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7/07/2005

Get the succa off the ground

OK. Some of you have guessed it . I have found yet another Hellhole to add to my resume. Sometimes I wonder: are they all hellholes? Is there any successful organization that is run by smart leaders implementing intelligent policies? Is there any enterprise anywhere that is not characterized by the military acronym FUBAR*?
I certainly have not met such a place if there is one.

This time, however, it is different for me. In the old days, when I was an employee, I was what they call invested in the success of my organization. The more invested I was, the more unbearable it was to work for an outfit where the ego-centric bloviation from upper management hung in the air like acrid cordite just after a July 4th fireworks finale.
Nowadays, I just shake my head and think about how glad I am to be getting paid for half of what I would be accomplishing if I was not being micromanaged or being constantly harangued about status.
Today, I was told by said MM that he needed to go to a daily status report on status to some status review committee every morning until go live. Was anything new? I had to chuckle (to myself)
"You had a status meeting yesterday at 4pm."
"Yes, So have you got any updates?"
"Yeah, I had a great bowel movement today, and three cups of coffee."
"Haven't you got something I can tell the committee?"
"Yes, Tell them we are doomed."
"Cut the crap, I need some progress!"
"OK" I gave in and told him what I was working on. Finally he left - looking harried and frightened.

How come there are so few workers and so many management types? They outnumber us. It would not be so bad if they would just leave you alone, and take credit for your work, but they are so out of touch that they would schedule all day meetings to determine if anything is slipping through the cracks. They definitely are not planning to take blame for your failure. They are very good at the CYA game. That is why you are not one of them.
Status meetings are a "must attend" priority. No thought is given to the fact that the thing that is slipping is real work. And it isn't a crack, it is a chasm which was created by management keeping people locked-up in meetings instead of letting them get the work done.

I am reminded of what it must have been like to be on the launch team just before the doomed Challenger space shuttle launch. No one wanted to tell the Launch manager about the O-ring flaw.
Everyone was focused on launch. No one on the launch team had the job of keeping it in the air.

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