The Irrelevant Need

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Yet another fascinating NFL Draft. Some football people say it's more entertaining for them than the Super Bowl, because their team is always in it.
What got overshadowed this time by Brady Quinn going down the list so far (to #22) was Detroit's pick (#2). They could've used a QB, or lots of other positions. Instead they drafted yet another WR, making it 4 of the last 5 years they've drafted that position.
Why do they keep picking WRs? Because their other needs are irrelevant.
Why? Because the Detroit Lions are the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL. They don't have to have a good on-field product to succeed. The fans have supported them throughout their history, which has been pretty bleak. When a local radio station changes the lyrics of "Another One Bites The Dust" to "Another One Kicks Our Butts", you get a feeling for how bad they are.
Why get a lineman who only gets named when he holds? Go for someone flashy! Take style over substance! Ignore needs, because they're irrelevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Golf Membership II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Why be a private golf club member? I'm not sure. The cost is huge at clubs in this particular area. If your club needs a new clubhouse, all the best raising that type of money while keeping the membership at an affordable rate.
You may say you have a voice in how the club is run. It's been my expeerience, however, that your opinions are irrelevant, even if you are a director. Why? Because the boards can be very political. Decisions are usually "finalized" before they're presented, because the players have been aligned in advance.
Will you get better service at a private club? Debatable. I've found that members get treated like guests, and guests like members. Why? The guests are additional revenue. Since members are paying a flat rate no matter how much they're playing, there seems to be no incentive for many staff to go out of their way to retain the membership.
While your experiences may be different, I find a golf club membership can be irrelevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Golf Membership

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Today I played my second round of golf this year. Alone. At a public course. And I was the only one playing on it. When I finished, another group was just starting.
All my golf career I belonged to a private club. It was so busy we had to put lottery ballots in to get our preferred time. Even then, it was fortunate if we got within an hour of our desired spot.
Now I can go to public courses, pay just when I play, and get some nice variety. Also, other guests can go to private clubs, because they're hurting for members.
Why have a golf membership? I'm not sure, because I think they've become irrelevant. If the main reasons are exclusive play and lower cost/round, and you're not getting either, then why have a membership?
There's so much good public golf now. Throw away your irrelevant membership and enjoy it.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Volunteer II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Why are volunteers underappreciated? Why can volunteering be a thankless, payless job? Because volunteers are perceived as irrelevant.
How come? Usually volunteers do a task someone else is very capable of doing. Because a volunteer usually doesn't bring a specific, hard-to-find skill to the table, the organizers seem to think the effort is no big deal, because anyone can do that task.
Also, the organizer-volunteer interaction can be perceived as a master-slave relationship. Questioning an organizer is perceived many times as sacreligious. What do you mean you know a better way, you worthless slave. We've been doing it this way for years. And we know what we're doing. Just ask us. And not only are you off your rocker for bringing up this question; you may also be even less intelligent than we thought you were. However, we don't care, because if you decide to quit we can replace your irrelevant self pretty quickly.
It may not be corret, but it does get a point across. Please treat your volunteers with respect. Make them feel relevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Volunteer

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. This past Saturday I was involved in our fundraiser. It raised approximately $30,000. My spouse and another person were the main organizers.
I got the opinion from the other organizer my presence was unwanted. Maybe I was mistaken. Anyway, it doesn't matter what I think because my opinion is irrelevant.
However, it got me wishing I would be an irrelevant volunteer. Why? Because then I could just go about doing what I do during the event (which is really not that much) and not have to worry about anything political. I'm not a political person. Unfortunately, fundraisers can become a very political thing.
This event is successful, especially since those of us who help out are amateurs. Why should it change? No reason. Why should it matter who is doing what? It shouldn't. Yet unfortuantely it does.
When politics rear their ugly head, it's time to try to remember why the fundraiser is being held. Then hopefully everything else becomes irrelevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Improvement II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Suppose your supervisor rejects your ideas for improvement? Does that mean they're bad? Far from it.
An idea can get rejected for many reasons. A lot of those reasons are irrelevant to the idea itself. Your supervisor may reject anything you say. Your supervisor may be close-minded. Your company's owners may be close-minded. The idea may be perceived as too expensive, or too labour-intensive. It may go against the company strategy.
The best way to see if the idea is a good one is to ask competing companies if they have a similar problem. If so, you then may be on your way to establishing a market niche. You could have an idea which may be the basis of your own company. You could be on your way to financial freedom!
By focusing on the relevant company problems, and making relevant improvements, you could become a relevant employee or business owner.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Improvement

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. What type of education are you taking. Is it the same as your co-workers? If so, it may be irrelevant.
Why would that be the case? Because you want to get skills that make you unique. Specifically you want to get skills that will solve your company's biggest problems. And if you don't know what those are, it will be tough to get trained for them, won't it?
The best way to get the correct training is to talk to your direct supervisor. Ask your supervisor what the biggest challenge the supervisor's group has. Once the problem is outlined in great detail (and don't be afraid to ask what may seem like silly questions to find out exactly what the problem is), do your own education search. Figure out what the short term and long term solutions would be, and how you can position yourself to accomplish those solutions. Then present it to your supervisor.
By doing this, your personal improvements at work will always be relevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Career VI

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. The Goal gives examples of the Theory of Constraints. In this theory the assumption is that there is at least one task, called a constraint, which is limiting how much can be produced. The only way more can be produced is if this constraint's output is increased. Any other improvement is irrelevant.
If you increase your job productivity, and your job is not a constraint to the entire system you're a part of, then your improvement is irrelevant. It's only the job which is a constraint where true system improvement can be achieved.
Think of it as a chain which is as only as strong as its weakest link. If your job is not the weakest link, you will not improve the strength of the chain by improving your job function. The chain can only get stronger if the weakest link is strengthened.
Do not focus on your own career, because it is irrelevant on its own. Focus on the constraints in your system to become relevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Career V

