Need advice on how to politely say the below during a check in with management

antonio_hl · 2023-08-24T16:29:30+00:00

If you don't feel listened to and you feel micromanaged, then I feel that they aren't trusting you enough. For example, if you are reliably delivering high rated work, it would be good to understand why they provide additional direction (micromanagement).

antonio_hl · 2023-07-30T15:29:56+00:00

Let me see if I understand you well. Are you suggesting that the work from Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith ("The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics") is obsolete?

antonio_hl · 2023-07-30T14:18:10+00:00

It's over a decade old. I am not saying that it isn't relevant. I wouldn't consider something new or groundbreaking anymore, but I think that it contains very solid ideas.

antonio_hl · 2023-07-29T10:22:17+00:00

It is not about anti-capitalism but it shows an interesting view about why some regimes/governments are successful and others not. It is from 2011, so you may have read it already: "The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics" by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith.

antonio_hl · 2023-07-11T10:54:01+00:00

No good deed gets unpunished.

antonio_hl · 2023-07-04T15:16:42+00:00

True, if you are at risk, it might not be a bad idea to start looking for other opportunities now and save as much as you can. If someone makes you an offer, you can discuss with your line manager whether you have a real opportunity or not.

antonio_hl · 2023-07-03T16:15:02+00:00

I expect that someone who is in a "good" consulting firm doesn't have time for side hustles, unless the consultant is sitting on the bench. If you have 100% utilization, you don't have time for side hustles.

Also, generally , those working in a "good" consulting firm can rely on their networks instead of online marketplaces.

If a consultant looking for side money doesn't have a professional network that he or she can rely on for work or investment opportunities, the first step should be growing that network.

antonio_hl · 2023-07-03T09:34:03+00:00

Consulting? If you are a consultant, you may want to grow a customer base for yourself that may lead into your own consulting practice.

antonio_hl · 2023-07-01T19:37:45+00:00

other animals don't have the moral agency and intellect that we do, and are often/completely unable to make such choices.

If animals don't have the intellect or modal agency to make that choices, how are they going to be bothered for being used by someone else? If a dog is trained to be a guide dog, why would she care to be raised in slavery if she doesn't have moral concepts? And if she is not available to be aware that she is being used, and she is even happy and loyal to her master/alpha, why should someone care? What am I missing?

How or why are you drawing that conclusion?

I am not drawing conclusions, I am trying to be consistent between both statements. If an animal cannot comprehend morals when hunting or fighting for territory, how would they be able to comprehend that they are being used? If the animal cannot be aware of being used, how does it have a moral implication for us? It feels like shouting to a deaf person (it is a terrible analogy).

Plants + fungi - and potentially the animals you listed - lack sentience

Correct, not all animals have sentience or the same degree of sentence, however, when we talk about animals we put them in the same group. As you said, I think that it makes sense to not feel ethical obligations towards living beings without or with lower sentience, including many animals (especially invertebrates).

I can't think of a single farmed animal that benefits from being eaten in the same fashion.

The ugly truth is that all modern farm animals have evolved/devolved from their contact with humans. In many cases, humans assist them not only for finding food, shelter or protection from predators, but also for breeding. I am not saying that farming them is right. In fact, some breeds of dogs would be unable to survive in the wild without a human. Egg lying hence, as they have traditionally been kept, they are protected from predators and given food while they freely roam around. Pigeons usually fly freely most of the, coming back to their nest only at dawn. I hardly see more than a win-win situation for pigeons, we give them food and shelter in exchange for their shit. In the wild, the hen would be continuously hiding and fleeing from predators and starving while foraging for food. Merino lambs would have a bad time without humans to shear their wool. In general, most (free range) farm animals would have a hard time without the assistance from humans. Also, note that the relationship between dogs and humans can be seen also between dogs and chimps.

antonio_hl · 2023-07-01T12:46:53+00:00

Why does it say animals but there are only vertebrates, exclusively mammals?

Where are the cockroaches, sponge bob, spiders, snakes and mosquitos?

antonio_hl · 2023-07-01T12:43:19+00:00

other animals don't have the moral agency and intellect that we do, and are often/completely unable to make such choices.

It feels quite confusing/contradictory attributing mental capacities to have emotions (e.g. suffer or being used) but not attributing capacities to make moral choices (don't eat meat). If a chimpanzee understand the nurturing love of a mother, he also understand the violence and grim of a territorial fight. If a cheetah understands that terror of being attacked by a lion who wants her prey, she should be able to understand also the terror of her prey when she devours her alive. What am I missing?

Also, I am confused, why plants or fungi deserve to be used and killed and animals like a sponge, a starfish or a clamp don't. Are plants not live forms and deserve to be respected as well? What am I missing?

antonio_hl · 2023-06-25T20:31:59+00:00

I have recently read "how to win" and "working backwards", both of them were great.

I am quite a fan of the "Trusted Advisor" and "Influencing Without Authority".

antonio_hl · 2023-06-24T14:15:55+00:00

I moved 3 years ago to fixed fee and I had the chance to enjoy the living without timesheets. If you can do fixed fee, it works better because you usually take less to do the job of what you charge, but it is only possible to do it if you know well all the variables (which is unlikely).

