O.T.: Look inside yourself and critique how you do your job."

Triathlon Forum
1

Randall T has asked this question in my thread "Kirsten Gum has definitely had “improvements”. I don’t know if he was asking me along with all of the people who had things to say about Kirsten, but I have decided to answer that question.

About my primary profession, Imagemaker (hair) in the cosmetology business:

I am technically excellent. I only say this, as I have had fifteen years to perfect my craft. Sure, some days are better than others, and there has been a time of not being terribly consistent (mainly due to wanting to evolve the hairstyle along), but otherwise, I know what to do with a head of hair on almost any person intrinsically.

The people skills are what I lack in. I have tended to be brash, then mellowed- which is somewhat where my problems with letting people walk on me like a welcome mat. I now inject too much personal opinions into my conversations these days. I have gotten burned out on the being polite, not engaging in religious/political issues, and I tend to just say what I think. Also, finding myself talking about my declining health (as far as my wrists, shoulders, and the like) has to wear thin on my victims, er, um clients. I am also having less and less patience with people and their over-selfish needs. I used to let them walk all over me, but I am becoming less and less patient with them, and I tend to not be very nice to people when they try it.

My hobby that is becoming a bit of a profession, bicycle part fabricator:

Neatness needs a LOT of work, am now just beginning to have safe, yet lightweight parts, I need to perfect mould and vacuum-bagging techniques, but am improving with every project I do.

I have independently tested prototypes (on the road) that are nearing the high four-digit mileage mark, which means I must be onto something. I have LOTS more faith in my parts not failing in catastrophic ways than ever before, and I feverishly check the progress of my testing.

I turned the corner when I made my first Campy Delta brake covers, and have ten usuable covers out of fifteen. The first aerobar that I had made after this experiment has netted thousands and thousands of miles, while the first one netted only about 150 miles. It’s all in being sensible with the design, just like with designing a hairstyle.

Okay- who wants to reach inside and answer this question objectively?

2

It’s tough to answer this question objectively about ones’ self.

If you ask me, I eat breath and live our customer’s bikes. The tempo of operations in here is back breaking. We have washed out some pretty good guys who wound up in other, quieter shops where they don’t have the same level of responsibility or the same level of decisiion making. They went from battlefield commanders to privates. It suits them.

The frustrating part is that, given the opportunity, we always do the best job we can. But people don;t let us. They are in a hurry and they only have one question: “Where’s my bike?!?!?”

Good bikes done correctly take time. WE’re not an assembly line turning out Ford Focus cars. WE’re a hand built shop turnig out individually built and fitted bicycle equivalents of Formula 1 cars. But people still treat it as generic.

I’m regularly compared to the “soup nazi” from Seinfeld and the chef who is offended when you put ketchup on his steak. but the truth of the matter is, I just want people to be overjoyed with their bikes.

Very few people understand that.

3

I just about died laughing at the image of Tom standing behind the counter as some guys meekly asks for a few more spacers under his stem. Tom say " no Bike for you!!!" and the girl at the counter rips the P3 out of the guys hands and hands him back a wad of cash all in one motion.

4

It happened last week. Different bike, but we did “fire” a customer last week who just couldn’t wait for their bike.

It’s funny, sometimes it seems like bikes are a perishable item- like if you don’t have it this weekend it is no good for the rest of your life.

I wish it weren’t like that. But it is, and that has been a big part in Tom Demerly’s ongoing education at the Business School of Hard Knocks where I am earning a Ph.d.

5

i dont think that its possible to critique myself when all i am is a janitor that takes care of dogs, but i can see Tom D. as somthing of a “bike nazi”.

6

Oh great.

7

i dont mean to offend you but to complement you on the attention to detail you put into each of your customers bikes.

8

My summer job just never ended.

Our main objective is to provide a safe, clean and enjoyable experience for everyone who walks through our doors. Since you asked…I think we accomplish our goals every day!

Depending on who you ask, the water is either too warm or too cold, in more ways than one.

Clean water to swim in is often taken for granted until you don’t have it. Convenient places to swim are sometimes hard to come by, and if you’ve ever been a victim of an aquatic emergency, a skilled lifeguard truly can be a God send!

Are we finding cures for cancer or stopping world hunger? In my opinion we do play a roll in many of the most crucial occupations of our society. We provide an outlet, a playground, and a thinking ground for the individuals who do “run our world”.

My occupations has been referred to by friends as a “professional lounger-arounder”. There are unnessessary perks.

I sometimes take suggestions as critizisms on my character. I am young. I should not feel that way.

We have a “Cheers” like atmosphere, where everyone knows your name, and a 45 minute workout can take up to two hours due to the post and pre chit chat among fellow swimmers. It takes a lot of work to create a relaxed and comfortable environment. A place to “drown” your worries.

