I thought I'd start a thread to share wisdom gained -- often the only good thing about making a mistake is that you learn something from it. But it's always better to learn from someone else's mistake than your own. 1. Never tell someone that you are waiting for that you are not in a hurry -- even if you aren't, you should never say that. I had a stressful day today. And I actually know this, but I was tired and the words came out of my mouth and I immediately knew it was a mistake. I spent 5 hours today from my initial call to my insurance company, up until the guy actually showed up. I called my insurance company to tell them I needed emergency roadside assistance (though my car was in the driveway, I didn't want to be stuck at home). I get a call from the tow truck 15 minutes after I hung up asking me what street I lived off of. When he realized that I didn't live off of the street he was on he said he'd have to call for another truck. That's when I heard myself say 'That's fine, I'm not in a hurry'. I fell asleep and didn't call to complain until 2 1/2 hours later when I realized how long I had dozed off for. 2. When someone wants to inconvenience you, never say 'No Problem' or 'Don't worry about it' if it really is an inconvenience. It's ok to say yes, when you want to help out. But never pretend that it isn't what it is. Because then the person ends up believing you, and helping in the future can become more of an obligation than a favor. Drive your friend to the airport, or let him vent about his ex, or help him paint or lend him your lawn mower. You don't have to make a big thing about it, but pretending like it's not an inconvenience sends the message that it really isn't, and that you'll never say no. I used to let people walk all over me because I told them it was ok. It's ok to be helpful, but it's not ok to be used as a doormat.
3. I learned this actually from the original Star Trek (no joke), and learned how really important it was while working as a programmer. -- never tell someone how long you really think a job or project will take. If you think it will take an hour, say you'll have it done by the end of the day. If you think it will take a week, say 2 weeks. There are several reasons for this -- first of all, no matter how sure you are, you still may be wrong. Second, you can never predict all of the interruptions and other unforeseen events that could delay your completion. People will start to have a more realistic expectation about how valuable your time is and if you actually complete the job earlier than expected, it is never a bad thing. You have more time to make sure the job was done right, that you didn't overlook something or made a mistake. And most importantly, the amount of overtime that you have to do will decrease. Lastly, you will be a lot less likely to end up with a deadline that you cannot possibly make.
4. Another work-related thing: 'Always get it in writing'. It can be e-mail, or hard-copy. If someone wants you to do something, make sure that you have evidence in their own words. First of all, it's important that if you are doing something for someone that they are very specific about what they want. If it's not in writing, it didn't happen. And let them know that. I learned this the hard way. Sometimes at a job you get pulled in a lot of different directions. You may have a lot of different people expecting different things from you. Not only is having a written record a good memory aid, but when someone complains that you didn't give them what they asked for, you have something to point to. I remember some days having to talk to a dozen different people about a dozen different things, and it's easy to lose track of who said what. But also, you want to be protected when things go wrong. And Inevitably, things will go wrong. The corollary to this is that if someone asks for something and then changes their mind about the details of that thing, that ALSO must be put into writing. I can't tell you how many times people would ask for something and then I'd get a phone call at the last minute with additions or changes. Tell them fine, but tell them to send it in an e-mail. If necessary, have them copy your boss.
Hell yeah, as an artist I know how it feels! Someone asked me for a commission once (art for money) and I said I'm not sure if I can do it but I'll try to draw a sketch by the end of the week. It's been two years now, lol.
One thing I was generally honest about was that if someone asked me to do something and I was not sure if I could do it or if it were practical to attempt, I would say something. It's all about managing expectations. I have no artistic talent whatsoever, but as a seasoned programmer, if I didn't have an immediate thought about how to do a project, that usually meant that it was something really hard, if not impossible or totally impractical. I didn't always have the luxury to say no (that's the cost of having an employer rather than being an independent contractor). But you still have to manage expectations. You don't want your 'client' to think that something is easy when it isn't. (Heck, it's better if they don't think that anything you do is easy lol). All that said, there were three senior systems analysts, where I worked, one was my friend/co-worker, Wendy. My boss once confessed to me that when he had a client, and he didn't want the project to get done (for whatever reason) he'd ask Wendy what she thought (in front of the client), and almost inevitably, she'd say no we can't do it. If he wanted to say yes to the client then he'd ask me about it because he thought that I'd inevitably say yes. It wasn't that I was a better programmer than Wendy, it was that I loved challenges, whereas she hated them lol. So if I thought something would be hard (hard=fun), my eyes would light up. Until he told me that, I had no idea that I was so predictable. BTW, that reminds me of another lesson learned: the absolute worst thing a boss can tell you is that "you work really well under pressure". My very first programming job (absolutely one of the worst employers ever for tons of reasons that I've mentioned elsewhere), my supervisor for a project told me that. I think he meant it as a compliment, but I took it as yet another sign that I needed to change jobs. They were real slavedrivers there, with impossible deadlines, hours and hours of forced unpaid overtime, lots of yelling and drama, lies and actions bordering on the criminal, and so on. But it was my first real programming job and I didn't have any confidence to know that I could do better. But eventually I did, and 'you work well under pressure' I believe may have been the first time I actually thought "I've got to get out of here".
Well, they never paid me or asked me if I started drawing anything so I guess they forgot/didn't need it anymore. There was that one time when a person commissioned me for 2 drawings and paid. I did one and then I got to the hospital with some nasty stuff. I didn't have the time or internet to say anything to my commissioner and when I was back I found out they never wrote me anything though it's been three months. I finished their commission and linked it to them but they never replied. Well, at least I don't feel like I owe them
