Tag Archives: mike o’mary

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Running Sidehill on Loose Gravel

18 rock climbing iStock_000006307944Smallby Mike O’Mary

One summer, a friend took me hiking up 9,000-foot-high Decker Peak in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains. The experience provided me with a strong sense of accomplishment, and the solitude, the view and the cleansing effort it took all combined to make the world seem less complex. At that moment, it seemed that it might, in fact, be possible for us to control our own fates.

When you descend from the Sawtooths, you can follow the stream beds down until they take you to a lake at the base of the mountains, or you can go sidehill around the mountain until you are above the lake, then head straight down. We decided on the latter.

We made good time until we came to some steep, vertical strips of decomposed granite, nature’s equivalent of silicone-coated marbles. Each strip was 20 yards across and stretched from the granite peak above us to as far down the mountain as we could see.

Crossing the strips required constant motion because as soon as you put a foot down, the granite started to slide down the mountain. The only way to avoid going down with it was to keep moving. We went sidehill on loose gravel for the next few hours until we were off the mountain.

I often think about that hike because when you’re a kid, you don’t control your own fate, but you temper that knowledge with the thought that someday, you’re going to grow up and the world will be your oyster. But the older you get, the more you realize most of us are just a bunch of big kids. We do adult things–we work, we make house payments, we pay taxes–but control is an illusory thing. It’s like running sidehill on loose gravel. In the end, people seem much happier when they stop pursuing control and start seeking meaning…because at that point, you begin to establish a foothold on solid ground.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Cubicle Stories: Life in the Modern Workplace.”

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Playing the Numbers Game at Work

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by Mike O’Mary

iStock_000009209243XSmallI used to work at a company where people were very conscious of job levels. After a big meeting of top company managers, one of my coworkers approached me: “Hey, Mike,” he said. “I didn’t know you were a nine.” Before I could inform him that I was not a nine, he continued in a hushed tone: “A bunch of us nines are getting together after work for pizza and beer tomorrow. Don’t tell any sevens or eights.” Then he hurried off.

I suppose most companies have some internal method of ranking various job classifications. At that particular company, you climbed the ladder from level one to level two to three, on up. It was sort of like Donkey Kong. How high can you get?

I don’t know how far the numbering system went, but reaching level nine held special significance. They didn’t give you a key to the executive washroom or anything like that. (That would have been silly–especially since there was already an armed guard at the washroom entrance and you had to show two picture I.D.s to get in. I showed my library card and prom picture.) But being a level nine did have its advantages. For one thing, it meant you got to go to big meetings of top company managers. You also got an assigned parking space, a slightly larger cubicle and a free annual physical. I think being a nine also meant that you are allowed to use the two-ply toilet paper. And, of course, nines were allowed to punch sevens at will.

I didn’t get a chance to tell my coworker that I was not a nine. I was at the big meeting of top company managers because it was part of my job to report to other employees what happened at such meetings. I was on hand to listen and learn–and to change the light bulb in the slide projector if necessary.

Obviously, my coworker had taken my presence at the big meeting to mean that I, too, had a reserved parking place and an unchafed bum. Apparently, I could have passed myself off as a nine if I had really wanted to. At least nobody tried to hit me at the meeting. But I decided not to push my luck, so I skipped the pizza and beer that night. Besides, I had some fives to beat up.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Cubicle Stories: Life in the Modern Workplace.”

advice, lifestyle

Delaying the Battle Against Procrastination

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iStock_000012465994XSmallby Mike O’Mary

Like a lot of people, I tend to procrastinate:

  • It took me five years to complete a two-year graduate program.
  • When I first started working, the stock market was at 800. (Yes, I know…that was a long time ago.) I finally got in at around 8,000 — right before the dot.com crash earlier this decade. (Hmmm…maybe I rushed things there.)
  • I’ve put off buying a new life insurance policy for over a year now because I know I’ll get a better rate as soon as I lose a little weight — which should happen pretty fast once I start exercising.
  • And I’m on track to die with more unwritten novels than any other writer in history.

It’s easy to say, “I’ve got too much to do,” but there’s usually more to it than that. For some, it’s fear of failure. For others, fear of success. Sometimes it’s a control thing. Sometimes, we procrastinate because we’ve never really made up our minds on the big issues…things like “What I want to do with my life.”

Oprah Winfrey once interviewed the late Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled and other books. She noted that he was a prolific writer, traveled all over the country giving lectures, maintained a psychotherapy practice, and still managed to spend time with his family.

“How do you find the time to do all of this?” Oprah asked.

“I spend two hours a day thinking about what is important in my life and what is not,” said Peck. “I tell people I am praying so they will not interrupt. I do not spend any time on activities that are not important to my life. And, I don’t watch your show.”

I like that answer so much, I think I’ll give it a try. But it will have to wait til tomorrow. I’ve got too much to do today.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Advice You’d Like to Pass on to Others.”

