Strength in Numbers

I had to watch the video of FedEx arrivals into their Memphis hub during a major thunderstorm over and over. Someone has set the time-lapsed radar playback to music, which makes it look a lot like beautifully choreagraphed dancing ants. You can see the flights pick their way through the cells of the advancing storm and work their way into a queue for landing - right up until the storm is directly over the runway, at which point the ants all go running away from the airport, some to come back again after it passes but many finding their way to other nearby airports instead. It's hilarious... and I find myself wanting a voice-over too (Run away!).

Typically, though, I like to keep my love of flying and my interest in severe weather separate. They don't go well together. It's probably why I didn't do a lot of flying when I was in Omaha, which happened to be Stephen Colbert's target on his show Tuesday night. Between that and Jon Stewart's ongoing jabs at the Terre Haute weather team wars, I was feeling sort of deja vu all over again-ish, getting serious flashbacks of my days in small market television.

That, of course, is another story. While I was in Omaha, though, I nearly had a bit of a flashback of a different kind, coming close to getting caught up in a strike of my own, just like I used to see my father go through when I was a kid. Working in television in a lot of U.S. markets means joining up with AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and while I was working in Omaha, the local AFTRA chapter came close to taking action against the station where I worked, placing me in a rather difficult position.

As on-air talent, my contract was considerably different than what most of the rest of the employees had with the station and was negotiated individually. Not surprisingly, the station considered me and the other on-air folks as part of a separate category altogether. They threatened us with harsher action if we honored the picket lines which certainly seemed intimidating at the time and was of course exactly the point.

Needless to say, the rest of the union considered "us" to be part of them along with everyone else and needed our participation to gain the leverage they needed in any kind of strike that might occur. The fact that I essentially agreed with them didn't make being in the middle any easier.

Basically, both sides needed or at least wanted us - our faces, voices, and soubriquets - on their side. I was greatly conflicted (mostly from trying to figure out how not to get sued) and not at all looking forward to making what was sure to have been a difficult decision, should the matter come down to a walk-out. Fortunately, the union and the station were able to come to an agreement and I never had to figure out my part in the situation.

The strikes I lived through as a child always seemed far simpler. No matter how difficult it might be for us as a family, we supported any union action that took place. And my father was always very clear that he understood not everyone was in a position to honor picket lines but he drew the line at enjoying the benefits resulting from such a sacrifice and enjoying continued work (and paycheck) during the strike. That always seemed fair to me.

I learned something else during that time. Going on strike is very, very difficult. I don't wish that on anyone. And what I came to understand back then was that no one likes to go on strike. When it happens, it's because the people feel like it is the only way to get what they want and that what they want is important enough to sacrifice a great deal to get it.

As such, I've always tried to honor any picket lines I come up against in my everyday life, the kind that have nothing to do with me except that they happen to be taking place at the store where I usually shop or the company from whom I usually get my newspaper. I tend to believe that in most cases, they wouldn't be walking the picket lines unless they really thought it was worth it because who in their right minds would willingly put themselves through that trauma if that weren't the case.

Becoming a manager in the tech world shifted my perspective just a bit, seeing what kind of hassles unionization was likely to cause in the places where I worked. When a manager really does try to do the right thing, meeting the demands of a union can be hobbling even while those demands are in place to protect against real-life issues caused by problem owners and managers. As a result, the opinion I've developed over time is that it is in everyone's best interests to do whatever is necessary to avoid the need for unionization, not to avoid unionization itself. If unions are sometimes a necessary evil, avoid the evil part by making them unnecessary.

The tech industry is currently working through the risk analysis for unionization with some folks actively pushing for unionizing technology workers now. There's no doubt in my mind that labor movements are not dead and that they will continue to have value so long as there are forces in the marketplace that push owners and managers to make choices contrary to the best interests of their employees.

When good owners and managers can resist those forces and take a more balanced approach, however, unionization may be premature. Smart owners and managers will recognize that and keep doing their level best to make unionization unnecessary - an obsolete notion - while smart workers will recognize those efforts when they're successful and hold off the unionization call, at least for the time being. While there is no benefit to unionizing before it's really needed, when it is needed, taking advantage of the strength that comes with numbers is the only thing that will work.

Too bad such strength in numbers doesn't work as well against forces of nature but then we wouldn't have had such a cool video to talk about.

Send your stories, thoughts or observations about this column, flying, management, unionization and/or weather phenomona to me at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com - I'm not picky; I'll work with just about anything

What are the important connections in your life?

Kimm Viebrock is a Certified Professional Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

KFS - Trade-offs

To make the airplane go up, pull back. To make it go down, pull back farther.

- - Old aviation saying

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Soaring Mountains: Piloting tips applicable to everyday living

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Slow an airplane down enough, and you'll find yourself in what's called the region of reverse command or, more commonly, "behind the power curve". It's a term we hear and use quite regularly in conversations that have absolutely nothing at all to do with aviation though I'd hazard a guess that most folks don't actually know what it really means.

A pilot will usually begin any explanation of the phenomenon by explaining first that all planes have a minimum flight speed. They need that airflow over the wings or they become very expensive rocks.

Flying very close to that minimum flight speed, pitch controls airspeed and power controls altitude rather than the other way around. The slower the airplane is flying, the more we find that we need more and more power just to maintain altitude until finally, there's no more power to give and the airplane begins to settle toward earth at a pretty good clip, even as the nose is pointed up in a climbing attitude!

All flight students spend some time learning about minimum slow flight and flying behind the power curve. They practice learning to spot the trouble signs and how to get themselves out of the predicament it poses - hopefully before the airplane stalls. When you've given it all the power you can and you still can't maintain altitude, there's nothing left for it but to trade altitude for speed of one kind or another - hopefully the kind you can use. And hopefully you've left yourself enough altitude to spare.

While the realities of flying behind the power curve and the solution for extricating oneself from that situation may be counterintuitive at first, it's only one of many aspects of flying that fit into that category so no wonder there's so much drill and practice in flying. It's important to get these things right and not just leave it to an instinct that may be inaccurate under certain circumstances.

There's a lot about life and business too that can be cast as "trading altitude for speed" and the best solutions in such situations can be equally counterintuitive. Sometimes we're simply trying too hard and things work better if we relax a bit. Sometimes we have to give in order to get. Sometimes we have to listen better in order to communicate better. It's just too bad we don't drill on these everyday aspects of our lives as much as pilots drill on flying skills. The impact is at least as great, even if it's not always as obvious or spectacular (link not recommended if you harbor any flying fears).

If you've had thoughts about how you recognize if you're operating behind the power curve or have questions about how that metaphor might (or might not apply) in a given situation, send them to me at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com and we'll see if we can't get you flying straight and level again.

What trade-offs are necessary to begin making progress again?

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Kimm Viebrock is a Certified Professional Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

Penned In

Sure, cubicles are nasty. I particularly dislike trying to get work done when the person on the other side of the partition is (loudly) carrying on the kind of personal, non-work-related conversation that keeps me from getting my own work done. Oh, that's right, I don't have that problem anymore. But I did once. The only thing I can think that would be worse would be to find myself in a sea of desks like the really old days.

So I'm not surprised that they're figuring out now that cubicles may not have been such a great idea. With space being at such a premium though, I'm not sure what the answer is. We'd all like offices (probably not the one I'm working in now and no, I'm not going to show you a picture even though that would be the logical thing to do) but is it really feasible to give everyone office space?

Maybe sharing two or three to an office would work like I've seen in some older buildings that don't have the open floorplan needed for cubies... even so, that's still a less efficient use of space. The end result is that I'm perplexed and don't really have any answers for that one though I am interested in whatever other alternatives people would consider.

Tell me - if it was your business and you were the one who had to choose where to spend your money, what would the desk space for your staff look like? Send your thoughts to me at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com and let's brainstorm a bit to see if we can come up with a better solution. Everyone will thank us.

What trade-offs are you willing to make to have what you want?



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Kimm Viebrock is a Certified Professional Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

Get Ready to Rock

So - what are your plans to celebrate Mt. St. Helens eruption day (5/18)? Much as I'd love to attend the Attachmate reunion and find out what everyone at the Circle-A Ranch is up to and what the deal is with the latest post-merger acquisition, I'll be too busy dancin' the night away at Lawyerpalooza down by Safeco Field. If there was an easy way to do both, I suppose I would but I'm so involved in LP4 that offering my help where it's needed and making sure I tend to my duties as a professional groupie really are my first priorities.

Of course, you're more than welcome to join me there at the Premier Club (a great venue for this kind of event) as a sort of anti-reunion if you like. It's likely to be far too loud to be able to tell me what you've been up to lately, which is okay since I'll probably be dancing instead of standing around talking anyway. On the good side, I promise I won't be handing out business cards, though I suppose I'll have some stashed somewhere if you're actually looking for one.

The last three events have been a total party, and I expect this year to be no different, especially since we've got some pretty hot sounding new bands joining us. How weird is it, though, that one of the bands comes out of the public defender's office and another comes out of the prosecuter's office? Should make for some interesting Chicago-style voting!

If you come out for the show, be sure to look for me; I'll be the one dancing even if no one else is. And if you go to the Attachmate reunion, be sure to say hello to everyone for me and give me a report afterward. And remember, any Circle-A stuff you still have laying around these days is vintage now!

If you want tickets to Lawyerpalooza or have news to share about the Attachmate reunion, let me know at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com.

How can you use the best from your past now, and in the future?

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Kimm Viebrock is a Certified Professional Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.