… it depends on the dictionary where you choose to look it up:
According to the Oxford English Dictionary http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/crisis?view=uk • noun (pl. crises) 1 a time of intense difficulty or danger. 2 the turning point of a disease, when it becomes clear whether the patient will recover or not.
The Royal Spanish Language Academy (“Real Academia Española”) http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=crisis provides a less dramatic set of definitions:
1. Cambio brusco en el curso de una enfermedad, ya sea para mejorarse, ya para agravarse el paciente.
2. Mutación importante en el desarrollo de otros procesos, ya de orden físico, ya históricos o espirituales.
3. Situación de un asunto o proceso cuando está en duda la continuación, modificación o cese.
4. Momento decisivo de un negocio grave y de consecuencias importantes.
5. Juicio que se hace de algo después de haberlo examinado cuidadosamente.
6. Escasez, carestía.
7. Situación dificultosa o complicada.
When I look around all I see are people fighting to form a family, to enjoy their existing family or to prevent it from falling apart. Singles search for their other halves at all kinds of places, including the Internet. Dating agencies flourish (check out http://www.itsjustlunch.com/ for busy professionals) and of course if is not just about sex. People continue to get marry (and remarry!); just try and find an available church on short notice! In Spain men may marry men and women may marry women, thus publishing their non-official families. Others families simply live together without the official paperwork.
Unless they are just giving the politically correct answers, nobody recognises to be disinterested in their family, be it a happy or a miserable one. Family matters are raised at all times. Many candidates do not hesitate to assert that “their spouse and children go first, although their work is also important”. When I was interviewing for my first job in 1993, I wouldn’t have dreamt of confessing to something close to that.
People do no matter what to have children. Couples (and singles) undergo sophisticated fertility treatments, burdensome bureaucratic procedures and/or painful surgery to be able to hold a kid in their arms. Never have parents ever been so aware of their offsprings’ education, health and friends … or at least never have they ever said to be so deeply concerned.
Of course, not all is good news. Gender-driven violence and child abuse have unfortunately never been so frequent, at least in Spain. Married couples continue to separate and divorce. Children are left to their own devices in the company of His Majesty the Violent Videogame. Does that evidence a widespread family crisis? I believe not, or at least not more than it evidences a modern society in crisis.
The society is changing at an incredibly quick pace. Only in that sense do I adhere to the cliché that society (and for that matter, family) is in crisis, although not in the worrying Oxford sense. Families and societies evolve, which is exactly what keeps them alive.
Take this challenge: go ahead and define the word “family”. Now you can find out that a family is no longer a mom, a dad and two girls with ponytails. http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=familia
Dedicado a mi madre, por su cumpleaños el día 25. Felicidades.
lunes, 28 de enero de 2008
lunes, 21 de enero de 2008
Learn to enjoy nasty e-mails (e-mails con mala leche)
Words in an e-mail never mean what they seem at face value. An attentive reader can hardly find one without an undelying flow of suppressed feelings, a hidden power statement, a slight criticism disguised as praise words … or even worse things. Let’s pay our eternal tribute of gratitude to those literature teachers who compeled us to write critical reviews of texts (tantos años haciendo esos comentarios de texto que odiábamos, ¿os acordáis?). Every minute of comentario de texto training is paying now.
Now, if you wish to manicure your ability for nasty e-mails you can’t miss the most brilliant, witty, hilarious book I have come across lately. It is simply entitled “E”, which you will learn on the first pages stands for “e-mail”.
Matt Beaumont http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Beaumont wrote this book completely in the form of e-mails exchanged between the crazy, lazy, overly ambitious, sex-obsessed and (to be quite honest) pretty realistic characters in a company surely heading towards bankruptcy. Being a former copywriter himself, Matt Beaumont chose to set this hilarious tale of corporate intrigue in an ad agency. Secretaries do what they can to abuse temps. Bosses do not hesitate to badmouth their superiors while unfairly firing people to cover up their own mistakes. Consultants just try to do as little as possible and travel the world on the company’s account.
Matt Beaumont writes the e-mails in a subtle way where the characters are subtle, in a harsh way where they are harsh. There is even one art director who can barely write and he just grunts (in writing!).
Stop working on boring spreadsheets and indulge a bit with some random pages http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0452281881/ref=sib_aps_sup?ie=UTF8&p=random
Do break your piggy bank and fight winter blues at a negligible $12 in Amazon, even lower if you buy the book second hand. You will burst into tears with laughter, provided that you are in the right mood to see your own human weaknessess reflected in those of the computer-handicapped boss, the bitchy secretary, the dull PA or the very-much-in-need-of-sex average office inhabitant. If, after the Three Wise Men’s visit you are broke, you can always read for free at http://maktoob-business.maktoobblog.com/48000/Drugged_by_e%3F
By the way, “ta” is short for “thanks”. My pleasure :)
Now, if you wish to manicure your ability for nasty e-mails you can’t miss the most brilliant, witty, hilarious book I have come across lately. It is simply entitled “E”, which you will learn on the first pages stands for “e-mail”.