If you try and please EVERYONE, you will please NO ONE. DO WHAT IS RIGHT!

9

Hey smitto, I understand. People are still willing to line up for the soup.

One of our customers said to me today, “Either everyone wants to be Bikesport, or they want to be in Bikesport…” I thought that was a huge compliment.

10

great question. My primary job is sales.
After I finish with each customer I know before my butt hits my driver seat if I wasted my clients and my time or if something positive or negative happened. Self evaluation is part sales. Lie to yourself and your career is measured in months, not years.
Sales is a hard job as is any client oriented business. I’m/your not allowed to have an off day in front of your customers. I have to force myself to be on every day for every call. As a drawback i’ve noticed I prefer less human to human interaction and quieter enviroments when not working.
Stress has gone up. It’s also carried over into my personal life. I sold and generated 75% of a former employers revenue. It was and wasn’t tough mentally. Tough knowing that people depended upon me to feed their families, make enough for bonuses, rasises etc. not tough as in I enjoyed the pressure that these people relied on me to produce. I’ve noticed that i’ve been more tired in sales than any other job.
IMO people tend to drift towards jobs that suit who they are.

11

I think that I have three jobs. My profession, being a good husband, and being a good human.

I’ll say right up front that I fancy myself a Renaissance man. I’m good at a lot of things, but perhaps not the best at any of them. but I try to do my best.

As a software developer, I think that I am pretty good. I am very organized and methodical by nature, and have a high aptitude for math and logic, so I am predisposed towards doing what I do well. I like to do my job iteratively. While some guy’s main weakness is that they focus only on minutiae, and can’t see the big picture, I like to do my work in three iterations. The first time through, I get the basic stuff working. The second time, I focus on the details. The third time, I fix the stuff that isn’t right.

Typically, not getting it perfect the first time is a problem, but in my business, not getting it right is usually a function of imperfect specs. You can probably relate: Them: “This is not what I wanted!” You: “Yes, but it is what you asked for.” And the rapid turnover is preferred to a solid first cut.

I’m only motivated to do my job as long as I have goals. Some guys like to diddle with software 24/7. I prefer to play with it at work, and live my life when I go home. For this reason, I am not a top tier guy, but I’m top third. Easily. Part of the reason for this is that I understand more than just the technology. I understand what the application is supposed to do.

My two biggest problems with what I do are 1) I’m surrounded by people who constantly under-estimate my abilities, or play politics to the detriment of my project and my department, and 2) It’s always feast or famine. I will work my ass off for two or three months, then have nothing to do for four to six months. And all the complaining in the world hasn’t changed that.( Me: “You’re paying me a lot of money to annoy the people on Slowtwitch!” Them: “Whatever. I have a meeting somewhere. I think we’re going to discuss why you’re so busy.”

It’s a testament to the human brain that I can atually do my job again after such frequent and long periods of down time. Truthfully, it drives me crazy. I really like what I do, and can’t stand being idle.

I think that I am like you in a couple of respects. I don’t suffer fools gladly, and I usually tell people what I’m thinking, even if it isn’t what they want to hear. Neither of those traits is helpful in an environment as politically chrged as my workplace.

As a husband, I think I’m doing well. I work hard to keep my wife happy, treat her right, and make her feel special. I try to keep our relationship strong, and so far, things are going really well. We’re best friends, and that’s more than I ever hoped for.

As a human, I’m improving, but could stand to get out more. The first 25 years of my life were a write-off. In that time, I learned about everything I don’t want to be and don’t want to do. Now I’m trying to do things right. I want to experience life, try new things, and become good at the things I love doing. I spent far too much of my youth being miserable and not doing anything about it.

My biggest faults are that I’m quite the curmudgeon, something of a misanthrope, and a bit of a hermit. I rail against the injustices of the system, which makes me unpopular with management. I try to find productive ways to solve problems, but nobody seems to care, so I rant.

Also, some people seem to think that I’m arrogant, perhaps even an asshole, but I’m really just a sweetheart with a sardonic wit that not everybody appreciates.(I usually grow on people with time. Like mold.) I spent too much of my life trying to pretend that I wasn’t as smart as I am and as good as I am at the things I do to waste time playing it down now. I don’t care if I don’t fit in. I just hope to find a few kindred spirits.

12

It’s instant gratification, Tom. Once we decide what bike we want, we want it NOW, GODDAMNIT!!!

I can’t tell you how frustrating it was when I decided to buy a new mountain bike a couple of years ago, and I spent three weeks looking for a shop that carried the brand and had the bike in stock. It was Saturday, it was rainy, the mechanic was out, and I took that bike home with me.

I’ve since come around, but even still, a lot of bike shops aren’t like you. When I bought my road bike, my fitting consisted of “Sure, that’s about right.” Even after I told the guy that I wanted to use the bike for tri’s, and said that I wanted a fitting. The only reason they didn’t send me home with the bike that day was because they had to build it (I wanted a triple, and they only had a double built).

