Management wars
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From: on 13 Sep 2005 11:02 In article <IPadneeyart3frveRVn-vA(a)adelphia.com>, John Culleton <john(a)wexfordpress.com> wrote: >Alistair wrote: > >> >> docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: [snip] >>> Mgr: 'I'm... very busy right now.' >>> >> >> Dilbert must mention something like this. Pointy-haired boss would >> probably say something like "Need to know". > >Managers have to deal with all kinds of difficulties that have little >relation to writing programs or designing systems. Ummmmm... isn't that supposed to be Their Job? I was taught, e'er-so-long ago, that 'The responsibility for the allocation, co-ordination and motivation of personnel and resources towards the accomplishment of a stated Executive goal is that of Management.' >There is the >racist/sexist employee who doesn't like working for women or for men of >another race. Disrupting unit meetings is his favorite indoor activity. If he has an irreplaceable skill then giving him an office in a broomcloset and keeping him out of meetings might be ways to deal with this. >There is the guy with an alleged disability who trots out the >Americans with Disability Act whenever his work habits are questioned. This might be approached with rigid documentation and constant interaction with Personnel... or a transfer... I'm sorry, 'promotion' to the Idaho office. >There >is the otherwise competent secretary who falsifies her best friend's time >and attendance records. Cost/benefit analysis might be appropriate... is what gets stolen made up for by otherwise competent work? >There is the programmer who is a Foxpro expert and >is terrified by the prospect of learning anything new. See above about irreplaceable skills. >There are the turf >battles with other related information staff not under direct supervision. Other people have their problems, sure... but make sure their managers (your peers) know that one does not mess with My People. If their managers do not grant you this managerial courtesy then it may be time to call in your boss to speak with their boss. If your boss is unwilling to support you then it might be time to find a boss who does; if the other boss is unwilling to grant your boss this managerial courtesy then it may be time to kick it up another notch. >There are the client managers who have fallen in love with package x or >vendor y and won't deal with any other alternatives. One might consider instituting chargeback mechanisms which will cause other solutions to show a greater ROI or make for a very nice year-end bonus for your department. Henry Ford is reputed to have lamented 'Every time I ask for a pair of hands I get a man attached!'... bricks tend to stay where one puts them but bricklayers sometimes have disagreements with each other. DD
From: John Culleton on 13 Sep 2005 07:28 docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: > In article <IPadneeyart3frveRVn-vA(a)adelphia.com>, > John Culleton <john(a)wexfordpress.com> wrote: >>Alistair wrote: >> >>> >>> docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: > > [snip] > >>>> Mgr: 'I'm... very busy right now.' >>>> >>> >>> Dilbert must mention something like this. Pointy-haired boss would >>> probably say something like "Need to know". >> >>Managers have to deal with all kinds of difficulties that have little >>relation to writing programs or designing systems. > > Ummmmm... isn't that supposed to be Their Job? I was taught, e'er-so-long > ago, that 'The responsibility for the allocation, > co-ordination and motivation of personnel and resources towards the > accomplishment of a stated Executive goal is that of Management.' > Yes, but the objective of the staff is or should be producing systems that work, not dealing with internal housekeeping. >>There is the >>racist/sexist employee who doesn't like working for women or for men of >>another race. Disrupting unit meetings is his favorite indoor activity. > > If he has an irreplaceable skill then giving him an office in a > broomcloset and keeping him out of meetings might be ways to deal with > this. > Unfortunately there was literally no available broom closet. In other sites I have wangled more suitable space for staff, but this clown shared space with a younger employee that he was busily corrupting. >>There is the guy with an alleged disability who trots out the >>Americans with Disability Act whenever his work habits are questioned. > > This might be approached with rigid documentation and constant interaction > with Personnel... or a transfer... I'm sorry, 'promotion' to the Idaho > office. > No Idaho office---and his reputation precedes him. >>There >>is the otherwise competent secretary who falsifies her best friend's time >>and attendance records. > > Cost/benefit analysis might be appropriate... is what gets stolen made up > for by otherwise competent work? > This was an easy one actually. A short suspension and a reprimand and then we kissed and made up. >>There is the programmer who is a Foxpro expert and >>is terrified by the prospect of learning anything new. > > See above about irreplaceable skills. > When you can't fire, and can only hire for a vacancy, that is not feasible. >>There