6 Ways to Blow It The First 90 Days On The Job

I just finished reading Career GPS: Strategies for Women Navigating the New Corporate Landscape by
Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell, Ph.D with Linda Villarosa. Bell is African American business professor at Dartmouth, and this book gives special attention to women of color; however, it finds its widest audience among Gen Y and Gen X professionals.

There were about a dozen times while reading this book I bumped my palm to my forehead and said "I should have thought of that." I shared portions of the book with my Gen X husband, who especially liked the parts on personal branding. Being in PR, I take knowledge of personal branding for granted, but if you're in a profession like accounting, finance, law, medicine, etc., you might have a lot to gain from familiarizing yourself with the concept.

There's plenty of great material in this book for professionals from all arenas. I especially liked her discussion of extreme jobs and the sweet spot of organizations, which is not the executive suite. Chapter 8 was the most informative for me at this stage in my career as it deals with going global - preparing for work on the international front.

My favorite chapter was Chapter 4, which covers a variety of suggstions for the first 90 days on the job. Bells says to make your mark right away, because in the first three months, there's no room for error. (No pressure.) Thus, drawing from her material, here are six ways you can blow it during the first 90 days at a new job.

Failure to Decode the Company Culture
Bell defines culture as the glue that holds all the behaviors, values, norms, heroes and sheroes, and traditions together. Failure to decode the culture can lead to failure to fit into the corporate community. Basically, you gotta learn to swim with the other fish, which, Bell reminds, includes sharks.

Failure to Keep a Journal
Bell says the first 90 days you're on a job, you're in observation mode. She suggestions keeping a journal to help crack the corporate culture code. Keep the journal safe, but record the heroes; the folks with power; the golden child; the underdogs; who has lunch together; who takes smoke breaks together; who uses lunch to go for a run, play basketball or shop; how do people dress; who takes credit for successes; what time do people come in and leave; do people socialize during meetings; how is competition discussed, etc.

Failure to Brand Yourself
Your brand is your reputation and corporate persona. A good brand is a product or service you don't forget, that you want to use and always trust. Bell covers good buzz, bad buzz and so-so buzz in this portion, along with side-stepping stereotypes - especially for women of color. 

Failure to Establish Relationships
Bell says establishing and leveraging relationships during the first 90 days is more important than at any other time. Looking back on my career, my strongest and weakest alliances were made during the first few months on the job. She offers practical steps for establishing relationships including setting meetings with key staff.

Failure to Develop a Script
By creating a script that highlights who you are and how you want to be seen, you make it easier for people to get a sense of who you are. Bell suggests showing through your script that you are a team player. She also says you should give up something about yourself, like a good childhood story, and also talk about your life outside of work.

Failure to Plan an Early Win
Bell suggests showing that you can shine early on by coming up with a project with bells and whistles that you can deliver on within the first 90 days. This was the only suggestion I really had problems with. I took a job once in which I followed in the footsteps of a very big personality. As it turns out, this person was much beloved externally, but internally, her coworkers didn't like her. I never really figured out why, but one thing I did figure out - they wanted me to hang low, not hang ten, and certainly not make an early big splash.

Probably the best thing I can say about Career GPS is that it is a book I won't pass along. I will keep it on my bookshelf and refer to it in the future.

Follow Career GPS on Twitter and Dr. Bell on Facebook.

Gen X Tattoos

I invite you to read an article I wrote on Technorati about the owner of Cleveland's Gen X Tattoos. Here it is on the small business channel and this is the permanent link.

When I originally tweeted about discovering Gen X Tattoos, one of my favorite tweeps, an Episcopal Priest from Tennessee, responded: "Can't you imagine SilentGenTattoo shop - all anchors on crusty old men all the time."

I loved that! There is something eternally edgy about the name Generation X.

Many thanks to Ron Antonick for sharing his story with me.

Don't hate me John IV for writing about tattoos!

So, if Silent Gen men get anchors, what do Boomers get? What about Gen X and Gen Y? Antonick says the most popular tattoos among Gen Xers are religious or having to do with nature.

Do you have a tattoo? Forty percent of Xers do. So far, I've managed to stay in the 60 percent.

conan o'brien coming to tulsa

Conan O'Brien's Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour will make it to 20 cities, including Tulsa. O'Brien will perform at the Brady Theater May 15. The cheapest tickets are upwards of $230. Earlier this year, there was a Gen X vs. Boomer showdown when NBC promoted Conan to The Tonight Show and then booted him out in favor of Jay Leno's return.

Pac-Man turns 30: Gen Xers Still Like Chasing Ghosts

Pac-Man, the pellet devouring, woka-woka-sound making, fruit-consuming arcade superstar turns 30-years-old in May. Like the Gen Xers (born 1961-81) who made him an icon, he is too young to remember Woodstock, too old not to worry about the state of Social Security.

Gen X Takes Work Breaks To Play Pac-Man
According to a Sekita Ekrek, a New York-based entertainment PR consultant and Gen Xer, she takes at least one break during her work day to play Pac-Man on her computer. “It’s been going on for a few years now, since I rediscovered the game at a New York City bar. I can even play it on mute when I have to.”

Johna Burke, a senior Vice President for BurellesLuce, Scottsdale, Arizona, also blows off steam with midday Pac-Man breaks. She confesses sneaking out to a local pizza joint during lunch to play the arcade favorite. “I had the original portable Pac-Man and Frogger games," she says. "My Christmas wish every year is a full-size Ms. Pac-Man for my house.”

Namesake Software: PACMAN - Public Adjuster Client MANagement
Mike McManigal, a Gen Xer born in 1965, liked Pac-Man so much, he named the software he created for his public adjusting company PACMAN - Public Adjuster Client MANagement. And, Mandy Minor, a Gen Xer born in 1975 who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, still holds fast to her 24k Pac-Man charm. “I’m saving it for my daughter,” she says.

Pac-Man, the Greyhound Bus Station and Divorced Parents
Jimmy Moore, the 38-year-old owner of Less is Moore, Moore or Less, LLC, remembers the first time he ever played the game. “It was in a Greyhound bus station in Mississippi,” he says. “My brother and I traveled back and forth between Florida and Tennessee to visit divorced parents, so we took this trip a lot… I loved it when they sped up the character and I’d kick my brother’s butt.

“I watched the Saturday morning cartoon show and I couldn’t stop singing Pac-Man fever.”

Jay R. Koebele, also 38, remembers playing Pac-Man religiously on the Atari. “I spent countless hours playing game after game, using all of my allowance money every week playing, and buying the books that gave insider tips, secret patterns to follow.”

And Bruce Gray, a Los Angeles sculptor, liked the game so much he created hanging kinetic art mobiles inspired by Pac-Man.

A Quarter for Solace
For some Gen Xers, Pac-Man provided familiarity in a world framed by the instability of divorce and latchkeys; Cold War and jobless parents. “Moving a lot as a kid, the arcade was one of the few moderately consistent things in the world,” says Joseph Picard, who today, has had a hand in making games here and there.

“Almost any town I lived in, the yellow dude and his contemporaries were hanging around somewhere… A storefront with blacked out windows and a colorful painted generic logo offered what I needed - familiarity.

“Inside, the sounds were always the same. The lights were low, always the same. The people were different, but also always the same. The pixels called to me, asking just a quarter for solace. An eaten pellet, a stabbed ninja, a blown up alien later, I could forget for a while that I'd just lost all my friends because of a moving truck.

"Sure, I'd get a letter now and then, but experience made me a realist. They were gone. The pixels were here. So was a pusher, but Nancy Reagan told me to turn down those magic pellets. Winners don't do drugs, they play Donkey Kong until they can loop the score to zero.”

You Never Forget How to Ride a Bike
Other Gen Xers remember playing the game with their parents. “I was reminiscing on the phone with my dad about all the fun we used to have playing Pac-Man together,” says Meredith Turner who works for Farm Sanctuary in New York City. “He described the Pac Man high that you would get once you reached the third screen and the pace quickened.”

Late last year, Turner and her boyfriend discovered an old Ms. Pac Man arcade game in a bar. “I made a bee-line to it,” she says. “Not having played in a long time, I came close to beating the highest score on the machine in just two games. And that was just warming up.

“I guess having mad Pac Man skills is like riding a bike.”

Yes, and if a red, pink, cyan and orange ghost are chasing you, all the better.

According to John Yarborough, who does PR for Namco, the company that developed the arcade game, Pac-Man's birthday is definitely on the company's radar, though they aren't disclosing any specific plans for the celebration. Currently, three Pac-Man iPhone games are available.

***
Check out the Pac-Man hat my mom is selling on Etsy!
This article first appeared today on Technorati's Entertainment Channel.
The photo of the Pac-Man video game is from maxcady808 via Flickr.
The photo of the man in the Ink, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde T-shirt, is from massdistraction via Flickr.The image to the left is a creenshot of Pac-Man via iPhone courtesy of Namco Networks.

corey haim dead at 38

Image via Wikipedia

Very sad news. Gen X actor Corey Haim, who starred in the 1987 horror movie, The Lost Boys, has reportedly died of a possible drug overdose. He was only 38.

Here a couple of blog posts about his death from Gen X bloggers, Generation X Examiner and Latchkey Man.

RIP Corey Haim.

Hat Tip: @shawn_wright.

20 cities where the most baby boomers will retire (the graying of America)

If I gave you time to change my mind
I´d try to leave all the past behind...
-- From the forever young Rod Stewart, 65

Last night, I stumbled upon a 2009 report from the Brookings Institution that listed the top 20 cities in the United States where the most Baby Boomers (b. 1943-60) will retire. According to the report, most of the Boomers have lived in these locations for a long time.





Raleigh
Austin
Atlanta
Boise
Las Vegas
Orlando
Houston
Dallas/Fort Worth
Colorado Springs
McAllen/Edinburg/Mission, TX
Phoenix
Charleston
Albuquerque
Tuscson
Washington D.C.
Salt Lake City
Charlotte
Denver

Nashville

Ogden

Interestingly, on page 14 of the report, I discovered that only five states have fewer Boomers retiring than the state in which I reside, Oklahoma. (If you read this post earlier, and are looking for the conclusion I drew, I deleted it. In the middle of the night, I realized I'd interpreted the data incorrectly. I need to get more sleep.)

Do Gen X Actors Fear Being Wiped Out?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

After Van Toffler said MTV was pushing out Generation X (15 years after we, um, dumped the network) I'm reluctant to link to their content. So, excuse me while I get over it.

(OK. I'm over it.)

Ha! That took a second.

With all due respect, there is an interesting piece on MTV.com about Avatar possibly losing out on a big Oscar sweep because members of the Academy (specifically mentioned - older Gen Xers) are afraid of being "digitally wiped out."

"...Critics point to several inherent weaknesses, however, including actor fears within the Academy, traditional notions of film and political trends.

"For whatever reason, boomer-age people, older Gen X-ers [in the Academy] are threatened by it," journalist and Hollywood Elsewhere writer Jeff Wells told MTV News. "They feel on some level that they're going to be lost, that they're going to be digitally wiped out in the future."

The basic summary of the article is that things have changed - "big time." The majority of Academy members who vote on the Oscars aren't working much anymore and are "marginal."

It's really going to be interesting to see the influence of Generation X members of the Academy in years to come. To quote the Gen Xer who ran away with the best actress Oscar this year: "I don't like when people tell me I can't do something. Just because I did commercial films doesn't mean I can't do wonderful, small art-house films." (Sandra Bullock)

Did the Self-Image of Gen X age 10 years on Sunday?

When the Brat Pack of John Hughes fame appeared on stage at the Oscars Sunday night, I was like WHOA!!!!! Who are those people? If I'd passed Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwold or Anthony Michael Hall on the street, I'm not sure I would have recognized them. Then, I read something James Poniezowik wrote about the Oscars in a Time Magazine blog post:

"...an extended, and sweet, tribute to John Hughes (even if the appearance of a crew of Hughes alumni aged the self-image of Generation X about ten years).

Did your self-image age Sunday night? What do you think about the Brat Pack after all these years? I'm thinking remake, remake. There are plenty of new Gen X archetypes the pack can explore and develop: the over-educated; the under-employed; those who've left the church, and let's not forget, the hyper-parent. Ha!

hey ferris, is this your day off? oscar tribute to john hughes

In case you missed last night's Oscar tribute to John Hughes, here it is. The video below this is of Molly Ringwold and Matthew Broderick introducing the tribute.

you don't see this tattoo everyday

Gaelic to English: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

photo from tquizzle via flickr.

2 things Gen Xers can do to fight the locusts eating their future

Not Birds., locust. Image by [niv] via Flickr

Bob Burnett is one of the founding executives of Cisco Systems, the leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet. Today, he is a Berkeley writer and activist. He is also a Quaker, and he has written an essay, America's Locust Years, in which we have more stunning finger pointing at Baby Boomers for "eating through a staggering amount of our national wealth and natural world."

