{"id":17,"date":"2007-03-17T16:31:59","date_gmt":"2007-03-17T15:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/judykat.com\/ken\/2007\/03\/17\/youre-an-experiment\/"},"modified":"2010-09-06T06:26:20","modified_gmt":"2010-09-06T10:26:20","slug":"youre-an-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/judykat.com\/ken-judy\/youre-an-experiment\/","title":{"rendered":"You’re an Experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m on the management side of the labor divide and yet I’ve never held a position my parents would consider a permanent job. To work these days is effectively to be employed at will<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I once had a senior executive tell me that my team was an experiment. To prove the value of development staff, we had to replace an outsource, maintain their legacy applications, and deliver a challenging new project. If we failed, next year’s budget would go to re-establishing the outsource.<\/p>\n

We faced a hard date, skeptical clients and a steep learning curve but we had an honest leader, the means to succeed and a way of measuring it. All we had to do was execute. <\/p>\n

I never felt more control over my fate. <\/p>\n

\"Just<\/a>\"\"A family friend works for Doctors Without Borders<\/a>. His labor benefits society in ways that will outlive him. In the balancing act that is my life — privileged by world if not New York standards — I’ve deferred, if not entirely foregone legacy. My job is about significance and achievement. Significance comes in providing for my family, not only a biological imperative but a profound joy. <\/p>\n

Achievement rests in approaching each year as if it were an experiment. What accomplishment justifies my continued employment? What one thing should I do to materially advance the interests of my employer, our customers and\/or my team? It’s the chart of that course that makes me show up in the morning and it’s sightings along the way that allow me to sleep at night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m on the management side of the labor divide and yet I’ve never held a position my parents would consider a permanent job. To work these days is effectively to be employed at will. I once had a senior executive … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[11,158,6,157,159,148],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal","tag-agile-management","tag-doctors-without-borders","tag-good-work","tag-legacy-applications","tag-new-york","tag-senior-executive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t