>
> Javilk writes:
>
> > Amongst some people. Others... Why should I have a pager? Call me
> > before the crisis, and it won't happen.
>
> "Because it looks cool". Not that this is a particular concern
> of mine, but that's the reasoning he's referring to. Frankly, the
To whom? Upper management? Or other techno-geeks like myself?
> gadget on *my* wish-list is a milspec SparcBook from Tadpole
> (www.tadpol.com....). Hm, looks like they merged with RDI and are no
> longer offering the "ruggedized" military version. I may yet build
> one myself; something in me is just fascinated with the idea of a
> bulletproof laptop :-).
Now there is my idea of something worth while having! But
non-ruggedized... well, it just isn't the same anymore... (Though I do
own a Grid 386... paid $1.00 each for two of them surplus. Alas, not
enough RAM to run Linux. And somewhat passe of late.)
> > Yes, a demonstration of respect and willingness to partake in the
> > common effort.
>
> Also important but a separate issue. The message you send by your
> choice in apparel and behavior is something you need to think about, but
> the issue of common ground to unite a team is a separate one.
I tend to be the last one leaving a project... I think it's the suits.
> > "Get away"... But what is the opportunity cost of that "getting away"?
>
> Depends on the circumstances. In some environments, wearing
> T-shirt and jeans and tennis shoes will get you farther than wearing a
> suit - it's something in the nature of a bluff, though it's not really
> a bluff:
Yes... two interviews I lost because "they" were wearing shorts. Not
my style, anyway.
> If you're good enough to back it up, it establishes a certain
> amount of respect and freedom (both personal and organizational) for
> you.
>
> Demonstrating conformance can buy you a certain amount of
> cooperation, but it also implicitly commits you to buying into the
> existing organizational power structure.
I have my own standards -- there's someone out there who pays all our
salaries. If we don't support him and her, we won't get paid. I am, in
the long haul, hired to help you help them. If you are going to screw
them instead, I have no business working for you. Though I might ask
polite questions that should enlighten you before I leave.
> > For me, the suit and tie speaks for me, letting me keep my mouth shut when
>
> It is gratifyingly amazing how your mode of dress influences
> certain echelons - law enforcement and security personnel being two of
> them. It sucks, but it's life; they're in a stressful and risk-ridden
> environment and they tend to grasp at the most immediate clues to
> determine the safest (for them) course of behavior.
I suppose it is a question of whom you are, your clothing, your body,
or the soul who wears your body. I am a soul. I remember many deaths,
some for illness, and some for reason. I think it easier to die for
reason than for illness; it leaves one with a clearer perception of one's
values, and ultimately, whom one is.
As to convention, I adopt what seems to work to soothe those whom I
work with, and show that I support the main part of this culture. I am
not a rebel, nor a judge; but a mediator with a set of values.
> > > i also get a certain amount of grace because i'm not a businessman,
> > > i'm a programmer. my life tends to be easier if i fall into the
> > > archetype of the 'hired gun' rather than trying to pass as another
> > > 'wealthy land-owner'. land-owners want their paid assasins to *look*
> > > like paid assasins, so a certain difference of appearance is expected,
> > > and accepted.
> >
> > Um... I suppose where they want a hired gun type solution... which
> > usually means the lower echelons, and as of late, they have to grovel
> > before a lot more people to get approval to hire the gun. And some seem
> > to have an innate fear that the gun might be misused against them
> > afterwards...
>
> See above about establishing your location either outside of or
> inside of the power structure. A hired gun has the advantage that he
> doesn't have to worry about the status quo as much. He's expected to
> step on people's toes in the pursuit of getting the job done, and
> he'll go away after he does so. Sometimes this works for you; other
> times the political winds shift and the project gets reorganized and
> you go out the door because you stepped on the wrong toes.
I will be out the door whether I succeed, or fail; whether I step on
toes, or kiss them. In the end, what matters is the one who will use my
work. And yes, the bottom line. If I can not save or make you more money
than you pay me, I have no business being there.
> > > my own look happens to be based on the neo-tribal tech genre.. all
> > > black clothing, ponytail, combat boots, habitually unshaved.. the only
> >
> > I think black comes from working on the old CRT's, where white shirts
> > often resulted in some glare.
>
> Black comes from youth underground culture, which comes from
> areas like the gothic movement (which comes from the 17th or 18th, I
> forget which, resurgence in interest in gothic literature and "all
> things Scottish"), the techno/industrial movement, and in general from
> the misguided romanticism that "black" as a color has. On the other hand,
> many of my favorite garments are black because it's hard to go wrong
> with basic black... I just have to watch out I don't accidentally end
> up dressed all in black and get mistaken for a goth! :-)
Ever since Beu Brummell, I think... I don't follow those kinds of
things much.
> Yeah, but a get-up like that can create a reputation, or more to
> the point an aura. It's all about psychology...
(Laugning!) Problem is, I tend ot go for the guts and ignore auras.
I walk this earth, touch reality with my hands as well as my feet, and
help bring the forms out of reality like some carver working a stone or
bough to bring out the inner form. The world is not a blank slate as many
seem to think; it has form and function. If one sees into the structure
of reality, one tends to get done sooner with a better product than if one
tries to impose an arbitrary structure upon reality.
What I mean is, people tend to use things in certain ways, and
reality tends to follow certain patterns. I tend to mediate the two into
something more generically suitable than a one shot disposable tool.
> > Fear may be a form of power. But so is the sense of friendship, even
> > kinship others feel towards those who are seen as members of the club,
> > and willing to help others. A good image and a smile will transcend even
> > the barriers of language.
>
> But not barriers of culture. In some cultures, a smile can be a
> grievous insult (for example, a smile that shows your teeth is an
> insult in japan). Your point is valid however; I've seen more than
The example was a Japanese consultant I worked with. He spoke very
little English. Mostly we drew diagrams, pointed at lines of code, and
chuckled at ourselves as we saw how we had misunderstood each other. I
tend to follow the facial patterns and voices of others... but growing up
in a European family, with a European body language, I tend to smile with
my mouth shut.
> one expert get shot down in flames because they antagonized and
> alienated the people they were working with. It's a tricky line to
> walk.
Far trickier than a good image and a smile. There are some people who
just radiate. They need not be open or gregarious; but you can see they
are decent. (Unless, of course, they turn out to be psychopaths...)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----------------------- IMAGINEERING --------------------------
----------------- Every mouse click, a Vote -------------------
---------- Do they vote For, or Against your pages? -----------
--- Have you analyzed your viewer's footprints in the logs? ---
--- Webmaster's Resources: http://www.mall-net.com/webcons/ ---
--- Web Imagineering -- Architecture to Programming CGI-BIN ---
---------------------------------------------------------------
____________________________________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Join The Web Consultants Association : Register on our web site Now
Web Consultants Web Site : http://just4u.com/webconsultants
If you lose the instructions All subscription/unsubscribing can be done
directly from our website for all our lists.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
