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What frustrates me most
What frustrates me most about my partner (DataGuy) here at work is that he live constantly within the situation of Buridan's ass*, which is to say that he is indecisive.
* Buridan's Ass, or the "rational donkey", refers to a paradoxical situation wherein an ass, placed exactly in the middle between two stacks of hay of equal size and quality, will starve to death since it cannot make any rational decision to start eating one rather than the other.
DataGuy is, by and large, my controller. He prioritizes the work I do day to day because he is the one who takes client phone calls and therefore knows which clients need the most attention on any given day at any given hour.
We have two hot projects at the moment. Both are billable. Both are mid-process. Both are due at the end of the month. I came to a stopping point on Project 1, turned it over to the client for approval, and moved back to Project 2.
I'm spinning plates, that's all. Progress on one, turn it over to the client. Progress on two, turn it over to the client. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
DataGuy is of the opinion that we should go ahead and assume approval on Project 1, finish it and publish it to their website. I agree (typically, this client never moves forward without a push), but there's no harm in letting them wait.
I wait for fifteen minutes while he looks at both projects on the to-do list. Both billable. Both mid-process. Which one to work on, which one, which one...
I'm going to work on Two, I says.
Wait, One is billable, he says.
So is Two, I says.
Yeah, but..., he says.
I've been cooling my heels for a quarter of an hour that I could have been making progress, I want to say, but don't. Instead I say, I'm going to work on Two.
Quote for the day: Do not mistake "talking" for "action."
* Buridan's Ass, or the "rational donkey", refers to a paradoxical situation wherein an ass, placed exactly in the middle between two stacks of hay of equal size and quality, will starve to death since it cannot make any rational decision to start eating one rather than the other.
DataGuy is, by and large, my controller. He prioritizes the work I do day to day because he is the one who takes client phone calls and therefore knows which clients need the most attention on any given day at any given hour.
We have two hot projects at the moment. Both are billable. Both are mid-process. Both are due at the end of the month. I came to a stopping point on Project 1, turned it over to the client for approval, and moved back to Project 2.
I'm spinning plates, that's all. Progress on one, turn it over to the client. Progress on two, turn it over to the client. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
DataGuy is of the opinion that we should go ahead and assume approval on Project 1, finish it and publish it to their website. I agree (typically, this client never moves forward without a push), but there's no harm in letting them wait.
I wait for fifteen minutes while he looks at both projects on the to-do list. Both billable. Both mid-process. Which one to work on, which one, which one...
I'm going to work on Two, I says.
Wait, One is billable, he says.
So is Two, I says.
Yeah, but..., he says.
I've been cooling my heels for a quarter of an hour that I could have been making progress, I want to say, but don't. Instead I say, I'm going to work on Two.
Quote for the day: Do not mistake "talking" for "action."