Konstantin Tovstiadi

The chicks are moving to a new space - much more comfortable for them (Drupal 7 based)
Here's the new site: http://lensyoga.com/socialchicks (Alternatively, http://socialchicks.net gets you there, too)

Cartoon number 99: http://lensyoga.com/node/107

Number 97 is a special edition prepared for Thanksgiving; so I am saving it for later and moving on to 98.

When you are the only one in your unit with advanced computer skills, it is easy to be convinced that you are in a position of power and control. What better way to exercise the power than creating as many dependencies on your talents as possible and becoming indispensable?

But that is a very slippery slope, like all temptations of power. As you get carried away and take on more duties (run the server - update the server - install the CMS - update the CMS - run the web site - run another web site - and so on and on), the amount of time you can spend on each inevitably declines. Your time is spread thin, as is your knowledge and familiarity with the projects - a passing fix here, a quick patch there.

So when the things start breaking, you are absolutely screwed. Each demands more attention than you can spare and more knowledge than you have. It is a vicious circle - a pyramid scheme where you manage to cheat yourself out of all the advantages of your privileged knowledgeable position, and instead appear to your colleagues, at the end of all your failures, as an incompetent fraud who doesn't know how to handle the challenges and meet deadlines.

So draw the line early. If you are a one (wo)man team, take on just enough for one, not more. Focus on the projects where you know the most and delegate or kill the others. Play it like a chess game - look at every piece on the board, determine the strength of your position, and move all your pieces to strike in one place, not all over the board.

Spread yourself too thin, and you will never have enough time to focus on one thing long enough to become really good at it. And you will never truly enjoy your work if you are not good at what you do.