Unless you A) Make minimum wage or B) Your boss comes by today to tell you about your new $.70/hour raise, I would like to wish you happy pay cut day!

This is the day that our wonderful government decided that all of us mean, selfish people who don’t make minimum wage just keep sticking it to these poor underpaid people and decided to take money from us. Don’t get me wrong, this is just one of the many ways our fine representatives have helped us out.

I’ll explain this principle again, and I am certain it won’t be the last time: When you increase the price it costs to make and sell goods, the prices you pay go up. Businesses will NOT take a loss because the minimum wage goes up. They pass that cost increase right on through on every cheeseburger, sack of potatoes or shirt you buy. This means I have less purchasing power for the dollar I make, and the people on minimum wage who we purport to help are back in the same situation within 6 months because they have to buy the same goods at the same prices as everyone else.

So, happy pay-cut day! I hope everyone enjoys it!

For some time now, I have been dealing with a work dilemma. The problem is simple: My focus is on producing results quantified by uptime, availability and data security while trying to balance user friendliness and helping users get work done with the least hassle. Sounds great, right? The problem is that doing that for a growing company means that I don’t have time for PR or office politics and it becomes really easy to hide in my office and get my work done. Then, because nothing is going wrong and I am not flying from office to office in my IT Superman cape, the perception is that I’m sitting in my office writing blogs (Ok… maybe there is SOME validity to that, but you look back through and see how often I post, I’m obviously not doing a whole lot of that) or I am not friendly or “customer service oriented”. (As an aside, that term makes me insane.)

So my dilemma is this: How do I mold my co-worker’s perceptions? Here are some ideas, and why I have disqualified them:

• Write an IT Newsletter: This one has some merit. It’s a great way to put out a one-sheet on a regular basis that details new features, upcoming projects and maybe a fun article on some area of life other than work. The problems? 1) Finding the time to actually write the articles given the situation listed in the first paragraph 2) Compelling content is hard to write. Most people want to turn on their computer and just do their work. They don’t care about this great new feature that patches their machine and keeps it secure or how the new spam filter is catching 3-4,000 messages a day that they don’t have to hassle with. 3) Not coming across as arrogant or “tooting my own horn”, even though in reality that’s what I’m trying to do.
• Get out in the hallway and talk it up: I have had some limited success with this method, but the time constraints make it prohibitive. There is also the balance between making small talk and getting involved in the constant office drama that every business deals with.
• Morning rounds - Basically, I walk around to each person’s office and make myself visible, make sure things are going smoothly and update them on anything I’m doing that is relevant to their interests. This is also a good time to fix small annoyance issues they may be having. Overall, this is the method I have had the most success with. This method is pretty good in the fall and winter, but during the spring and summer so many people are on vacation that my morning rounds don’t actually make that much contact. The downside is similar to the hallway solution: getting involved in drama.

So, there is a window into my ever-running mind this morning. That’s what I have swirling in my head today.

Just a quick note to my readers that I am in an odd musical mood.

I’m listening to old Randy Travis (On the Other Hand, Diggin Up Bones, etc.)

This has been your Musical ADD warning.

Whether or not you agreed with him or who he worked for, Tony was a great communicator. He conveyed a sincerity that many in the media and the political arena should learn and use.

Godspeed, Mr. Snow.

Reverend Evans and the Wonder Band?

Reverend Evans and his Three Piece Band?

Just thoughts…