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. So why are people working 100% of the time when only 20% will do? Why are people working a full week instead of 1 day/week? Both employees and employers will tell you they need it to be this way.
For employees, there has to be that much money being received in order to pay the bills. There's no way a person would get their spouse to agree to a 1 day/week job if they're just paying bills.
And employers need employees there as often as possible in case something happens. And they'd better be doing something all the time, because we're not paying for slackers!
Believe it or not, these arguments are irrelevant. If you don't believe me, then I recommend you read The Goal by Dr. Eli Goldratt. I was written almost 30 eyars ago, but it's still current. It's also fun, because it's in a novel format, even though you'll learn as much from it as any textbook.
What's in it, you might be asking? More tomorrow.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Career IV

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Why are all career people irrelevant? Because right now there is someone somewhere who can replace anyone.
Think about it. When someone left who was deemed 'irreplacable', were they eventually replaced? Of course. There may have been varying degrees of pain, but it happened. In the case of sports teams, if a Hall of Famer leaves, it's obviously very difficult. However, there is a person in that spot the next day or season.
What also becomes obvious when someone leaves a position at work is the 80/20 rule, or Pareto principle. 80% of what the person did only got 20% of the results. That means only 20% of what that person did has to be replaced in order to get 80% of the results. In theory it sounds very simple right? So why are people spending 80% of their career doing irrelevant things? More next week.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Career III

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Why does this ex-NHLer's story haunt me? Because he has now become irrelevant? Not entirely.
This player was the first NHLer I'd talked to who was my age. I had met many others who were playing in the '50s and '60s. As a group you won't find nicer people. They were obviously bitter about being taken advantage of by ownership during that time, and rightfully so.
I thought this player would be different, especially since he was earning 6 digits in a then 5 digit world. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, even though he was one of the better ones.
But what really got me thinking was his experience was not unique. All people who are in careers are in the same irrelevant situation. We all are disposable. We are all replacable. Not just hockey players. Why? More tomorrow.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Career II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. So why was this former NHLer's career irrelevant in my humble opinion? Because it didn't prepare him for the future. He is now a member of our disposible society, the one that only cares what you've done lately, and ignores you once you're out of the spotlight.
While I didn't have the nerve to ask him (he was quite capable with his fists in his heyday), I know in one sense he was probably irked that only I recognized him. I certainly would be, after giving all I could for the fans. To go from the spotlight to just another face in the crowd has to be a huge adjustment. It must be extremely tough to do, especially when most players don't leave on their own terms.
Obviously it also didn't prepare him financially. He should've been homefree with the money he was getting. Now he probably doesn't even talk to the people who were 'helping' him before, because they no longer have any need for him.
Why does this ex-player stick with me so much? More tomorrow.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Career

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. My apologies for not logging since last Tuesday. Easter weekend and a 2-day stock market course kept me away.
During my class I saw a former NHL player. You know you're getting older when you're the only one of the 250+ crowd to recognize him! I couldn't help but wonder why he was in the class. I ended up runing into him during a break and we got talking. I told him how surprised I was to see him there. He had played 13 years in the NHL, making as much as $200,000/year when I was making $40,000/year. Even though he'd retired 13 years ago, he should've been free and clear financially.
Why was he there? Financial mismanagement by his professionals helping him. While he does have property, he is cash poor like I am.
Why was his career irrelevant? More tomorrow.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Major Championship Winner II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. I got some feedback on yesterday's article from Oahu re Michelle Wie. Many thanks for your input!
To summarize, this reader says Wie has disappeared off the radar as a joke. She is nowhere. And Nike in the reader's opinion will not be able to recoup their investment.
Some interesting points. Here's my response.
First, Michelle Wie is a human being who has a great ability to hit the golf ball. I can shoot around par, and I'll never be as good as Michelle Wie. If I were in her shoes, and Nike would've offered me $10 million over 5 years to golf, I would've taken it. In fact, I would've quit school to golf full time. She was never going to be as popular as she was when she signed that contract. It was a great time for her to cash in. Will it have long term effects? Maybe. But she, like many other teen phenoms before her, was not and is not a sure thing to win professionally.
Secondly, Nike more than made their money, because what Michelle Wie did or didn't do was irrelevant. The media was there to record her every move, good or bad. And if she ends up like the New Coke, she'll still be infamous. Right now, Nike probably won't renew her contract, but $10 million is a drop in the ocean to them.
In summary, while this reader and many others may be laughing at Wie and Nike, the truth is their performance is irrelevant, because they have captured the public's interest and received the money for it. They did indeed get the last laugh over us if this is a joke, which I hope for Michelle Wie personally is not the case.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Major Championship Winner

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Congrats to Morgan Pressel for winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Pressel at 18 becomes the youngest woman major winner ever, surpassing Canada's own Sandra Post. Needless to say it's quite an historic accomplishment. However, to most of the golf world it's irrelevant.
Why? Because the golf world is still much more excited about that other teenage woman golfer, Michelle Wie. Never mind that Pressel has won a US Women's Amateur, finished 2nd in the US Women's Open and now won a major. Wie is still the more marketable player, even though she hasn't won anything anywhere since the 2003 US Women's Public Links Amateur.
In fact some Wie fans may be saying today that Wie might have won yesterday if she hadn't been sidelined by a wrist injury. While she has done well in this event in particular (3rd in 2006), it's unfair to Pressel that Wie should be considered better now. Unfortunately, it's going to take a long time and a lot of Pressel victories before it's common knowledge.
Congrats to Pressel on a fine victory. Here's hoping she will become more relevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant