Sunday, April 29, 2007
A Case of the PMDs
There is a disease that happens to some people once they have been in an industry for a while. It can happen if someone has been in a certain line of work for a period of time, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years…whatever. It’s not always just longevity or seniority that causes this disease, but also it can often rear its ugly head with a new promotion that takes them to a level of supervisor or manager. It happens in all professions and all industries, and only those with a certain mind set are immune. The disease I speak of is called PMDs. And it stands for “Paid My Dues”.
Since being in the animation industry, I have seen quite a few people having the PMDs. This attitude becomes most evident when a team is in a crunch, or is short of bodies to throw at a project. The team desperately needs their supervisor or manager, who has expertise in this area to help (or even be there for moral support). Instead of jumping in and helping the team members out, these individuals make the dreaded statement “I don’t have to do that anymore, I’ve paid my dues”. Even if the individual doesn’t verbally say it…you see it in their actions. A supervisor or manager’s team is trying to hit a deadline, and when the rest of the team is crunching until the wee hours…this person perpetually heads out of the office at 5pm. Thus leaving his/her team to fend for themselves night after night. Then come in the next morning and take credit for the amount of work done the night before. Hmmm….
Now everyone has times when they are first starting out where they are faced with the possibility of working late or pulling crazy hours. Often when starting out you lack the experience to be able to judge your time wisely, or you are much slower because you haven’t developed a workflow that allows you to get through a reasonable amount of work fast enough. This happens to all of us at first…this is part of starting out. But I think once some reach the level of supervisor or manager, they think back when they were first in the industry and associate working long hours as a byproduct of “not having enough experience” to get the job done without working the long hours. And therefore, feel that now they have gone to the “next level” that those under them crunching away are still in a state of “paying their dues”.
Unfortunately, having this attitude completely destroys credibility and undermines the leadership these people seek. It is the supervisors and managers job to protect the people under them to make sure that crunches are light, and try to avoid them. And if a crunch is a forgone conclusion because of extenuating circumstances, the supervisors and managers should be in the trenches with the soldiers trying to lessen the load and getting the pain over faster. That is true leadership, not someone who goes home at 5pm and is merely a figurehead.
Since becoming a supervisor, I’ve had to stare these types of issues in the face. Sometimes daily, these choices must be made about what type of supervisor I will be. Luckily, I have been fortunate to have had some good examples and learned from guys who weren’t scared to dig in deep and get dirty with the troops. (Keith Osborn, Keith Lango, Ken Duncan).
Either these guys would take on shots themselves to help lessen the load, or they would just be willing to stay late with us to help us out. And just as these guys were good examples, I’ve seen some guys who were the polar opposite. I’ve learned much from observing both kinds of supervisors/managers.
I write this post so that I will continually remind myself to try to be immune to the PMDs. It is a debilitating disease that can kill a team and destroy morale. For those of you who know me, if I EVER make the statement that I’ve “Paid My Dues”, or I show actions of such…I give all of you permission to immediately slap me in the face!
:)
There is a disease that happens to some people once they have been in an industry for a while. It can happen if someone has been in a certain line of work for a period of time, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years…whatever. It’s not always just longevity or seniority that causes this disease, but also it can often rear its ugly head with a new promotion that takes them to a level of supervisor or manager. It happens in all professions and all industries, and only those with a certain mind set are immune. The disease I speak of is called PMDs. And it stands for “Paid My Dues”.
Since being in the animation industry, I have seen quite a few people having the PMDs. This attitude becomes most evident when a team is in a crunch, or is short of bodies to throw at a project. The team desperately needs their supervisor or manager, who has expertise in this area to help (or even be there for moral support). Instead of jumping in and helping the team members out, these individuals make the dreaded statement “I don’t have to do that anymore, I’ve paid my dues”. Even if the individual doesn’t verbally say it…you see it in their actions. A supervisor or manager’s team is trying to hit a deadline, and when the rest of the team is crunching until the wee hours…this person perpetually heads out of the office at 5pm. Thus leaving his/her team to fend for themselves night after night. Then come in the next morning and take credit for the amount of work done the night before. Hmmm….
Now everyone has times when they are first starting out where they are faced with the possibility of working late or pulling crazy hours. Often when starting out you lack the experience to be able to judge your time wisely, or you are much slower because you haven’t developed a workflow that allows you to get through a reasonable amount of work fast enough. This happens to all of us at first…this is part of starting out. But I think once some reach the level of supervisor or manager, they think back when they were first in the industry and associate working long hours as a byproduct of “not having enough experience” to get the job done without working the long hours. And therefore, feel that now they have gone to the “next level” that those under them crunching away are still in a state of “paying their dues”.
Unfortunately, having this attitude completely destroys credibility and undermines the leadership these people seek. It is the supervisors and managers job to protect the people under them to make sure that crunches are light, and try to avoid them. And if a crunch is a forgone conclusion because of extenuating circumstances, the supervisors and managers should be in the trenches with the soldiers trying to lessen the load and getting the pain over faster. That is true leadership, not someone who goes home at 5pm and is merely a figurehead.
Since becoming a supervisor, I’ve had to stare these types of issues in the face. Sometimes daily, these choices must be made about what type of supervisor I will be. Luckily, I have been fortunate to have had some good examples and learned from guys who weren’t scared to dig in deep and get dirty with the troops. (Keith Osborn, Keith Lango, Ken Duncan).
Either these guys would take on shots themselves to help lessen the load, or they would just be willing to stay late with us to help us out. And just as these guys were good examples, I’ve seen some guys who were the polar opposite. I’ve learned much from observing both kinds of supervisors/managers.
I write this post so that I will continually remind myself to try to be immune to the PMDs. It is a debilitating disease that can kill a team and destroy morale. For those of you who know me, if I EVER make the statement that I’ve “Paid My Dues”, or I show actions of such…I give all of you permission to immediately slap me in the face!
:)
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