I come across content of this nature often in my research about Generation X, but this is the worst such indictment on this generation I have yet to read. It is not pretty, and it just makes me wince a little to even link to it. But, I am linking to it because Burnett does something that a lot of people who write similar content don't do. He offers a suggestion on how we can turn the ship around and end these locust years. "Speak the truth and fight the locusts," he writes.

The American progressive tradition has to been to stand up and fight whenever it appeared that democracy was on the ropes. This is one of those times. America has suffered thirty years "that the locust hath eaten." Time is running out. We may not survive another "heart attack."

There is so much that needs to be done that it is difficult to say where to start. Each of us has to think about the moral commitment we are prepared to make. Here are two modest suggestions: First, speak the truth. Tell everyone you know about the locusts, about the terrible problems that Americans must face. Second, prepare for sacrifice. Dealing with these problems is going to hurt, but the pain will be bearable if we face the locusts together.

What moral commitment are you willing to make? Burnett says since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, Americans have become moral weenies. I'd like to write an article for Technorati - 10 Ways Generation X Can Fight the Locusts. What sacrifices do you suggest I include? What truths do we need to speak? Leave a comment or email me at jenx67[at]cox[dot]net. If I use your ideas, I will provide attribution and a link to a site of your choosing.

i was so lost, i should have died. how 'bout you?

I was so lost I should have died
But You have brought me to Your side
To be led by Your staff and rod
And to be call a lamb of God
--from Paris and Lamb of God

Pretend the big one is God and you're one of the little ones.

photo from tambako the jaguar via flickr

Richard Beck, an associate professor of experimental psychology at Abilene Christian University, has a blog, and today he has a post about how Facebook killed the church.

In case you're late to the party, a large portion of Generation X (by broadest definition those born between 1961-81) pretty much left the church a long time ago. It appears that Generation Y is leaving it in even greater droves. There was a popular Christian song many years ago: My House is full, but my fields are empty. Who will work for me today?

I'm not so sure it's relevant anymore, because the House of  God, um, not so full. So, what happened?

Beck, who writes a compelling essay, believes social computing is to blame. He says Gen X and Gen Y will blame leaving the church on things like shallowness and hypocrisy, but writes that the church's main draw is social connection and affiliation. He says Generation Y (Millennials) (and Gen Xers) don't have to go to church to stay connected. Basically, we just have to jump on Facebook - where not only our virtual friends exist, but our actual friends, too. 

I think Beck has it partly right, but here's what I'm thinking. Facebook and Twitter can be just as lonely as church. How many burdens can you share in 140 characters? How much community can you have via status updates? And, what about Jesus? The irresistable Son of God?

After I left a comment on Beck's post, in which I mentioned Jesus, I went back and hit CONTROL F and then typed "JESUS" in the dialogue box that appeared to see how many times the word was mentioned in the essay or in the 18 or so comments that followed. The only time it appears is in my comment.

Interesting, how often Jesus is left out of these conversations.

Here is a link to a sweet Oklahoma boy singing Lamb of God Bluegrass style.

Saturday Morning Cartoon: The Pink Panther

I'm not sure which is funnier in this 8th episode of the cartoon, The Pink Panther - how clean Pink's basement is or how he opts to fix his leaky shower instead of hiring a plumber for "$7.50 an hour."

The Pink Panther began airing on Saturday mornings in 1969, although it was originally created for the opening and closing segments of the 1963 action movie of the same name. Up until this past December, the cartoon continued airing on the Cartoon Network. Today, Spanish dubbed versions can be seen on Telemundo.

The theme to The Pink Panther, composed by Henry Mancini, is one of the most recognizable ever written.

Did you watch The Pink Panther? Da da da da...

5 favorite posts of the week 3.5.10

I love it when people send me links to Generation X content on the Web!

I received two this week. The first, Fleeting Youth, Fading Creativity, is a somewhat disturbing read about the lack of funding younger (as in Generation X) scientists have received compared to scientists from older generations. The good news in all this is that the Grand Challenges Explorations Program is trying to reverse this trend. This article is from the Wall Street Journal. Thanks, LM!

The second link (from the Gen X blogger The Shape of X) I received was to a new study, The Experience of Generation X Faculty. This is a 23-page report that rings many bells we've heard before: Generation X wants work-life balance and we lack community. What I found most interesting was the intra-generational differences between younger Xers and older Xers (pages 4-5). Also, unlike most Gen Xers, who incessantly job hop, the research indicates Gen X faculty members have no plans to leave their current institutions. In summary, the report says Generation X is good for academia.

