We’re such creatures of habit.

When I think of the 9 to 5, the corporate rat race, I think of the Fifties. You know, the classic scene where it’s 5 o’clock, Mom’s got her hair and makeup tidied, is getting the table set, the kids are playing quietly on the floor, and Dad comes in the door, with his briefcase, suit and hat. He looks a little worn out from the workaday world, but he’s proud to be providing for his family. Tomorrow morning, he’ll head out the door, commute to the office, and do it all over again.

Sure, a lot of things about this scene have changed. “The Wife” isn’t necessarily a professional homemaker anymore. The kids are likely playing XBOX. A lot of Dads don’t wear suits to work anymore. But it’s funny that the one thing we’re still hung up on is the whole “Workaday World” thing.

Many people still get up every Monday to Friday morning, grab their lunch bag out of the fridge, commute into the city, and sit in a stuffy office or grey cubicle for 8 hours. They take their lunch to the lunch room and eat ham sandwiches while discussing last night’s hockey game. They shuffle back to their desks, until 3pm when it will be “Jack’s Birthday” in the boardroom. They will stand around eating too-sweet cake off paper plates with plastic forks, and pat Jack on the back before heading back to their cube to finish the day. They will get up at 5pm, grab their empty lunch bag, and commute home. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the type of work being done. I know plenty of people that work in offices who truly enjoy the work they do. They are involved in interesting projects, with good people, and dynamic teams. But I am wondering if there are better ways to accomplish the same thing?

8 days hours a week day. I had an interesting conversation with my friend Pam yesterday. We’re both self employed consultants, and we spent some time musing about how life of a consultant is VERY different from the life of the average nine to fiver. It really got me thinking.

People in the workaday world are required to show up at a certain time of the morning, get right to work, and keep working for 8 hours. Then they can go home. The expectation is that, aside from a few short breaks and lunch, they will keep working throughout the duration of their time there. However, it’s common knowledge that a certain percentage of those 8 working hours are made up with personal calls and email, chatting with coworkers, cake in the boardroom, and yes, Farmville. So, of those 8 hours, how many are being spent head-down in work? 6? 5? Less? The corporate culture equates sitting at a desk to being productive, but to me, the last place people are productive is sitting at their desks. I got hours worth of work done in just 1 hour yesterday, sitting on a park bench with my iPhone. No birthday parties. No co-workers wanting to chat. No boss bugging me every 10 minutes.

Those of us who work for ourselves (or who work at home) have a very different model. My actual sitting at the desk working time each day is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4-5 hours. Makes me seem like kind of a slacker, eh? But consider that the average nine to fiver is probably putting in only about 6 hours of an 8 hour day on actual work, and suddenly I’m at about par. Throw into the mix that many consultants and workshifters spend a large percentage of the rest of their days working via mobile device – responding to emails, taking and making calls, or networking while in line at the grocery store, or while waiting for a friend at dinner. Just because people are not at the computer doesn’t mean things aren’t getting done. In fact, it’s possible that even more things are getting done in the average day spent outside of the cubicle walls.

If I can’t see you, you’re not there. Cats have this funny thing where if they can’t see you, they think you can’t see them. From under blanket, or in a box, as far as a cat is concerned, you can’t see them, so they are not actually there. Imagine their surprise when you suddenly lift the blanket or open the box! Managers in the workaday world are like cats that way. They think that if they can’t physically see their staff sitting in their cubicles, then they aren’t there. And if they aren’t there, then obviously, no work is getting done.

I worked in the corporate rate race for many years before striking out on my own. It was in my job description to show up at a certain time, leave at a certain time, and do specific things while I was in the office. If I had to leave to run to the store or something, I had to let people know where I was. Then, I had to make sure that I stayed an extra 20 minutes at the end of the day to make up the time. If I wanted to go have coffee with a friend, it was best to wait till after hours – coffee with friends during the “work day” was frowned upon. After all, I was supposed to be working between 9am and 5pm. Socializing and networking was for after business hours only.

As is the case with many small businesses these days, our team at Jester Creative is entirely remotely based. They don’t have to show up to an office every day. We meet in person, discuss the work to be done, then they go off and do it. We don’t care if they do the work at 4am on a Sunday or 2pm on a Thursday, as long as it gets done, they meet their deadlines, and contact us if they have issues.

