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06.10

By Terrance Malkinson

Sometimes, despite best efforts, personalities conflict and the supervisor/subordinate relationship just does not work.  You leave the organization.  How do you handle this episode in your employment history, and what do you do should this former supervisor choose to say negative things about you as you search for a new position?  Many companies have a formal policy of only confirming that you worked there and the dates of employment.  This approach limits the previous employer’s liability, but does not help you get a new job.  Not all references abide by the policy.  Negativity does not need to be overt to be damaging. Vague or tense comments can easily put you down, as a candidate as will the simple statement “I’d rather not comment.”  An obvious first step is not to use this previous employer as a reference.  If you are asked why, then simply be honest and say that there was a personality conflict and you doubt that they would be a fair judge of your abilities.  Should it be the case that this former employer really wants to make things difficult for you, then it might be necessary for you to ask your attorney to write a “cease and desist” letter to the individual.  It is important to remember that just because things did not work out in one position at one company that this does not mean that you as an employee won’t be a good fit in another employment opportunity. 

Other Bytes

Here are some of the things going on in and around the community:

• Developing countries are becoming hotbeds of business innovation; developing inexpensive products and services, reinventing systems of production and distribution, and experimenting with dramatically new business models.  The Economist recently published a 14-page special report on innovation in emerging markets (“The New Masters of Management,” Volume 395, #8678, 17 April 2010, www.economist.com.  A series of six articles provides information on how the emerging world now rivals the developed countries for business innovation.

• Michael Schrage of the MIT Center for Digital Business Value is interviewed by Michael Hopkins on his thoughts regarding information technology.  Michael Schrage believes that managers must first think about what kind of value they want to create and then consider how information technology can help them get there.  (“Value Creation, Experiments and Why IT Does Matter.“ MIT Sloan Management Review,  51(3):57-61. Spring 2010,  www.sloanreview.mit.edu ).

• A Canadian perspective on the challenges of the automobile manufacturer Toyota is provided by Laura Cameron and Thomas Watson in “The Truth about Toyota.”  Canadian Business, 83(6): 28-31, 26 April 2010.  www.canadianbusiness.com .  As was the case in the United States, Canadian authorities also held hearings into the recall process to correct problems caused by ill-fitting aftermarket floor mats and sudden unintended acceleration. 

• Erik Brynjolvsson, a MIT Sloan School of Management economist is interviewed by Michael Hopkins on his thoughts on how new tools for analyzing data are changing the ways that innovation is done in “The Four Ways IT is Revolutionizing Innovation”  (MIT Sloan Management Review. 51(3):51-56, Spring 2010,  http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/articles/2010/spring/51331/it-innovation-schrage-article/).  One key finding emerging from the interview is that technology advances are enabling a new process for innovating that will allow companies to use business analytics to have faster cycle times, more flexibility, and faster processing of information.

• In 1984, Stephen Levy published his book, Hackers: Heros of the Computer Revolution (Anchor Press/DoubleDay ISBN 0385191952 ), which described the people, the machines, and the events that defined the Hacker Culture. 25 years later, in “Geek Power: How Hacker Culture Conquered the World” (Wired, (18(5):81-86, May 2010),  Levy revisits some of the industries, titans and idealists that set the stage for today, and then goes on to the current and next generation of  visionaries of our increasingly digital world.

• The Wright brothers invented and built the world's first successful airplane making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on 17 December 1903. Subsequent milestones of aviation included the first commercial jetliner in 1949, Yuri Gagarin as the first human to enter space in 1961, the Concord supersonic airplane in 1969, and continuing today with the emergence of large capacity passenger airlines such as the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner capable of carrying 250-290 passengers for distances of 14,800 to 15,750 kilometres). Jenny Southan discusses her thoughts on the future of commercial aviation in “The Future of Aviation.”  (Business Traveller, 34(3): 34-39, April 2010,  www.businesstraveller.com ). 

Terrance Malkinson is a communications specialist, business analyst and futurist. He is Vice-Chair of the IEEE-USA Communications Committee, an international correspondent for IEEE-USA Today's Engineer , editor-in-chief of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer Digest, associate editor for IEEE Canadian Review, and a member of the editorial advisory board of IEEE The Institute.  He was an elected Senator of the University of Calgary and an elected Governor of the IEEE Engineering Management Society as well as an elected Administrative Committee member of the IEEE Professional Communication Society. He has been the editor of several IEEE conference proceedings, and past editor of IEEE Engineering Management. He is the author of more than 400 publications, and is an accomplished triathlete. His career path includes being an accomplished technical supervisor and medical researcher at the University of Calgary a business proposal manager for the General Electric Company, an associate for Sears Canada Inc. and research administrator with the School of Health and Public Safety/Applied Research and Innovation Services at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary Canada.

The author is grateful to the professional support of the Haskayne School of Business Library at the University of Calgary. He can be reached at todaysengineer@ieee.org.