result into four types:
  No heart in colleagues A heart in colleagues
Heart in the business Critic Example
No heart in business Civil servant Socio
The critic has a heart for business. He has the best intentions but fails to communicate them pleasantly. The following formula did not catch his attention yet:

E = Q * A (Effect is quality times acceptance)

Too little acceptance and any quality of his comments fails to make an impact. So, for the critics among you, a tip to increase the level of acceptance.

Play a positive tune.

There is nothing to it. Consider it to be just a positive wrapping. The quality and the contents of the message remain. It is just the tune that changes. Your colleagues prefer to hear about a positive future, rather than a negative past. So, stick to possible solutions in stead of created errors. The level of acceptence will go up, and so will the effect.

Refrain from But play the following tune
Which illiterate idiot made the last backup way back in October 1999? This kind of amateurism now causes the loss of a half year's work. How wonderful it would be to always have a recent backup. Even a total computer failure would be minor incident.
Here we go again. This is the 3rd time I have to report this error. Are my comments used at all, or am I testing for the cat's violin? O what intense joy would fill my heart if the points I report would be solved when the next round of testing starts. I would really get the feeling that my work is meaningful.
It's impossible to work with programmers. They are special people. Socially disabled that's what they are. They just fail to communicate. It is quite a challenge to work with a wide veriety of characters with different skills, such as programmers and make the project a success.
Till next week!
Nut