That was the biggest, and, sadly the best, bike shop, and tri shop, in the area.

13

I actually have two jobs. I will start with the one I have had the longest… I have been a waiter for about 15 years, different places, different states. At first I liked the freedom and the people, then as I figured out how to do this right, the money. A good waiter in a good area can make some serious money. At one point $400 nights were not uncommon. All for helping people and being nice. That is one thing I know for sure about my character, I genuinely like to help people, I like to be nice, and I hate it when people are unhappy with me. All perfect traits for a waiter. Downside, stress is major, your “boss” changes every time a new table sits down waiting table is consistently ranked in the top 10 most stressful jobs in the U.S.

I no longer make good money as a waiter, I am burned out. Eventually you start not to care. I went from “Hi, my name is jim, how may I serve you this evening” to “What’d want”, well not quite that bad. Any way I critiqued myself as a waiter a while ago to a friend and co-worker who asked why I didn’t work much any more. I said “I look around at all the obese people who come into this place for the ALL YOU CAN EAT CHICKEN DINNER and wonder, am I part of the problem? I would like to be part of the solution” All that runs through my head at work any more is "eat up you fat idiots.

The second job that has become my main source of income, and my chance to be “part of the solution” is martial arts/yoga instructor. This is living the dream, take your hobby, turn it into a profession. It’s not without challenges as I am sure Tom or anyone who has done this will attest. Its like going pro, or becoming a product tester for Cervelo. This started with my instructor asking if I would like to help with the kids classes and over several years grew to me being senior instructor. I love this job, I never want to miss work, I enjoy working with the kids, which shocked me at first. At the time I started teaching kids were something other people dealt with. I still have no burning desire to raise one of my own but I wouldn’t trade any of my students for the world. To see the little guy who wouldn’t stand still and thought that they couldn’t do it actually acheive their goal, I get a little choked just typing it.

Am I a good instructor, hell yes! My students tell me this, not in words (although sufficient praise does filter in) but in the fact that they will try, they will practice, they will listen when I am teaching. And disappointing me or the other instructors is such a cause for remorse that we will never tell student they have disappointed us unless all other avenues have failed. I have been to dozens of tournaments and other schools, I can’t what other instructors will say to children. “Hit him here in the kneecap, they will never chase you again” this is a actual quote from a school that I dropped in on. The average age in that class was 6-10 yearts old.

Sorry I rambled on but this topic touched on several emotional keys in my life some good some bad.

14

I forgot to add one thing-

I love to flirt with my good-looking female clients. Some appreciate it, some head for the door. That is probably my most career-threatening AND enhancing trait that I have in the hair business.

15

You sound like you really take your job seriously- that’s what it’s all about.

16

I am currently a student.

It is definitly a learning process. In highschool…i got by with high 80’s marks while doing every sport possible…life was easy.

Come university…big culture shock. Went from easy honours marks to just missing honours. It has taken 3 years to realize the ‘just doing enough to get by’ doesn’t cut it anymore…i am currently about 3% below the med. school cutoff…and it’s driving me insane.

Triathlon has definitly helped with this though. It has shown me what it is like to really really want something, and to work my ass off to get it. I am getting better, but laziness definitly gets the better of me sometimes.

I find myself putting tri as a priority most of the time…and then realize that this is a bad idea.

So…in short…i am not happy with how i am doing my ‘job’ as of right now…but am working to improve it. Life has left me a little stressed this year…but hopefully as things continue to improve…so will school and the future! :smiley:

17

I understand very well. This is one of the reasons why I am not a mechanic anymore. People want their bikes yesterday, and since they paid over a grand for their bikes, they expect them to be finished in an hour and delivered on red carpet with white gloves.

Sure, it is frustrating when the bike shop said it would be ready in three days, when in all actuality it would be ready in five. I would like the retailers to change from their pie-in-the-sky promises to more realistic ones. It is more frustrating when the bike shop says your bike will be ready on Tuesday, and you hang out at the bike shop for six hours waiting. I tend to have a lot of my work sent out as I have little time to do maintainance (with the exception of my method of cleaning and some cable changes, etc.), so I tend to send it out to a good friend on a Monday and pick it up on Saturday. If it ain’t done on Sat, I throw it in his stand and finish it up.

But, when someone lives, breathes, eats and sleeps a customer’s bike, this is a rare treat that everyone should understand how very special it is. Because most bikes that come out of a shop need a multitude of additional tuning.

18

It sounds like we share many parallels, especially about the day off in front of people thing.

19

You seem to have a pretty good grasp of who you are, and are not afraid to be objective in your self-asessment.

20

I think I am starting the transition much like you are. I am happy to find that you are starting to fulfill your desires.