This entry is from some notes I’ve taken while reading the book Rework. Considering my recent write up “Don’t Give me Rework Refusal!” one may consider me a supporter of the ideas presented in the book. Out of all the books I’ve read recently, this one is definitely on the top of the heap of “things to do to succeed”. Great book; simple, to the point, great real world examples, and shows a keen understanding of the larger business world as well.
Go to Sleep
In the section titled Go to Sleep I thought of some additional stories and events that I’ve experienced in the past. These experiences helped me to realize the difference between me on good sleep and me on bad sleep.
Push These Chairs
One of my team leads for a team I worked with years ago stated to me, “If you come in tired, you’re useless to me, except I could get you to push chairs around.” We had a good working camaraderie so I just laughed it off, until I came in tired one day. Eric P. saw me plugging along yet could tell I was kind of in a dirge. He said, “Hey Adron, see those chairs? Could you go move those chairs over to that part of the room?” I looked at him quizzically thinking, “I’m a software developer, you want me to move chairs?” Then I thought back to what he had said and I realized I was tired and it showed.
🙁 Not cool on my part, I was bummed.
I realized what he was making a point of and asked if I should just head out and get some sleep and come back nito the office? He said that would probably be best, as the team really needed to be 100%. We were all tired a little bit, but crunching and coming in the next day sloppy tired wasn’t helping project velocity at all. So off I went to get some sleep.
In the book Rework the writers point out some key facts of the tired:
- Stubbornness
- Lack of Creativity
- Diminished Morale
- Irritability
I wanted to add a few myself:
- Negatively Contagious
- Misdirected
- Oft Confused
A negatively contagious individual affects those around with a bad vibe. Often making even those that aren’t tired, feel and act like it. It makes the day of work more difficult and diminishes their morale as well as the tired individual’s.
A misdirected individual fits into the whole “useless” category. Sure, they can move chairs around as my Team Lead Eric P. proved, but beyond that a tired programmer isn’t a programmer, they’re a chair mover.
A oft confused person comes to work tired, attends meetings or other high cost events during the day and adds to the confusion instead of adding clarity. This affects these high cost events by making them even more high cost and less useful.
So if you heed the advice in the book, which Eric P. and I reiterate, GET SOME SLEEP!!!
