A Wandering Eyre

• http://www.avclub.com/content/videocracy/2937 #

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Today, dear readers, I offer you a public service announcement for those of you who like to give advise to pregnant ladies and the ladies who have to listen to you.

When you are pregnant, people tell you all kind of things, from advice to old wives tales. It is usually amusing advice, but two things in particular have been bothering me.

When I was in my first trimester and very tired, people used to say this little gem to me all the time:

Sleep now because when the baby gets here you will never sleep again.

They always said it with this sarcastic gleam in their eye, as if they were saying something hilarious and giving me good advice at the same time. Let me assure you that I know that my days of getting a full night sleep are over already. I get up to go to the bathroom at least 3 times a night and I have already considered all of the ways a kid will change my life. Lack of sleep is the least of my concerns. I am already worried about teenage angst.

In addition, next time someone tells me this, I am also going to explain that sleep can not be stored in a bank like money. I can not sleep more now and feel rested in 5 months. Our bodies do not work that way and suggesting that I can do something about my sleep deprivation later right now is stupid and irritating. Just do us all a favor and stop telling pregnant women this.

Item number two is a huge lie that I have heard from all kinds of people. They tell it to you, again, in the first trimester when all you want to do is eat and sleep.

Just wait until the second trimester. You will feel great and have lots of energy.

Compared to what? Yes, you feel better in the second trimester then you did in the first, but you do not feel “great”. I have come to the conclusion that there are all kinds of things about being pregnant that no one ever tells you about, most of them unpleasant. Like random pains, numbness, acute hunger, weird digestive issues, boobs with minds of their own, and any number of odd things that are seemingly incongruent with a parasite in your uterus. When you are pregnant, you never feel great. There is always something weird going on with your body. I keep thinking of a cute baby and reminding myself that everything has a price.

The second half of this statement is also false for the same reason. You do have a lot of energy in the second trimester, but only when you compare your energy level to what you felt like the first three months of pregnancy. It is not hard to feel more alert then those first three months. I have had insomnia and anxiety related sleep problems before and that kind of tired is nothing compared to being pregnant tired. The bone crushing weariness in the first three months goes away in the second trimester, but you are still tired, all the time. I still rarely make it past 9:30 or 10 pm and it is all I can do to stay awake for one hour after dinner before dragging off to bed. A pregnant lady does not have the energy of a normal person, ever, because we are busy growing a human being and that takes way more energy then sitting at a desk all day. Please, please stop giving pregnant ladies hope that for their middle three months they will enjoy a normal life. They will not.

Our lives will never be normal again so no sugar coating, please. And no more sarcastic advice.

–Jane, public service announcement has ended *beep* *beep*

• @kgs - great ALA post, I heart u #

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• at a librarians’ faculty meeting, not sure will see anything new, but is always interesting #
• i am curious why the advent of email did not change meeting structures from reporting to discussion. reporting is better done over email #
• Overheard - "Innovative likes to sell little pieces" - meaning features in our catalog, creates class system of catalogs #
• campus going through QEP planning process - getting an update now on progress #
• @lucy_anne - one life preserver, coming your way. would you like a fruity drink with an umbrella with that? #
• @ellbeecee - All Your Base Now Belong To Us #
• now website feedback reporting - we recently revamped our site http://info.lib.uh.edu/ #
• now digital projects staffing - first thing on the agenda that is actually new and has not been shared already over email #
• meeting over, good #
• preparing for a reference shift filled with frantic printing and article requests - It’s Finals and Paper time! Hooray! </sarcasm> #

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I wanted to write this as a comment on the blog Marcus’ World, but it requires an account to TypeKey, which I did not want to set up for one comment. I also wanted to email Marcus to let him know I responded to his post. Alas, he has no email or other contact information that I could find on his site. I could have spent time Googling him, but I decided a response here would have to do.

Marcus took from my post about virtual meetings and ALA that I hate all F2F meetings and think physical conferences are not worthwhile. That is completely not the case. I do not like F2F meetings that are a waste of time. I do owe a huge amount of my success to friends I have made at physical conferences. The other 70% * of my success comes from my virtual network of peers and blogging, but that is a different post altogether.

I think that most F2F meetings are a waste of time because we spend time reporting and discussing things that are best left to email or chat. We travel hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles**, to talk about something in a formal meeting that would have been fine translated to email. Sometimes we hear reporting on things that have already been sent out in email, double jeopardy. Instead of doing the majority of our organization’s work virtually and using ALA Midwinter and Annual to make major decisions (after all the angles have already been discussed online) or to have wider membership discussions, we meet to talk about committee reports, committee updates, and plan the upcoming year’s projects. All these things could happen more efficiently over email or IM.

The major benefit to F2F conferences, regardless of the organization or venue, is the people***, not the meetings. Marcus is right when he says that the interactions and networking are what make an in person conference worth attending. I did notice that Marcus was not touting the great experiences he has in meetings. It is the after meeting discussions in bars and over lunch that make a difference. Those things can never be replaced completely with virtual means.

What I am really arguing for is the ability for people to participate in a meaningful and principle way virtually in our organization. It is an argument for efficient use of my time in between meetings. It is an argument for ALA to formally allow their members to participate without going to two costly meetings a year.

It is a plea for ALA to stop living in the pre-Internet days and start living in this century. A fervent wish for our organizations, ALA and libraries alike, to realize that we already live online and we expect for you to as well. That means we expect to be able to participate virtually with all the benefits (voting rights) of members fortunate enough to be able to travel.

