Work Daze from Creators Syndicate

Get this Cat a Job for 07/31/2026

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Here's good news: After years of reading and reviewing business books, I have finally found one volume that is 100 percent guaranteed to improve your life. It's not about moving your cheese or swimming with sharks. It doesn't teach you how to read your boss's mind or provide the seven steps guaranteed to fog the mind of a hiring manager. In fact, this book has absolutely no redeeming features a ...

Updated: Fri Jul 31, 2026

Winning the Blame Game for 02/16/2012

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

It's your fault! I don't know what happened, or why it happened, or when it happened, or, even, if it happened, but I do know that the person who did it, whatever it was, was y-o-u.

If this sounds familiar, it's because you work at a company that works on blame — a company at which, in the words of Francesca Donner of The Wall Street Journal, "finger-pointing can become so ri ...

Updated: Thu Feb 16, 2012

An Office Kind of Love for 02/09/2012

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

I'm in the mood for love.

Every year, as we get closer to Valentine's Day, cards and candy start showing up on nearby desktops. The stupid cupids in marketing get lavish bouquets of roses and poison oak, while stale cookie grams brighten every gloomy Gus in accounting. The cubicles of the lovelorn in IT start blooming with heart-shaped balloons, a lovely sight until they are burst by the ...

Updated: Thu Feb 09, 2012

Surprise! Being Stressed-Out Is in! for 02/02/2012

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

There must be a lot of stress at The Wall Street Journal. I found two articles and a blog post on the subject of stress in the last two weeks, and well, it's making me feel stressed. I mean, if the journalistic queen bee of American capitalism is feeling stressed-out, what hope is there for us worker bees?

It took a while for me to screw up my courage and actually read through the verbia ...

Updated: Thu Feb 02, 2012

Depressing, Ain't It? for 01/26/2012

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

You know what's really depressing? The fact that your job is really depressing. Really! I feel your pain. With all you have to put up with, it's no wonder that you feel down.

What's amazing is the way you keep your unhappiness to yourself. In your situation, the average person would do nothing but complain. That you can limit your grumbling to coffee breaks, bathroom breaks, lunch break ...

Updated: Thu Jan 26, 2012

Happy! Happy! Happy! for 01/19/2012

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Are you happy at your job? Does it really matter? After all, your employer gives you a paycheck, puny as it may be, and a place to go between 9 and 5. If it wasn't for your job, you'd be sitting at home all day, chugging Red Bulls and watching "American Hoggers." You'd never have the luxurious lifestyle you have today, not to mention all the excitement and the glamour your job provide ...

Updated: Thu Jan 19, 2012

Your New Job at Google for 01/12/2012

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

I know! You love your job. It may be boring and dreary, but you're loyal. You'd never leave a solid, horn-rimmed, school librarian of a company for a sexy, starlet-type temptress of a firm that promises you wild salaries, sizzling stock options and all the limelight of a Hollywood premier.

But just in case you're curious what it would be like to live on the employment red carpet, let's t ...

Updated: Thu Jan 12, 2012

Resolutions Resolved for 01/05/2012

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

You should be ashamed of yourself. 2012 is already here, and you still haven't made your New Year's resolutions. Obviously, you need to hurry. How can you break a passel of resolutions if you've never make any in the first place?

Of course, being a perfect human being, you may feel you really don't need to make any resolutions. After all, 2011s "try to share my genius with others l ...

Updated: Thu Jan 05, 2012

Don't Raise Your Hopes for 12/29/2011

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Gather around, children. We're approaching the end of the year, and Uncle Bob is feeling nostalgic.

Don't worry. Uncle Bob is not going to regale you with stories about office parties "in the day," when the chief financial officer danced the funky chicken on the desktop. But speaking of poultry, he is a mite sentimental about the Christmas turkeys management handed out to ever ...

Updated: Thu Dec 29, 2011

The Boss Gift for 12/22/2011

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Since you are the perfect employee, the idea that you would have to give your boss a holiday gift seems superfluous. Yet, the chances are excellent that your little manager is expecting a little something-something to demonstrate your love, your respect and your deep-seeded fear that you could be fired at any minute.

Choosing a gift for the supervisor who has everything — and know ...