I got a real kick out of two different blog posts this week about Gen X super stars. Sherri writes about Neil Patrick Harris playing a Smurf! and Andi writes about five things she's learned from Johnny Depp.

Well, that's only four. I've been really slammed the past two weeks and unable to visit many of my favorite blogs. I'll catch up with everyone soon!

today my father officially becomes an octogenarian

Today is my father's 80th birthday. Wow. Happy Birthday, DB! You mean the world to me! --YBG

Here is something I wrote on Sunday.

I saw my father today. I walked into his room to find him staring out the window. He was wearing cranberry-colored sweats. My father would not have been caught dead in sweats prior to his nursing home days.

I say hello, daddy, and he says hello, Becky, and I say I’m Jenni, Dad, and he looks at me in disbelief. I say I’m 42 now, and he says, how’d you get so old so fast?

I tell him I sent one of his poems to a magazine-editor friend of mine, and I think maybe they’ll publish it. I tell him he is almost famous, and he says they better hurry up before he dies. My father has been making jokes about dying for 30 years.

I tell them they would like to see a poem about Oklahoma, but he shakes his head. I remind him about a poem he wrote about Bartlesville. He has no idea what I am talking about. The Corps of Engineers; that calamity so many years ago. They opened the dam and accidentally flooded the town. He was so angry, but he has forgotten it, like so many things.

I tell him I’m sorry he has to live in this home and he says he’ll be leaving it in a few days. Then he tells me he’s had a good life, and I tell him he has a lot to look forward to.

I’ve been trying to let my dad go, lately. I’ve been thinking of heaven and how his mother is there, and how very happy he’ll be to see her. I ask him if he remembers his mother and he says oh yes, she’s still alive.

It is almost noon and an aide with a tattoo scrolled across her neck comes in, pats him on the shoulder and says it’s time for lunch. He smiles and shakes his head no. You have to eat, she says, it will help your sugar. Then she tells me my father never talks. He’s a nice man she says; he never gives us any problems.

I’m so proud of my dad.

My father tells me that he is writing a book, and I ask him what it’s about. He thinks for a long time, and brushes back his hair and smiles and says he can’t remember. And, then I know, when I walked into the room and found my dad staring out the window – he was working on that book.

***

When I return home from the nursing home, everyone is in Sully’s room watching TV. I take out the meat clever and beat the raw chicken flat. Half an hour passes and I say, nobody asked how he was. And, Juliette says I didn’t want to ask because I didn’t want to make you cry. And I say, please come see me if I end up like that, and she says I’ll never live in a nursing home. You’ll live with me…

And, I think to myself, I use to say that. When I was 12 and could not live without my father.

***

March 4 Post Script

Today, is my father’s 80th birthday. He never thought he’d live this long. Neither did I. His talk of dying created such sorrow in me, that I began grieving his death at age 14. Maybe there is some mercy in this, although I’m not ready to talk about it.

I still love to hold my father’s hand. By some miracle, the Popeye muscles in his arms have not atrophied, and every time I see him, I say, make a muscle! just like I did when I was little. He smiles and makes a muscle and, I hold onto his arm as he sits in the wheelchair. I’m more aware than ever that the blood running through his body is warm and alive. It holds me still.

boomer brush back: gen X, Y, likes baseball for the amenities, not game

photo from scott abelman via flickr

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has written a column about baseball, It's the amenities that beckon now, not the game. Here is how he ended his opinion piece:

Today's fans want a spectacular coordination of glass and stone, not cheap bricks covered with chipped paint, and they want to be overwhelmed with amenities, rather than by the knowledge that major league baseball is being played inside the walls. This will be your ballpark, Generations X and Y and I (as in iPhone), and we Boomers promise merely to squat for a time and then get out of your way.

My husband grew up around the San Francisco Bay playing baseball and taking in many professional baseball games throughout his youth. Numerous times he's told me how expensive baseball has become, and how disappointing it is that attending pro games can be such a blow to the pocketbook.

Furthermore, I have a really hard time believing that baseball has changed because Generations X and Y want to be overwhelmed by amenities. To use an idiom derived from baseball, I think Reusse's assessment is totally off base. He is oversimplifying the changes that have occured, and fails to cite a myriad of other influences including the growth of technology and private investment in ballparks, both of which are a force behind the growing amenities.

What do you think?