In fact, I have much lower expectations than the average workaday world manager. I don’t expect my team to show up at 9 and leave at 5, stick around for birthday parties and eat ham sandwiches in the lunchroom. I just expect them to get the work done. I don’t care if they go for coffee in the middle of the day, and I don’t care if they take Tuesday off. The irony is, because my expectations of their physical presence are so much lower, the work that is put out is of much higher quality, gets done much faster, and in fewer hours than if they were sitting in a cubicle 8 hours a day.

I feel as if I could write forever on this topic. What it comes down to is, I think that some corporate culture shifts need to start happening. We see countless reports on how much wasted time, and lost productivity there is in the corporate environment and particularly in government. Don’t you think that finding ways for workers to escape the 9 to 5 culture could improve that? I want to hear your thoughts.

[photo credit: herval on Flickr]

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I didn’t know what I was going to blog about this morning, then I saw this on Lucretia Pruitt’s Facebook page. I want you to watch it all. Trust me, it’s so entertaining you won’t even notice it’s a bit long.

Impersonations by Kevin Spacey (Inside the Actor’s Studio)

It’s no secret that Kevin Spacey is one of the best actors of our time. Not convinced? Well, if you haven’t seen The Usual Suspects, The Shipping News, American Beauty, or any of the other 60-some-odd films he’s been in, then you need to. Then come back and tell me he’s not one of the greats. Not only that, but as you’ve seen above (you did watch the video, right?), Mr. Spacey is also extraordinarily talented at impersonations. But don’t get too hung up on his ability to change his voice to match Clint Eastwood, Marlon Brando, and yes, Katharine Hepburn, because there’s so, so much more to it than that. What makes Kevin Spacey such a great actor is his absolute attention to detail.

Don’t just do. Be. Go back and watch a bit of the video again if you need to. You’ll notice something interesting. You see Kevin just being Kevin, smiling, laughing, and blushing Then suddenly, host James Lipton asks Jimmy Stewart a question and there is a sudden shift. Kevin isn’t just preparing to talk like Jimmy Stewart – he becomes Jimmy Stewart. His body position changes. He starts to move his hands a certain way. He somehow shape-shifts parts of his face to be more “Jimmy”. He’s Jimmy, before a word even comes out of his mouth. Then, when he does speak, he answers the question, not as “Kevin Spacey doing Jimmy Stewart”, but as Jimmy Stewart would have answered the question.

It’s this fine attention to detail that is so impressive. There’s no doubt that Mr. Spacey has spent countless hours watching his fellow actors, studying, in detail, the precise habits, mannerisms, intonations, and expressions they use. Then, he probably spent countless more hours in front of a mirror, perfecting his impersonation. Sure, talent has some to do with it – the guy’s most certainly got an aptitude for this whole acting thing. But attention to detail is what wins him the fans. He’s not just “doing” acting. He’s “becoming” his characters. Big difference.

Are you doing, or being? As you go through your days, are you just floating from one task to the next, doing this, finishing that, so that at the end of the day you look back and can’t really see what you’ve accomplished? Or are you being your work? Are you getting into the finer details of the things you’re doing, and really studying? If you start to pay attention to the fine details of what is in front of you, something amazing will happen. You’ll notice different things. You’ll see how all the little pieces fit together to make the whole. You’ll be able to read between the lines, and your end result will be much, much better quality. Be present with your work, and focus on the detail of it, until you get it right.

Make it look easy. Kevin Spacey makes acting look easy. In that video, he shifts seamlessly from Kevin to character and back again. He brings all the pieces together – body language, humour, expressions, tone of voice – and the complete package is presented flawlessly. But at the end of the video, you see Kevin do something, even though it’s sort of in a joking way. He fans himself, says “whew”, pretends to look worn out by this ordeal of having to play so many characters at once.

It is not easy to do what he did in that clip. It takes crazy amounts of concentration, confidence, experience, and wit – more than most people have. I can bet that it would take a lot out of a performer to have to perform on the spot like that. But Kevin’s a details man, and he’s not about to let the minutiae slide, that’s for sure. He’s practiced, prepared, and paid attention to detail, and he makes it look easy.