Updated: Thu Dec 22, 2011

To Drink or Not To Drink? for 12/15/2011

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Be honest now — what's your favorite part of the annual holiday office party? Is it the magical moment when the entire marketing department strips to their skivvies and does high kicks in the style of the Rockettes? Or is it when the clock strikes midnight and a deluge of dollar bills descend from the ceiling, leaving the merry attendees to fight and claw for their bonuses? Do you go for ...

Updated: Thu Dec 15, 2011

The Distraction Reaction for 12/08/2011

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Does your little mind wander, Wanda? Having trouble staying focused, Fred? If you find yourself so distracted that you can't do your work without taking a break every twenty seconds to check email, LinkedIn or view pictures of Ashton Kutcher, you may have a serious problem. And just as soon as I check to see how low my portfolio can go; increase my eBay bid on a slightly used parakeet; and send ...

Updated: Thu Dec 08, 2011

Your Money or Your Facebook? for 12/01/2011

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Brace yourself, senior executives — according to the recently released "2011 Cisco Connected World Technology Report," there is something the latest generation of employees value more than money.

It's Facebook, Twitter, OkCupid and the fundamental human right for every individual to choose the brand of cell phone they like best. I don't think the framers put it in the co ...

Updated: Thu Dec 01, 2011

The Look of a Leader for 11/24/2011

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Funny, I never noticed it before, but Janie Sharritt and I have a lot in common. We have both been newly promoted middle managers, and we both prefer "to wear a ponytail, khakis, sweaters and loafers."

Or so I learned in a recent Joann S. Lublin column in "The Wall Street Journal." Lublin starts her useful article by chronicling the transformation of Sharritt's appear ...

Updated: Thu Nov 24, 2011

Is Your Office a Petting Zoo? for 11/17/2011

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Really, I can't imagine why anyone in the workplace wouldn't like you. You're smart. You're good looking. You're very often on time for work, and when you do show up, you do a lot of work, sometimes, when you're in the mood. Given all these wonderful, admirable characteristics, the only reason you wouldn't be the boss's pet is because that boss is a complete idiot.

Uh-oh. You're in big t ...

Updated: Thu Nov 17, 2011

Interview Insider for 11/10/2011

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Those of you who have been keeping score know that I recently wrote about a very revealing self-help book titled, "Congratulations...You're Hired." What set this tome apart was that the authors were self-confessed "Human Resources Professionals."

If the thrill of a HR Director tell-all sets your heart a flutter, you'll be happy to hear a companion volume is available ...

Updated: Thu Nov 10, 2011

HR Director Tells All for 11/03/2011

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

I don't believe in reincarnation, but just in case it's true, let me go on record. I want to come back as an human resources director.

Talk about a glamour job! Talk about massive gobs of power with maximum clout and minimum responsibility. Sure, it must be difficult to fire a 40-year employee on his 60th birthday or to explain to a batch of workers that their jobs have been shipped to T ...

Updated: Thu Nov 03, 2011

Frame of Reference for 10/27/2011

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

If you're really bad at your job, that's OK. People who are really bad at their jobs can enjoy wildly successful careers. If you doubt me, take a look at your management team. What's really bad about being bad at your job is when someone notices just how bad you are. And what's even worse is when that someone is called upon to provide you with a good reference.

That's not only bad; that' ...

Updated: Thu Oct 27, 2011

Blindsided! for 10/20/2011

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

I don't want to worry you, but the minute you stop reading this column, you are going to lose your title, your job and your parking space. Yes, I know everything seems hunky-dory in your work world right now, but just around the corner, without you ever expecting it, a tsunami of bad economics and personal betrayal is going to knock you out of your Aeron chair.

That's right, friend. You' ...

Updated: Thu Oct 20, 2011

Millionaire 101 for 10/13/2011

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

I don't want to be a millionaire.

I was looking forward to trips in my private jet, which would take me from the front gate of my MacMansion to the backyard swimming pool I would fill with gold bars, but once that extra 5 percent millionaire's tax kicks in, all the fun of being filthy rich is going to vanish. If I can't be a capitalist pig, I don't want to be a pig at all.

If be ...

Updated: Thu Oct 13, 2011