are the turf >>battles with other related information staff not under direct supervision. > > Other people have their problems, sure... but make sure their managers > (your peers) know that one does not mess with My People. If their > managers do not grant you this managerial courtesy then it may be time to > call in your boss to speak with their boss. If your boss is unwilling to > support you then it might be time to find a boss who does; if the other > boss is unwilling to grant your boss this managerial courtesy then it may > be time to kick it up another notch. > When you are responsible for the system, but the person reports to someone else, a p;licemen's lot is not a happy one. >>There are the client managers who have fallen in love with package x or >>vendor y and won't deal with any other alternatives. > > One might consider instituting chargeback mechanisms which will cause > other solutions to show a greater ROI or make for a very nice year-end > bonus for your department. > Not a likely solution in a government office. > Henry Ford is reputed to have lamented 'Every time I ask for a pair of > hands I get a man attached!'... bricks tend to stay where one puts them > but bricklayers sometimes have disagreements with each other. > > DD A big problem with the problems is that these are not stupid people. They are clever at pulling the bureaucratic strings. And I did not select them. In government you play with the players you inherit. The last job was admittedly the worst, but I could regale you with stories of other sites, the IBM salesman and his buddy the SE who were manipulating the situation to increase their bottom line, well, you know the drill. More than one time IBM tried to get me fired. The safest course was to become an unpaid salesman for big Blue. I just refused to play that game. Enough. I have some COBOL questions pending. Anyone care to answer my latest? -- John Culleton Able Indexers and Typesetters
From: Chuck Stevens on 13 Sep 2005 11:37 <docdwarf(a)panix.com> wrote in message news:dg6pmc$9q8$1(a)reader1.panix.com... > >There is the guy with an alleged disability who trots out the > >Americans with Disability Act whenever his work habits are questioned. > > This might be approached with rigid documentation and constant interaction > with Personnel... or a transfer... I'm sorry, 'promotion' to the Idaho > office. Not that it has anything to do with ADA or other minority status -- they didn't figure into this event -- but I once saw a formal announcement of a personnel change that included the verbiage " ... has been placed on staff while evaluating other career opportunities". I was surprised at the absence of " ... ummm ... " before the word "evaluating" in the announcement. -Chuck Stevens
From: on 13 Sep 2005 12:20 In article <6OadncpsQpmTbLveRVn-tg(a)adelphia.com>, John Culleton <john(a)wexfordpress.com> wrote: >docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: > >> In article <IPadneeyart3frveRVn-vA(a)adelphia.com>, >> John Culleton <john(a)wexfordpress.com> wrote: >>>Alistair wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: >> >> [snip] >> >>>>> Mgr: 'I'm... very busy right now.' >>>>> >>>> >>>> Dilbert must mention something like this. Pointy-haired boss would >>>> probably say something like "Need to know". >>> >>>Managers have to deal with all kinds of difficulties that have little >>>relation to writing programs or designing systems. >> >> Ummmmm... isn't that supposed to be Their Job? I was taught, e'er-so-long >> ago, that 'The responsibility for the allocation, >> co-ordination and motivation of personnel and resources towards the >> accomplishment of a stated Executive goal is that of Management.' >> >Yes, but the objective of the staff is or should be producing systems that >work, not dealing with internal housekeeping. Quite so... that dealing, insofar as it affects allocation, co-ordination and motivation, is the responsibility of Management. >>>There is the >>>racist/sexist employee who doesn't like working for women or for men of >>>another race. Disrupting unit meetings is his favorite indoor activity. >> >> If he has an irreplaceable skill then giving him an office in a >> broomcloset and keeping him out of meetings might be ways to deal with >> this. >> >Unfortunately there was literally no available broom closet. In other sites >I have wangled more suitable space for staff, but this clown shared space >with a younger employee that he was busily corrupting. Perhaps one can find someone of equally negative output and seat *them* together, thereby decreasing contamination. >>>There is the guy with an alleged disability who trots out the >>>Americans with Disability Act whenever his work habits are questioned. >> >> This might be approached with rigid documentation and constant interaction >> with Personnel... or a transfer... I'm sorry, 'promotion' to the Idaho >> office. >> >No Idaho office---and his reputation precedes him. Then rigid documentation and constant interaction with Personnel... and it might be worth repeating that the ADA clearly and unambiguously states it is to provide 'equal opportunities', not superior ones. >>>There >>>is the otherwise competent secretary who falsifies her best friend's