Are you a teacher? A public speaker? A musician? A consultant? Your goal should be to make what you do look easy, even though people know it’s hard. And that takes an absolute dedication to detail. It takes practice and knowledge and comfort with your subject matter. When you make things look easy, you’re not trying to show people that things ARE easy. You’re showing that you’ve mastered something, and if you’re a master, people will want to see more. Maybe they will even want to hire you for what you know how to do.

Making something look easy is hard, and it takes lots of practice and a bit of talent and oodles of time. But focus your energies on working hard at making it look easy, and people will start to respond. Remember, most people just see the easy. Details people see what it takes to get there.

How much are you paying attention to the fine details of things? Are you reading between the lines? Studying, re-reading, preparing, practicing? Or are you just going with the flow and stopping when something is “good enough”? I know I’d rather see Kevin Spacey do a remarkable impersonation of Johnny Carson than one that’s just “good enough”. Wouldn’t you? Then why would we ever expect just “good enough” out of ourselves?

Perhaps we should all try to be a little more Kevin Spacey.

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One of my three words for the year is “Stretch”. (The other two are “Less”, and “Collaborate”, but that’s a post for another time.)

Stretching is always a good thing. Animals have it right. They stretch continuously – especially when they get up from a nap, or when they are looking for affection. They stretch because it feels good.

Have you ever been sitting at your desk for a few hours, totally engrossed in what you’re doing, then suddenly you try to move? Yep – we’ve all been there. You’re stiff, sore, maybe your foot is asleep. The only solution is to streeetttccchh. Ahh, that’s better. Stretching oxygenates our bodies, releases tension, and if we do enough of it, it makes us more flexible.

I’ve made a commitment this year to stretch more – and that doesn’t mean just by doing more yoga, starting to run (which is a real stretch for me!), or getting away from my desk more often. It’s also about stretching beyond the current lines I’ve drawn around my experiences.

When was the last time you…did some type of work that you haven’t done in ages? Back in the day, I had my hands dug deeply into web site coding. In the mid-late 1990′s, when the web was just getting going, I was HTML and JavaScripting my way through Notepad and Dreamweaver, building sites by the dozen. I learned it all myself – from books and the Web and through the help and support of many brilliant teachers and mentors.

Time went on, and I moved into managing web projects, instead of coding them. I had teams of developers now, who knew far more than me about this stuff (and enjoyed it a lot more too). I focused on what I was good at – working with clients and creating content. I left the techie stuff to the techies. I was grateful that I had learned a thing or two about how web sites worked from a technical perspective – it made me much easier to work with, because I knew what was possible and had a sense of how my wild and crazy ideas could affect the scope of a development project.

As the years went by, the technologies evolved, and, because I was focused on other areas, the new technologies of the web went beyond my capabilities. I was okay with that, though, because I still understood the basics, even if I wasn’t fluent in the new languages of the Web. But, there’s always a part of me that wishes I’d kept up with it.

Skills revisited. Last night, I was working on small web site that required a bit of simple JavaScript in order to work the way I wanted. It had been YEARS since I’d done any kind of scripting like that. Of course, with my skills being so out of date, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to come up with the code I needed myself. I did what any self respecting hack would do, and went to Google to try and figure out how to do it. I was able to get about 80% of the way there, which impressed me. I did have to call in reinforcements to help me nail it down (thanks, Michele!), but once she pointed me in the right direction, I was off to the races.

What’s a skill that you have that you haven’t used in a long, long time? Are you a manager now? How many years has it been since you’ve been “in the trenches”? What would happen if you dove back in, even just for a while?

Once we get into the position where we are managing others, it’s easy to forget what it was like to be doing their job. I work with web designers, developers, videographers and video editors all the time. I manage the teams, guide them, give direction. I feel as if I do it fairly well – at least that’s what I hear from my teams. I think part of my secret, is that I still make a point to play around with simple code, pick up a camera, and edit projects once in a while.

I don’t think I’d be as good a manager as I am if I didn’t exercise my old skills once in a while. Now, our web developers and designers are far more skilled at what they do than I am. I’m a pretty good editor, a pretty good videographer – but I put ultimate trust in my guys, who do it day in and day out. They are better at it than I am – that’s why I pay them.

But if I don’t sit in the trenches once in a while and crack open Final Cut or Photoshop, then I’m doing myself and them a disservice. Putting together that small, simple piece of functionality in that web site last night reminded me of a few things. First, it takes time to make sure it’s right – time that I’m sometimes guilty of not allowing my developers. Second, it’s okay to ask others for help when you need it – one’s pride often gets in the way of getting the job done. Third, coding takes infinite amounts of patience (patience that I don’t have).

Stretch beyond your walls. Stretching is about going beyond those habits we get into. It’s about reaching outside your comfort zone once in a while. It’s about revisiting some old skills, so you can not only appreciate where you’ve come from but so you can appreciate the people who continue to do those things day in and day out. Take some time to get in the trenches, so you can truly understand what your team is dealing with – what are their challenges? How are you making their challenges more difficult? How can you make it easier for them to do their jobs? It will make you a better boss, I guarantee.

How are you going to stretch yourself today?

[photo credit: leshoward on Flickr]

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UPDATE: The winner of the tickets to Shmoozefest is Patti Church! Congrats!

Stay tuned – at the end of this post I have a great giveaway!!!

I am extremely fortunate to be involved in many amazing projects right now. In addition to my day jobs, which allow me to work with amazing people like Mark Saunders at Saunders Farm, film director Andrew Lavigne, and the awesome staff and students at Algonquin College, I also am privileged have numerous side projects on the go with fabulous folks at United Way/Centraide Ottawa, TEDx Ottawa, OttawaTonite.com, and SAW Video Co-op.

All of the projects are distinctly different, but they all require me to be able to do one thing well – ask for stuff. It might be someone’s time, it might be goods and services, or a favour – any way you slice it, it requires the ability to ask of others and do it well.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to ask – and it can really mean the difference between getting what you want and getting doors slammed in your face. Over time, I’ve learned that asking is an art. Here are a couple of the things I’ve learned.

Visibility is key. Everyone hates cold calling. I despise it. And, I don’t find it to be very effective, either. If the person I’m asking has no clue who I am, why would they even consider what I’m asking for, when they probably have 100 other people that they actually know asking for stuff? Unless it’s the deal of a lifetime, I probably don’t have a shot.

What does it take to get on someone’s radar? Well, it takes time, for starters. And, it also takes a good balance of not trying too hard with putting yourself out there as a real person.

Social media tools are a great way to sneak onto someone’s radar. The occasional retweet, promotion of that person’s stuff on your personal blog, or a few good recommendations of that person’s work can go a long way to start to build some visibility. Here’s the key though – it has to be 100% GENUINE. I’m never, ever going to promote someone’s book just to get noticed. I am doing it because I actually believe in the author’s message. There’s a big difference between a light tap on someone’s office door and barging in. Knock lightly. Ask politely. You may have to do it a few times. But in the end, it will get you noticed in positive way, rather than a negative one.

Short, sweet, and what’s in it for me. As this blog has become more popular, I’ve started to get more and more requests for my time. I get several emails per week now asking for me to review something, or write something, or meet someone in person. I appreciate all of the people reaching out to me. How do I determine what I’m going to pursue and what goes in the trash can? It’s all in the approach.

If someone sends an email that is short, succinct, gets to the point (i.e. the “ask”) right away then I will read on. But there’s something that’s key to a good “ask”. Tell me what is in it for me, right off the bat. If I can see how what you want jives with what I want, then I’m definitely going to take notice. If what you’re asking is all about you, then there’s no value for me. We’re not a fit.

When I ask someone for something, the FIRST thing I do is figure out how to make what I want about them. It sounds counter intuitive, but if you put some thought into it, it will work. Don’t suck up. Flattery, when it’s over the top, just makes people uncomfortable. State why you’re contacting the person, in two sentences or less. Then ask. Then tell them why this is a great opportunity for THEM. I guarantee you’ll at least get a reply if you stick to that formula.

The best way to get people to listen to your ask is to be real. Be gracious. And above all, be human. Connecting with people is not about kissing up, and it’s never contrived. Never have an ulterior motive. Connect with people first because you want to. Then figure out if there’s a way your goals can jive with theirs. Then, and only then, ask.

What about you? How do you ask?

