Category Archives: Management and Work

Bits and pieces on business and supervision – doing and undergoing – and working nicely (or not) with others.

Is That the Best You Can Do?

Posted on 14 September 2014 by Isabel Gibson

Netflix traffic accounted for 34% of North America’s downloads during the busiest hours of the day this year. Drew Fitzgerald, Wall Street Journal, 2014 May 14 Maybe you already knew that Netflix accounts for one-third of internet downloads. But maybe … Continue reading →

Posted in Management and Work, Thinking Broadly | Tagged | 6 Comments

We Appreciate Your Business

Posted on 07 September 2014 by Isabel Gibson

Thank you for calling the blank-blank-blank. All of our associates/agents/technicians are currently serving other customers. We appreciate your business. Please stay on the line and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Management and Work | Tagged | 6 Comments

We Know Where That Information Is

Posted on 24 August 2014 by Isabel Gibson

Have you seen a blue binder? From his glassed-in perch, the bulldozer operator frowns for a moment at the note in his hand, looks down suspiciously at the guy with the mop of curly hair who is looking up at … Continue reading →

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Management and Work | Tagged | 8 Comments

Instructor, Instructee

Posted on 15 June 2014 by Isabel Gibson

Learning (in part) not to accept responsibility for another’s problem, and not to need to make others happy with me, and to accept my own rightful authority in a job.   He asked the same question six times. I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Management and Work, Thinking Broadly | Tagged | 8 Comments

Bee-beep, Bee-beep, Bee-beep

Posted on 02 February 2014 by Isabel Gibson

Working in a rental unit’s kitchen (hard to claim “cooking”), my irritation with a different microwave’s timer beeps causes me to consider my own skills as a supervisor.   Bee-beep. I look around as the timer sounds off. What was … Continue reading →

Posted in Management and Work, Thinking Broadly | Tagged | 16 Comments

To Be? That is the Question

Posted on 26 January 2014 by Isabel Gibson

An article about elk advocates – no, strike that, “elf advocates” – gives me a whole new way to think about who I am.   Elf advocates have joined forces with environmentalists to urge the Icelandic Road and Coastal Commission … Continue reading →

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Management and Work | Tagged , | 6 Comments

All It Takes

Posted on 22 December 2013 by Isabel Gibson

Lessons learned about management from watching flash mobs. The woman stands composedly in the half-empty space in the middle of the vaulted rotunda, long hair pulled back in a tidy braid. Her unhurried removal of her overcoat reveals a military … Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Management and Work | Tagged | 10 Comments

The Non-post Post

Posted on 10 November 2013 by Isabel Gibson

After 9 straight 10-hour work days, my brain is in overdrive, skittering from the confessional, to AA, to the ShamWow! Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been nine days since my last timesheet. I shake my head — … Continue reading →

Posted in Management and Work, Thinking Broadly | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Wolf!

Posted on 13 January 2013 by Isabel Gibson

A warning label about a silica-gel packet provokes anxiety, curiosity, and, finally, disbelief.     Do Not Eat the Silica Gel. The warning on the pre-cooked bacon-bit package practically screams at me. In large lettering, Caps For Emphasis, it is, … Continue reading →

Posted in Management and Work, Thinking Broadly | Tagged , | 4 Comments