Today's throwback blog is titled Am I Becoming A Wally? on Jun 10, 2008. I reference Wally from the comic Dilbert by Scott Adams. My last six months at Cisco my typical working day was like Wally. I did nothing. My average hours of quality work were between one hour and two hours a day. The responsibilities were too easy. I automated most of my weekly and monthly assignments. My contract was terminated in Nov 2008.
I experienced the same Wally at Palo Alto Networks in 2015. I did nothing. The projects my engineer assigned requires little brain power. I also automated most of my weekly and monthly assignments. My contract was terminated in May 2015.
There are going to be more workers experiencing the Wally because the economy is in a recession. I anticipate more workers with fewer projects. There are going to be full-time employee layoffs and contract terminations.
My answer to the question how to cure the Wally Syndrome was quitting. The answer was incorrect. The correct answer is learning, training, and drilling. Learn new skills. Refresh existing skills by repetition. A Wally cure is watch YouTube videos to refresh my Excel skills, review Power BI, or write Python code to improve my job performance. The bottom line is stay busy. Don't browse the web. Don't watch nonwork related YouTube videos. I made mistakes at Cisco and Palo Alto Networks. I'm not going to make the same mistake at my next job. There is no three strikes and I'm out of a job permanently.
Going off topic first. There was one accident on Wednesday June 4 and Thursday June 5 driving to work. The accidents were my first accidents on San Tomas Expressway since I started driving there in December 2007. The fire alarm went off in my building on Wednesday. There is a scheduled drill on Tuesday June 10. I received unconfirmed information the alarm was a drill. I find out on Tuesday.
Going on topic ^__^ The past month I have been experiencing the Wally Syndrome. I name the syndrome after Wally, the lazy, carefree engineer from the comic strip Dilbert. The past month I have been lazy. There were many working days I completed no work for hours and hours. The days I worked I completed the assignments and the reports so efficiently and so quickly I gained more free time. There were approximately three or four days I was slammed I never browsed the web, never checked my personal emails, and never pinged anyone.
I'm currently waiting for two co-workers to submit their portions for my department's quarterly report and the latest monthly report. The last two months my division experienced personnel changes some assignments have been delayed indefinitely. Another co-worker came back to work on Monday June 9 after going on maternity leave since April. The return gives me more free time, LOL as she resumes her responsibilities I have been doing. And on Monday June 9, my department's new manager starts. I have a meeting with her Monday morning.
If my new manager requests new reports and assignments on a daily basis, then my Wally Syndrome is suppressed. If I receive the final information needed for the quarterly report and the latest monthly report anytime, then I complete each report, finalize it, and email to appropriate people in about two hours. Then I have free time from the time I submitted the reports to the end of June XD Then the Wally Syndrome comes back. Oh, when I have an assignment due days later, sometimes I complete half in one day, become lazy, and complete the second half another day rather than complete the assignment on the same day.
Is my Wally Syndrome continuing? It's going to take my new manager months to understand the department and what everyone does. I anticipate few assignments from my new manager in the short-term. The daily requests and assignments take me either minutes or hours to complete. I'm really efficient ^__^
The cure to the Wally Syndrome is quitting. The current Economic conditions and the strength of the economy worldwide are questioning whether I still have a job in December. Many companies are nickeling and diming every department to save a buck. Being lazy at home and lazy at work are different.
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