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

In keeping with the theme of this post – I have two tickets (thanks to Stacey Diffin-Lafleu) to give away to the United Way’s Shmoozefest 2009 on October 21st. It’s a great event with all kinds of opportunities to connect with amazing people in the Ottawa business community. If you want to be entered to win, simply reply in the comments with “I wanna go to Shmoozefest, Suze!” and I’ll enter you in the draw. I’ll draw the winner on October 15th. Good luck!

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about how work has changed over the past several years. When I was growing up in the 1980′s, society was still in the mindset that “setting yourself up for success” meant graduating from high school, going to university to get a degree, then finding a good, stable, secure full time job with regular hours and good benefits. Worse, women were still (yes, even in the 80′s) expected to finish school, work for a while, find a husband, put their career on hold, have a bunch of kids, then try to “reintegrate” to the workforce after 10 or 12 years.

If that was the secret to success, then I suppose I’ve failed miserably.

OK, I did graduate high school. But I decided on community college instead of university, since they couldn’t teach me how to make TV shows at university. I got a job after college, but the pay was crappy, the benefits were just okay, and the hours were anything but regular. During those early days of my career, the elusive husband I was supposed to nab was nowhere to be found. In fact, I would wait till I was 34 years old to finally tie the knot (Does that make me an old maid?). As for having a bunch of babies, well, I look around me and nope – don’t see any babies. Therefore, no reason to put said career on hold, I guess.

The one area where I suppose I did succeed (in the 80′s definition of success) is that after my first job, I came to my senses. I proceeded to have a string of jobs that were 9-5, Monday to Friday, corporate grind type jobs, with good pay and good benefits. Naturally, the rebel in me wanted nothing more than to bust out of that grind and do my own thing. As time went on, I came to a very profound realization.

I really do believe that the way people look at work is changing. The lines between what is considered “work” and what is considered “outside interests” are blurring.

***THIS JUST IN***

As I was writing this, I came across this morning’s video post by Chris Brogan on work vs. play. I just want to be clear – what I’m referring to here is not really work vs. play. I think work vs. play is different than work vs. outside interests. First, go watch his video, because Chris is a smarty pants and he makes a really great point. Then come back and I’ll explain myself.

You’re back. Good! :-)

When I was doing the corporate grind thing, I worked hard and cared about the work I was doing (most of the time), even enjoyed it (some of the time), but there was a definite line between my “job” and my “outside interests”. In fact, I worked really hard to keep my personal interests personal and my work stuff at work. I thought that work/life balance was all about that separation. I’ve realized that this was a serious error in my thinking.

Perhaps things are different now because I work for myself. I’m no longer held to a particular schedule, I get to choose the projects I work on, and I have had the freedom to choose and to be able to nurture relationships with people that are based on both friendship and professional ties. But what I’ve noticed, over the past several months, is that my To Do list contains a lot of crossover between what one would consider “personal interest” and what is “work”.

For all the hours and hours of work I do on paying gigs, I’m finding that I’m doing more and more work on things that don’t pay. Just in the past few weeks, I’ve helped shoot a music video, helped to edit some protest/awareness videos, and agreed to help produce a new technology podcast. I’ve talked with friends about playing music more, perhaps at open stages, maybe even a gig someday. I’ve also written a pile of blog posts. All of these things are work to me. Sure, they don’t have a monetary payoff, but who says that work has to bring in money all the time? Isn’t it possible that some work can be done for the pure experience and enjoyment?

I also lump networking into this mix. Back when I was working for other companies, I used to get paid to go to networking events, conferences and meetings. Now that I’m self-employed, I don’t really get paid to go out to meetups, meet people for coffee, or attend Social Media Breakfasts. But I do it anyway. It’s right there, on my To Do list. It’s part of work – a very important part.

The truth is, what constitutes “work” for me really has changed. I’m no longer bound by “I must do THIS so I can get paid THIS.” I guess that is what makes what I do for a living so much fun. At times, I think my work IS play. And vice versa, I suppose!

Sure, in the old-time definition of having a successful career, I guess I really have not “made it”. But what I have done is carved my own path to success. It’s been hard work; I’d even say harder work than the old fashioned way of doing things. But I definitely wouldn’t have it any other way.

How has work changed for you?

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