blink

An eerie glow dances off the walls in a room, subtle ticks and clicks echoing from the strange device. An array of blue infusions cascade off wood, steel and fabric… complimented by the sporadic blinking of tiny LED buttons intent on communicating the sheer volume of work at hand being processed voraciously. Another Nitrogen bubble pops in protest as a crooked spine attempts to right itself, following countless hours of supporting a back bent over the ever-demanding Keys of QWERTY.

The origins of Tiberium...

I felt inclined to write that little piece last night whilst taking a quick break from being a genius. Those of you who follow have been fortunate enough to be deemed a friend (or eagerly follow blips of my existence on twitter) would know what I’m talking about. Strange how these bouts of creativity always seem to hit me when the stress levels are peaking, exhaustion kicks in or while I find myself embracing the loving arms of inebriation…

That being said, on to today’s meaningless banter: professionalism. I’d like to think myself being able to do the whole “working as a professional” scene rather well, even if I do say so myself. More often than not I find myself putting my clients’ needs and satisfaction before my own. I would much rather get a pat on the back from a satisfied client than someone living under the illusion of being my boss. As a matter of fact, I have been fortunate enough over the past few weeks to receive recognition from both avenues.

yep. you know it.

For years I had to be subject to what, in my opinion, may be considered legalised slavery – i.e. I was busy completing my articles for CA (SA). Even though I have the world’s respect for the women who was ultimately my boss, I found myself squaring off against pretty much all other forms of “authority” in our firm on quite a regular basis. I refused to be dragged into the slums of office politics, and endeavoured avoiding said politics as soon as its pungent odour seemed to whiff around. This, obviously, made some people very angry – not to mention frustrated.

Fortunately, I managed to catch the attention of an individual who had the same arrogant swagger as I did, of course sprinkled with a healthy dose of disdain for stupidity as well – acknowledgement was made relatively early on in the contracted era of slave labour. I got handed the more complicated projects and notoriously difficult clients (strangely enough), thriving on it instead of buckling under the pressure as the majority of brown-nosers would have hoped. This did not go unnoticed, which also (thank goodness) resulted in the majority of my projects being run directly with our main partner (boss-lady referred to above).

stfu, sir.

Though not at all times, but somehow the facts above facilitated avoidance of individuals who were intent on practising Neanderthal-reminiscent management styles. These kindergarten principles were still shoved up my nose, along with everything else the other control freaks deemed necessary for nasal ingestion, but I held fast to simply keeping my head down, doing my work and delivering a quality product to our clients. Sure, it’s not easy when you have a fat blob blocking your road to success, but by golly: I know how to operate a friggen chain-saw and I wasn’t going to let some sans ambition slug stop me! Needless to say, everything worked out pretty well.

In comparison, the new company I find myself working for at the moment is (almost) completely the opposite. Since day 1 here I’ve made no secret of my approbation for the executive team running things. Without exception, the guys at the top are all, simply put: brilliant. Even though every individual has years of experience on you and an unimaginable wealth of knowledge, they work side-by-side with the grubs and encourage personal development and professional growth around every corner. Regardless of them being able to afford it ten times over, there isn’t even the slightest suggestion of any “holier-than-thou” in the air – very pleasurable (and right down my alley) working environment.

But enough subliminal PR for today – in making sure you actually enjoy your work, the folks here pretty much guarantee quality service delivery to their clients. Whereas I held on to the fact that my clients were happy with my work in the past, I can now enjoy my superiors’ acknowledgement of “a job well done” as well (which is pretty frikken awesome, to be quite honest). In my opinion, the way any business is managed (especially its employees, growing proportionately with its size) determines its overall success. Ironically enough, the majority of companies sporting both middle and top management fail to realise that a happy employee is going to be far more productive than someone who’s miserable.

I’d also like to find out from you guys what motivates you to give your best in a professional sense of things? Customer satisfaction and learning something new are my main drivers – I love taking things apart, understanding them completely and then being able to put it all back together again (possibly even in an improved state, if at all possible). Should someone be able to benefit from the whole process (be it my clients, colleagues, employer, etc.), all the better!

Those of you who have spent more than just a drink in my company should also know I have big plans for the future… I distinctly remember someone I used to work with a couple years back even saying “No, Ian – I’m afraid I won’t be able to employ you on a full-time basis… you simply have too much ambition!”

I enjoyed that.

Someone not necessarily knowing you all that well having that much faith in your dreams and aspirations – just the right kind of thing facilitating the drive to excel even more :)

As divulged way up top, I started writing this little piece just because I felt like (digitally) scribbling some useless crap while waiting for a range of SQL databases to migrate and settle into their new home. I hope you inexplicably find some value in it and thus thank y’all for giving me the opportunity to waste a couple o’ minutes of your life – ones you’ll never be able to get back :)

Here’s to wishing you all a wonderful week and looking forward to hearing what motivates you to “Be All You Can Be” (in the professional world).

//‘bunny out.