–Jane, has thus far been blessed to be able to travel often

*Numbers should be believed even if they are totally fictional.
**In the past year I have traveled 5,027 miles to 3 ALA conferences. Based on actual calculations and travel distance.
***Picture of actual people at Annual not in a meeting and having fun.

• making my to do list #
• getting ready for am desk shift, wondering what to take with me to do on the desk #
• listening to Christmas carols, finished reading feeds, now to book buying #
• IMing with a librarian, on chat ref duty, buying books, listening to Christmas music #
• wrapping up and heading out #

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Helene Blowers linked to an article from Fast Company called The New Rules of Innovation. The last rule was, of course, my favorite:

Rule # 6 – Innovation is about breaking rules, so ignore any or all of the above.

Innovation is about thinking outside of the box which often means outside of the rules as well. Do not be confused that I am arguing against rules. Rules are good things, but only when we know when they can and should be broken or bent.

If you are having a problem encouraging innovation at YPOW, maybe there are too many rules.

Perhaps there are too many hurdles, in IT, in management, in the lower rungs, in time, or money. Some things are hard to fix, like time and money, but they too can be manipulated. Both can be found be reworking priorities. We can find both, but it may be painful and librarians love, more than books, avoiding confrontations at all costs. Reworking priorities is all about confronting the unpleasant, but we must start doing this.

Perhaps, as I suggested previously, your workers feel alienated because of rules or tight regulations and thus do not want to innovate. Why would they? Too many rules and not enough freedom tells your employees you do not trust and respect them.

I think the rules should also be evaluated every once in a great while. Like policies, we sometimes forget why the rules are in place and it is time for them to go. In other instances, the rules no longer fit the lifestyle and priorities of our employees and organization.

When was the last time your organization’s rules were seriously, critically examined by all of the people from all levels?

–Jane, has been known to break rules

• @kgs - is there something you would like to share w/group re: facebook ads? #
• drinking gingerbread tea and doing small tasks that are hanging around my desk #
• @kgs - well, I wish you a bundle of ginger kitten then #
• considering running my out of the building errand now, before it rains or something #
• @shines - is ded here 2 #
• is too early for lunch? mebbe no? am starving. #
• @ellbeecee - exactly the kind of mood I am in today #
• going out to finish my desk shift. why is it not time to leave yet? #
• as requested by @kgs - http://tinyurl.com/25bxa9 #
• one more serious post before holidays begin http://tinyurl.com/yw26hb #
• @all - Happy Thanksgiving. Many Blessings. love you guys. #

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I am writing this as a young Gen Xer so this guide really focuses on young GenXers and Millennials, but frankly, is not defined solely by age. (what is ever defined solely by age?) This list is based on my own unscientific observations, things I have read, things I have been pondering since getting pregnant, and lately considering how to juggle my work and growing family.

1. Micromanage them.
No one likes to be micromanaged but a generation that grew up being force fed group activities and independence has come to expect both. Newsflash: It is not a “group activity” if you are domineering the group.

Team members want to be trusted to get their work done. If you are really that worried about output, ask your team member or employee what they need to get their work done and then listen to the answer. Do they like timelines or deadlines? Set the dates needed and then leave them alone. If they fail to meet deadlines, then consider a harsher route, but trust first.

Libraries are especially notorious for needing quantitative output. Please realize that not all work has a product, especially in academia. We are getting paid to think about stuff for part of the day. There is no way to log that time. Technology also requires some experimenting and play time. This also has no real output, but it does result in a wider knowledgebase and well rounded employees. Nothing will stop a productive, happier employee faster than being micromanaged. Well, maybe #2.

2. Create a rigid schedule with no flex time or alternative work hours.
There have been numerous stories about the new generation of workers that *gasp* value family over work to the point that we are willing to make huge work sacrifices for our families. No job and no pay is worth missing out on the time I get on the couch with Mr. Rochester and Pullo at my feet. No job.

That means we want flexible work hours and some understanding when we ask for telecommuting opportunities. The only thing that says you do not trust your employee more than micromanaging them is telling them they have to be physically at their desk 8 hours a day. Studies have shown that no one works 8 hours a day straight. We need flexibility when we ask for it and we need to be trusted to get our work done. Rigidity says “I do not trust you and therefore must treat you like a child, not a colleague.”

Workers that know they are not trusted are not going to trust you nor are they going to want to perform at their best. Why would they? That is not the message you want to send. Some of us actually get more work done at home than we do at our desks. Before you say no, consider saying yes instead and the benefits that would come with a different answer.

3. Lock down technology.
This one should speak for itself. Many employees, especially younger workers, expect a certain amount of connectivity to get their work done. Not to mess around, but to be productive. I need music, for example, to be productive and I am not bringing my entire CD library to work with me. Do you let your team members have iTunes, use Pandora, or LastFM (provided your org has the bandwidth to support the latter two)? Before someone tells me I should just buy an MP3 player, let me respond: Why can’t I use the free tools available to me instead if me spending my money to be productive at work?

Technology saavy people also tend to like to experiment. How much leeway are you giving workers? Locking down technology says, “I do not trust you to behave yourself, though you have done nothing wrong yet.” Make some policies with consequences if rules are broken. Do not punish people when no crime has been committed.

Do you have more to add? Please share with the group.

–Jane, likes to be trusted to get her job done

Lauren Pressley is LITA’s new Emerging Leader. Hooray. I hope the second crop does some fun and exciting things.

–Jane, counts herself as fully emerged