Matt Beaumont http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Beaumont wrote this book completely in the form of e-mails exchanged between the crazy, lazy, overly ambitious, sex-obsessed and (to be quite honest) pretty realistic characters in a company surely heading towards bankruptcy. Being a former copywriter himself, Matt Beaumont chose to set this hilarious tale of corporate intrigue in an ad agency. Secretaries do what they can to abuse temps. Bosses do not hesitate to badmouth their superiors while unfairly firing people to cover up their own mistakes. Consultants just try to do as little as possible and travel the world on the company’s account.
Matt Beaumont writes the e-mails in a subtle way where the characters are subtle, in a harsh way where they are harsh. There is even one art director who can barely write and he just grunts (in writing!).
Stop working on boring spreadsheets and indulge a bit with some random pages http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0452281881/ref=sib_aps_sup?ie=UTF8&p=random
Do break your piggy bank and fight winter blues at a negligible $12 in Amazon, even lower if you buy the book second hand. You will burst into tears with laughter, provided that you are in the right mood to see your own human weaknessess reflected in those of the computer-handicapped boss, the bitchy secretary, the dull PA or the very-much-in-need-of-sex average office inhabitant. If, after the Three Wise Men’s visit you are broke, you can always read for free at http://maktoob-business.maktoobblog.com/48000/Drugged_by_e%3F
By the way, “ta” is short for “thanks”. My pleasure :)
lunes, 14 de enero de 2008
Privacy and life-recording devices
I recently came across an ad in a catalogue (or catalog, as you may prefer) that I would like to comment about. You can also peruse it at http://www.spygear4u.com/proddetail.asp?prod=AM-TC246
The camera records whatever happens in front of your car while you drive. Sorry, I wrote “you drive” but I meant “someone drives” your car. Again my apologies, I wrote “your car” while there is no certainty that it was actually your car rather than any other car.
Serious as the drawbacks above may seem, some other things strike me even more. For obvious marketing reasons, the device is supposed to work only in your favour, purportedly protecting you from evil law enforcement officers. According to the advertising agency, those wicked beings will certainly use against you whatever you say in the stressful post-accident theatre while they overlook to note down the weather conditions and other events which may set you free from liability. Therefore, the ad implies that you have to protect yourself from those who draw their salaries from your taxes (i.e. the police and the courts).
Furthermore, the camera will also record everything you did wrong. Is by any chance 100% of what you do lawful and responsible when you are at the steering wheel (or elsewhere, for that matter)? What if you are driving and one of those “scary” law enforcement officers stops you and finds out that yesterday you parked in a tow-away zone (en español, una zona donde aparcas y se lo lleva la grúa)? Will it also record that you are (for instance) an emergency doctor and just managed to save someone’s life? Perhaps if you are doing something illegal, you should also record the reasons why, in case the tape ends up in the traffic authorities’ hands.
Finally, the toy does not record either what happens in your surroundings. Another ad which comes to my mind now is one I always found rather irresponsible where a monkey pointed a crossbow (en español, una ballesta) at a driver. He had to speed up for his life and reasonably disregarded each and all of the speed limits. I would have, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNoj3F9kn18
If you want to read more (this time in Spanish) about having your life recorded on video, click here. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/portada/espionaje/aceptado/elpepusoceps/20080113elpepspor_14/Tes/ Although I tend to disagree with Javier Marías more often than not, this time he made a good point. The willingness to keep your life away from a video camera does not involve that you need to hide something wrong. Sometimes you do things the Big Brother does not (or should not) care about.
The camera records whatever happens in front of your car while you drive. Sorry, I wrote “you drive” but I meant “someone drives” your car. Again my apologies, I wrote “your car” while there is no certainty that it was actually your car rather than any other car.
Serious as the drawbacks above may seem, some other things strike me even more. For obvious marketing reasons, the device is supposed to work only in your favour, purportedly protecting you from evil law enforcement officers. According to the advertising agency, those wicked beings will certainly use against you whatever you say in the stressful post-accident theatre while they overlook to note down the weather conditions and other events which may set you free from liability. Therefore, the ad implies that you have to protect yourself from those who draw their salaries from your taxes (i.e. the police and the courts).
Furthermore, the camera will also record everything you did wrong. Is by any chance 100% of what you do lawful and responsible when you are at the steering wheel (or elsewhere, for that matter)? What if you are driving and one of those “scary” law enforcement officers stops you and finds out that yesterday you parked in a tow-away zone (en español, una zona donde aparcas y se lo lleva la grúa)? Will it also record that you are (for instance) an emergency doctor and just managed to save someone’s life? Perhaps if you are doing something illegal, you should also record the reasons why, in case the tape ends up in the traffic authorities’ hands.
Finally, the toy does not record either what happens in your surroundings. Another ad which comes to my mind now is one I always found rather irresponsible where a monkey pointed a crossbow (en español, una ballesta) at a driver. He had to speed up for his life and reasonably disregarded each and all of the speed limits. I would have, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNoj3F9kn18
If you want to read more (this time in Spanish) about having your life recorded on video, click here. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/portada/espionaje/aceptado/elpepusoceps/20080113elpepspor_14/Tes/ Although I tend to disagree with Javier Marías more often than not, this time he made a good point. The willingness to keep your life away from a video camera does not involve that you need to hide something wrong. Sometimes you do things the Big Brother does not (or should not) care about.
lunes, 7 de enero de 2008
The “Happiness Committee” at Law Firms
On 6 January 2008 the New York Times published three pages about “The Falling-Down Professions”. It reported the decline of the most elite of the traditional professions (i.e. lawyers and doctors).
According to the Times, nearly 20 percent of the lawyers will suffer depression at some point in their careers. The Chicago office of Perkins Coie unveiled a recently created “Happiness Committee”, offering candy apples and milkshakes to brighten the long and wearying days of its attorneys. Cravath, Swaine & Moore tried a more direct approach, offering associates an added bonus of as much as USD 50,000 on top of regular annual bonuses that range from USD 35,000 to USD 60,000.
The Sullivan & Cromwell partners began a program encouraging good manners and work appreciation, with measures as simple and easy to implement as saying “thank you” and “good work”. Apparently that helped reduce hemorrhaging associates from 30 percent a year to only 25 percent a year.
It is a fact that the number of applicants to U.S. law schools dropped to 83,500 in 2006 from 98,700 in 2004. That happened in Spain as well, and not only due to natality reasons. Young people are more appealed by flexibility, creativity and a satisfactory balance between personal and professional lives. Law firms, custodians of the tradition as they are proud to be, do not always understand that the winds are changing.
To make things worse, associates see partners work as hard as ever, with as many billable hours as the more junior people. Is there hope for our beloved profession?
You may say I am naïve but I believe that things are not so bad. Our profession is challenging in every respect, with all kinds of skills being put into practice every day such as strategic thinking, negotiation, counter-arguing, organisation, managing teams, dealing with difficult situations, etcetera. We help our clients succeed. Let’s be reasonable and think of hundreds (thousands?) of works where intellect is not used at all.
Demanding though our clients are, they seem to me more humane than those in London, let alone New York. And we are as happy to work hard as we are to enjoy some free time with our workmates. Saying “thank you” and “sorry” at the right times forms the basis of an acceptable behaviour in Spain. In such a small market as the high-quality legal services unbearable people and sweatshops end up being well known and avoided except by those who actually like to be slaved away.
A healthy working atmosphere is more about respect than about handing out candy or (many of you will surely disagree) money. Come on, open your hearts and start 2008 complaining about your law firm, how scarcely it cares about you and how cheaply it bought your soul wholesale. And above all, start 2008 putting up proposals to improve our profession before it is too late.
According to the Times, nearly 20 percent of the lawyers will suffer depression at some point in their careers. The Chicago office of Perkins Coie unveiled a recently created “Happiness Committee”, offering candy apples and milkshakes to brighten the long and wearying days of its attorneys. Cravath, Swaine & Moore tried a more direct approach, offering associates an added bonus of as much as USD 50,000 on top of regular annual bonuses that range from USD 35,000 to USD 60,000.
The Sullivan & Cromwell partners began a program encouraging good manners and work appreciation, with measures as simple and easy to implement as saying “thank you” and “good work”. Apparently that helped reduce hemorrhaging associates from 30 percent a year to only 25 percent a year.
It is a fact that the number of applicants to U.S. law schools dropped to 83,500 in 2006 from 98,700 in 2004. That happened in Spain as well, and not only due to natality reasons. Young people are more appealed by flexibility, creativity and a satisfactory balance between personal and professional lives. Law firms, custodians of the tradition as they are proud to be, do not always understand that the winds are changing.
To make things worse, associates see partners work as hard as ever, with as many billable hours as the more junior people. Is there hope for our beloved profession?
You may say I am naïve but I believe that things are not so bad. Our profession is challenging in every respect, with all kinds of skills being put into practice every day such as strategic thinking, negotiation, counter-arguing, organisation, managing teams, dealing with difficult situations, etcetera. We help our clients succeed. Let’s be reasonable and think of hundreds (thousands?) of works where intellect is not used at all.
Demanding though our clients are, they seem to me more humane than those in London, let alone New York. And we are as happy to work hard as we are to enjoy some free time with our workmates. Saying “thank you” and “sorry” at the right times forms the basis of an acceptable behaviour in Spain. In such a small market as the high-quality legal services unbearable people and sweatshops end up being well known and avoided except by those who actually like to be slaved away.
A healthy working atmosphere is more about respect than about handing out candy or (many of you will surely disagree) money. Come on, open your hearts and start 2008 complaining about your law firm, how scarcely it cares about you and how cheaply it bought your soul wholesale. And above all, start 2008 putting up proposals to improve our profession before it is too late.
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