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Don’t Overpromise

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iStock_000000261349XSmall
by Mike O’Mary

I remember a sales rep from a commercial printer who would never tell me what I wanted to hear. I’d say, “Is there any way we can get that printed by May 1?” And he’d say, “Ooh! I don’t know…that’s tight.” Never once would he say, “Yep, no problem.” Yet almost invariably, it was no problem. He never overcommitted and always delivered on time.

As someone who used to do things like “commit” to being in downtown Chicago in 15 minutes when I was still 30 miles away, or “commit” to producing a draft of a 2,000-word article in two days when I knew it would take two weeks, I greatly admire that rep’s discipline. And I learned from him. It’s easy to tell people what they want to hear. And as a freelancer, you want to please your clients. But you will do them and yourself a favor if you are realistic when it comes to the commitments you make.

What is your track record as a freelancer? Do you deliver on time 100% of the time? Or is it more like 90%…or 75%…or 50%? If it’s less than 100% of the time, why is that? Is it because something unexpected came up, or were you just trying to do too much in too short a period of time?

Don’t fall victim to your desire to please clients by telling them what they want to hear. It’s better to please them by delivering on time. So set realistic deadlines and then meet them. If you can do those two things, you will always have repeat business–and your reputation will result in lots of referrals.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics.

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Social Media ist das Opium des Volkes

iStock_000009250299XSmallby Mike O’Mary

Okay, so maybe Karl Marx was talking about religion instead of social media when he tagged an institution as “the opiate of the people.” But if Karl were alive today, I don’t think he’d argue with calling social media an opiate. Speaking for myself, I swore off television years ago only to end up spending those newfound hours in front of the computer every day. Sucked in again!

How much time do you spend on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Classmates, YouTube, Flickr, Google Buzz, Bebo, Flixster, MyLife, etc., etc.? And I’m not even talking about the time you spend checking your e-mail accounts, blogs, bank/brokerage accounts, shopping, travel, and all that other “essential” stuff. Talk about a huge time suck.

To be clear, social media is pretty amazing. You have hundreds — sometimes thousands — of personal and business connections at your fingertips. This simply was not possible ten years ago. Old college friends were just that…old college friends. Maybe you saw them at your 10th or 20th or 50th reunion. Now you can see them every day. Perhaps all you learn is that they spend oodles of time fertilizing eggplant in FarmVille. But hey, you’ll have something to talk about at the next reunion, right? (“Hey, Greg…how’d that degree in library science turn out? Oh. Sorry. Nice eggplant farm though.”)

I started to say that social media is pretty amazing. And that it has its place. It’s helped me spread the word about my new book publishing business faster and cheaper and to a broader audience than I could have done with traditional PR or marketing. And I’ve made some new friends along the way. It’s been great. But I really did get sucked in. Here’s what happened: I was spending LOTS of time each day trying to keep up with all of my social media accounts, and then staying up very late at night doing all the other things that are traditionally associated with book publishing. That had to stop. My job is editing and publishing. My job is not social media gadfly — no matter how entertaining, compelling or (dare I say it) ADDICTING social media might be.

Here is a longer version of the famous Karl Marx quote. Again, I have substituted “social media” for “religion”:
[Social media] is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

It’s your life. Don’t live it all virtually.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics.

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How Does Your Customer Service Stack Up?

Workshop Customer Service Contest alternate photo low resby Mike O’Mary

When they talk about a service economy, they don’t necessarily mean good service.

I recently came across some examples of customer service that indicate to me that if we are becoming more and more a service economy, we may be in serious trouble.

For example, I went to a fast food establishment and approached the counter. There were several cash registers spaced out across the length of the counter, and I stopped at the first one I came to. It wasn’t a busy time. As a matter of fact, I was the only customer in the place. There was one cashier behind the counter. After a few moments, the cashier approached me and asked if I had been waited on. I said no, at which point the cashier walked all the way to the register at the far end of the counter and pronounced, to no one in particular, “Can I help someone?” No wonder there was no one else in the place.

I wasn’t too surprised to receive that kind of service from adolescent counter help at a fast food place, but I was surprised to hear about the owner of a local restaurant who treats his customers well when they’re patronizing his establishment, but doesn’t extend the same courtesy to them elsewhere. In this case, the restaurant owner apparently had a problem with his bank statement. He took the statement to the bank, threw it on the desk of a bank employee, and started berating the employee. The mistake wasn’t the employee’s fault, and she did everything she could to help, but that didn’t seem to matter. What the restaurant owner neglected to consider was the fact that the bank employee, her parents and some of her friends–including me–were all patrons of his restaurant. Now, none of us are.

When it comes to customer service, the old adage applies: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Endeavor to treat EVERYBODY as your customer or prospective customer. That adolescent kid at the fast food place might need a freelancer some day.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics.