Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 26, 1994 TAG: 9411090001
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I know this is sudden, but it's best this way.
I'm not really leaving, but I am going to a new office and a new job here at the newspaper.
Four of us recently were appointed coaches - a strange word, I know - for the company's increasingly self-directed teams.
We coaches - Katrina Everette, Scott Burton, Barry Briggs and I - will guide and advise the employee teams and team leaders as they decide how to do their work, how to measure the quality of their work and how to simplify the processes they use in their work, all with an eye toward pleasing our customers, inside the building and out.
I believe strongly in teams, having played on a few and worked with a great one in the features department. I think they encourage autonomy and creativity, and I think they are vital to our efforts to keep up with the swiftly changing news and information business.
In sports, they say coaches are hired to be fired. That's not what they told us here, but going in, we know the jobs will be temporary, lasting from 12 to 18 months. After that, we'll do something else. We just don't know what our next assignments will be.
Naturally, this change in employment has brought questions from readers, friends and colleagues. Here are the answers to some of them:
No, I won't be reporting or writing.
Yes, the newspaper will survive despite this.
No, the prospect of neither reporting nor writing doesn't bother me.
Yes, eventually it might.
No, I'm not crazy.
Yes, I want to do this. Jumped at the chance, in fact.
If anything is making me do this, it's the memory of my father and many other men who worked their way into comfortable slots and then found themselves trapped, unable to move.
For some of them, new opportunities never arose. Others didn't dare jeopardize their family's security by trying something else. All of them eventually were bored by their work, and that brought unpleasant repercussions in the office and at home.
Children aren't the only ones who go through developmental stages, you know. We all need to keep learning and growing, even if it means accepting a bit of discomfort and risk.
Carl Jung said, ``Anyone who takes the sure road is as good as dead.''
Herman Melville asked, ``How can the prisoner reach outside, except by thrusting through the wall?''
Yes, I'm excited.
No, I'm not scared.
Yes, Sharon, my wife, agrees with this move.
No, my children didn't like it, at first. There's something special about having your old man write for the newspaper, I guess. But they're enthusiastic about it now.
Before I go, I want to thank everyone for the encouragement and support I've received, and for supporting the others who work here, as well. This newspaper has a dedicated crew.
I especially want to thank those who took my calls, answered my questions, told me about their lives. Dealing with the public, with all kinds of people, is what makes journalism so great. It's the one thing I am sure to miss.
Well, I've got my whistle. Got my hat. I've started lumbering around like Buddy Ryan, and I've been rehearsing my lines:
``Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.''
``The future is now.''
``Let's see you do 50 pushups, wise guy.''
``Take a lap.''
I think I'm going to enjoy this. Take care of yourselves, and keep reading, OK?
by CNB