time >>>and attendance records. >> >> Cost/benefit analysis might be appropriate... is what gets stolen made up >> for by otherwise competent work? >> >This was an easy one actually. A short suspension and a reprimand and then >we kissed and made up. More than one way to skin that particular feline, aye. >>>There is the programmer who is a Foxpro expert and >>>is terrified by the prospect of learning anything new. >> >> See above about irreplaceable skills. >> >When you can't fire, and can only hire for a vacancy, that is not feasible. If a manager has chosen an employer which has removed one of the Sound Motivators for Job Performance... then perhaps a new choice is in order. >>>There are the turf >>>battles with other related information staff not under direct supervision. >> >> Other people have their problems, sure... but make sure their managers >> (your peers) know that one does not mess with My People. If their >> managers do not grant you this managerial courtesy then it may be time to >> call in your boss to speak with their boss. If your boss is unwilling to >> support you then it might be time to find a boss who does; if the other >> boss is unwilling to grant your boss this managerial courtesy then it may >> be time to kick it up another notch. >> >When you are responsible for the system, but the person reports to someone >else, a p;licemen's lot is not a happy one. If it were easy then anyone would be able to do it... managers, in general, earn more than their subordinates, there might be reasons for this. >>>There are the client managers who have fallen in love with package x or >>>vendor y and won't deal with any other alternatives. >> >> One might consider instituting chargeback mechanisms which will cause >> other solutions to show a greater ROI or make for a very nice year-end >> bonus for your department. >> >Not a likely solution in a government office. A government office is not the only place where such things occur... and a government office is not necessarily concerned with ROI. >> Henry Ford is reputed to have lamented 'Every time I ask for a pair of >> hands I get a man attached!'... bricks tend to stay where one puts them >> but bricklayers sometimes have disagreements with each other. >> > >A big problem with the problems is that these are not stupid people. They >are clever at pulling the bureaucratic strings. And I did not select them. >In government you play with the players you inherit. As noted above, government is not the only place where such situations occur... and there is not always the profit-motive present that there is in private business. > >The last job was admittedly the worst, but I could regale you with stories >of other sites, the IBM salesman and his buddy the SE who were manipulating >the situation to increase their bottom line, well, you know the drill. More >than one time IBM tried to get me fired. The safest course was to become an >unpaid salesman for big Blue. I just refused to play that game. I've heard about such things, where a lower manager would come up with a non-IBM solution and the salesman would go over his head to a higher manager. What was not made clear to me was the reasons for the higher manager's taking the word of a salesman over that of his own crew. >Enough. I have some COBOL questions pending. Anyone care to answer my >latest? Have the Fearful Coder you mentioned cobble together a FoxPro solution... see how easy? DD
From: Joe Zitzelberger on 14 Sep 2005 02:47
In article <1126613688.762063.207840(a)g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, "Alistair" <alistair(a)ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote: > > > Ah, the old syndrome of They are incompetent and I am not. We all think > > > that we could do our managers' job better ourselves. It is a different > > > kettle of fish when you get to do the job yourself. > > > > I don't believe that this is is representative of the truth. I often say > > things like that guy who replaced Peter Jennings sucks...or I read Chuck > > Pahluniaks novel and it was so overrated....it does not have any bearing on > > whether I could read news or write novels. > > I think you are picking nits by comparing apples with pears. You know > that you could not write a better novel but your criticism of > management implies a certain knowledge of all circumstances surrounding > your manager's actions. I have become aware (through my studies around > project management) that sitting in the big chair and issuing orders is > only part of the story. Often, a managerial decision is effected by > events unseen from the position of the worker. As a worker I would > criticise the manager but appraised of the fuller picture my opinions > would change. Being able to write a better novel is irrelevant. My manager (and I am blessed with one of the best) is very skilled at organizing and structuring team work activity for maximum performance. I am very skilled at creating the software he asks me to create as part of that process. The skills are completely different. Just as the skills of author and reader are completely different -- newscaster and news viewer are completely different. One does not need competence in the both areas to make judgments. |