Earn to Break Rules

This works. I know, cause that's what I've been doing the last one and a half year: How to Make Your Own Rules at Work

Not that I'm trying to break the rules or change them. Well, I am a bit, but the only positive side effect is, nobody bats his eyes when I come in late, again.

Anyway, I've been putting a lot of energy in shining and growing. Mainly I did that by just picking up what my colleague didn't have the time for. It was his action point, but when he had his day off, I decided to just go ahead and get started. I sent what I thought up to him. In my case it was mainly showing initiative and working out new ideas about how our process and documents should work and should be used. I enjoyed doing that, but the most important effect is, people took notice and decided I could be trusted with bigger projects, of which I'm doing two besides all the regular things.

The only thing I really need to work on is in supporting and educating new colleagues. I have now one colleague I'm mentoring, so to speak. I'm a very impatient person with sensitivity to other people's habits. For instance, he sits next to me always whisper reading. He can't seem to read without whispering and lisping along. In the morning it's fine since I'm concentrated and burried in my own work, but in the afternoon that starts to tick me off. I know it's nothing, but it's an irritation. My problem, not his.

Still, so far, I didn't explode in irritation. So far, I manage to keep my cool and explain things. At least he's not as slow as some people I had to teach.

Another things to work on is talking to people in an out and out business meeting. Our jobs is not only to do things and tell people what we're going to do for them, but it also consists of telling people what they need to do and helping them along. My senior colleague is very good in calming heated discussions down and making people believe everything's going to be all right. I need to learn that. But like I said, I'm a very impatient person, and sensitive to other people's habits and idiosyncrasies. People tend to not listen and sprout emotion-loaded-opinions on processes, people, departments, technology, etc.

Hopefully I've grown enough next year to grow on to seniority in my function.