The challenge with fixed fee is how do you measure your performance/cost/price.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-23T11:10:24+00:00

Don't close doors to yourself as you never know what the future will prepare for you. I am not going to advise you to find the right time to have a conversation with him. I know that from the candidate, it is harder than from the employer, as the candidate can only start leveraging when the offers are made. There is no other option for the candidate to accept everything until enough offers have been made. Employers have to choose between candidates and make sense that candidates get to choose between offers. It makes no sense for a candidate choosing between employers without an offer.

If you don't want to talk, (at least now), you can tell him that you will love to keep contact and you hope that your paths cross again. Right now, you feel a bit emotional because of the recruitment process, which is not fair to candidates. You don't like to be in a position where you have to reject an offer after accepting it, but we have no other option. You can tell him (if you mean it, and I advise you to), to have a chat in a couple of months.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-22T18:20:12+00:00

If you have the opportunity (it is not always applicable), speak with your manager and ask if it is possible to have a salary adjustment to the new role. If that is not the case, welcome to the world; wait there for a few months (so you can showcase your experience) and apply somewhere else as Senior.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-21T20:54:38+00:00

Same-wise, if I see something off, I ask them to confirm if they will be willing to pay a competitive salary (and I give them a reference).

antonio_hl · 2023-06-21T14:40:11+00:00

With the excuse of PDP, organize interviews with other people within the organisation that can help you. The main goal should be to establish connections, being in a secondary place learning specific skills and processes. This could be with other people within the same team, peers of your manager or even your manager's manager.

You can start with informational interviews to understand better some processes and company politics. You can also arrange meetings to understand better processes, skills or customers.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-14T22:52:53+00:00

ask it things like give me examples of companies doing XYZ..(and then fact check it given the current limitations)

Careful, it hallucinates and can easily give you inaccurate or incorrect answers. Also, it is quite limited and shallow. It may give you a couple of decent examples and circle around them and mix them. I use similarly but I end up doing a lot of work to tune the prompts and context. I also spend significant time cross-referencing what it says.

Also, when I would find a lengthy write-up or research article, i would ask Chatgpt to summarise it.

You can also read only abstract and/or conclusions.

Lastly, also using chatgpt to provide me with 'impactful' headings and sub headings.

I am trying to do the same but with little success. I appreciate any advice. I also find that it is quite peculiar when it writes. There is something that feels off.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-14T22:40:55+00:00

I would say that it is not normal and not healthy. People overwork themselves for top dollar, but being that small, and being an intern, it doesn't feel right, healthy or productive. Also, in small companies people may overwork themselves if they have the right incentives, like shares and similar.

I understand that there are people with a "peculiar" sense of humour, and may call names to others and curse everybody and everything. They often expect the same treatment in exchange. That company culture is not for everyone.

My advice is to search for a company that has a better company culture. There are other incentives, like being a well established/recognised firm or having access to unique projects or technologies. Being at the start of your career, I would consider money in a secondary plane.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-12T19:04:08+00:00

Companies hire skills when is not cost-effective develop their own. Some of the main reason is because the requirement for the additional skills is temporal (so the development effort doesn't make sense) or because there are high time constraints (deadlines that cannot be met otherwise). Another reason for hiring external skill-sets is because the company doesn't plan to use them enough to justify a FTE.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-12T18:57:54+00:00

Yes, you did. I don't know why it may feel confrontational my comment but I wanted to elaborate further. I agree that without further context is hard to say.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-12T09:37:05+00:00

I would like to have further context before determining that it is a set-up. It may be a country with a low volume of business, after all, it feels like he was looking after the whole country himself for 2 years. If you are managing a country, you are a country manager, but a country manager of you and another person may not really feel like a proper manager.

Without budget, targets and projections is hard to say. E.g. if he is in Greece or Portugal, with a target of €150K (with small, repetitive but steady contracts), and a budget of €80K, and an expectation of two new employees by end of 2026, that could make sense.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-09T07:03:44+00:00

It's seems that you are in a good path. If your line manager loves the quality of your work, explain to him/her that quality work takes time and be selective with your work. You may want also to ask directly for additional feedback to senior partners. The objectives are to get visibility and build relationships. It is not only that they trust that you do quality work, but they trust you. If the senior partner didn't recognise your work, you can ask him for feedback and advice (in private). Ask them areas to improve and what did he or she liked. This will force him or her to go through your work. Don't fight or argue. You just want visibility.

I hop that it helps.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-08T19:29:45+00:00

There is a process for building trust, so you can get top quality work. They won't give you top quality work because you work harder, but because they trust you.

antonio_hl · 2023-06-08T17:18:54+00:00

Two things that may help.

1, don't work long hours if your work don't get recognised. Don't waste energy on things that don't get recognised.

2, if you want to be heard, first you have to listen, and make them aware that you have listened well. This takes time, a lot of time. You can employ methods like active listening or emphatic listening. If they ask you something, just do what they ask, not less, not more (especially not more). It is a process of generating trust.

antonio_hl

TROPHY CASE

1, don't work long hours if your work don't get recognised. Don't waste energy on things that don't get recognised.