Comments on: WIMMING YOUR WAY THROUGH A HARD JOB

By: Matt Miller

Matt Miller — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:39:50 +0000

Good point, Jon – the wrong sorts of music can have a perverse or the reverse effect. Although I wouldn’t go as far as the character played by Jack Nicolson in the movie, “As Good As It Gets”, I would recognise what things help to counter-act the mood you are in and get you back into the right track or job that you have to do.

By: Matt Miller

Matt Miller — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:36:49 +0000

Thanks, Kevin – so when is the next meetup? After all, it was from attending your meetup in Bournemouth that reminded me about this and inspired me to write the blog…

By: Matt Miller

Matt Miller — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:34:19 +0000

If you think THIS blog was crazy and zany, then check out the twists and turns of discussion in the following discussion in the Business Improvement, Change and Turnaround discussion group on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/9jk72f

It has now gravitated to music too!! But ’twas not me who started it – ’twas Rocking Ron Leeman!! Are we all mad, just a little, here in the UK and Europe? Methinks: Yes! But I luv it – and it allows me to keep going when life is tough and am chewing on that gristle….

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:03:49 +0000

Matt, nope, it doesn’t lose anything in translation… It’s madcap, and zanny but, I have to agree, YES it works! I find something to laugh (or at least smile at) everyday, a good joke, a song or a silly skit is everything, especially when you faced with contractors, foreign helpdesks or ex-grads with paper skills and no real ones. Though I do try to stay away from marilyn manson or Kurt Cobain / Nirvana songs, but anything Monty Python works everytime lol

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:53:55 +0000

I have been “cheering up and whistling” for years, didn’t do my career any good, but I felt better.. nice article Matt

By: Matt Miller

Matt Miller — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:27:43 +0000

It possibly loses something in the translation to a shorter story related to this. It all began with the slightly dry and sarcastic line: “everything I do, I do it for you!” – and that related to the song, which was known to be associated to the movie, which is associated to the legend, which then led to the project team members being associated with the characters of the legend. The use of it as a coping mechanism for dealing with a tough call is similar to what Krusty has said – except perhaps not as deprecatory.

In any case, it sometimes helps to make light of a hard job – so give it a try, Ivor!! You may find you have a bigger ‘un than you thought!! (heart or mind, that is!!). Have a nice day!!

By: Matt Miller

Matt Miller — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:18:59 +0000

It really all comes down to what works for you – beyond following the form-filling and the procedures. A good sense of humour is key at all times – but within reason according to the culture. Insulting people with funny names may work in the UK or America – but I would not try it on a project in China, India or South-East Asia where “face” is a key concern. Still, I can relate to the dark humour principle too – having lived here long enough – and so what was the name of that site for converting names to that of a clown?

By: Ivor Biggun

Ivor Biggun — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:13:09 +0000

“Connect A Legend Up with Your Team of Merry Men”

This is the most ridiculous load of nonsense I have ever heard.

By: Keeping on going | Sarquol Limited

Keeping on going | Sarquol Limited — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:18:08 +0000

[...] http://blog.theitjobboard.co.uk/2010/03/wimming-your-way-through-a-hard-job/ [...]

By: Krusty

Krusty — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:17:24 +0000

Heart warming blog Matt,
It is a project managers responsibility to get the team working together . So well done on the Korean project.
It is also difficult to treat people like equal human beings regardless of their race or status so well done for bridging that cultural gap.
I’m more of a dark humour disciple. When I was working on some ‘performance testing’ recently things were not going too well initially as we had to restart a number of times when the environment was not fully prepared. So this ‘performance’ moved into the three-ring-circus type of performance with lots of clowning around. The manual performance testing work was not as interesting as finding out about clowns on the web, naming the key protaganists as Bozo, Coco, Mr Tickles etc, and finding a site which converted peoples names to clowns names.
Your name generates “Gramps Wonkers Millarado”.