Author Topic: The Expert  (Read 2081 times)

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Offline Libertas

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #20 on: August 06, 2014, 11:49:37 AM »
"So I replaced it with something twice as bad ;')"

 ::thumbsup::   ::hysterical::   ::bows::

"He: I know that but you're encouraging the others to misbehave."

Suggested comeback - "Bullshyt!  I mean, that is just utterly ridiculous!  Stop treating the others with kid gloves!  If they are screwing up and not doing their jobs, warn them of the consequences, document their performance and act accordingly!  Stop being the cool parent and stop enabling these idiots to behave like spoiled children!  You have to start doing your job better!"

Good luck with that!


We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Online Pandora

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #21 on: August 06, 2014, 12:00:51 PM »
Bottom line is he didn't like your tag line, didn't like the previous one either, and was going to come up with any convenient rationalization -- no matter the stretch -- to enforce or emphasize his preferences.  His reference to the effect on other people -- good or bad -- is common, as in, even with something as insignificant as a damn profile tagline, your first duty is to consider "the community".
"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." - Mark Twain

"Let us assume for the moment everything you say about me is true. That just makes your problem bigger, doesn't it?"

Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #22 on: August 06, 2014, 12:14:12 PM »
Quote
When she retired her successor was innocuous enough, and favored my tagline. After two years he took another position within the company and was replaced by a twit. This next guy was truly a blithering idiot. A consummate prog, he immediately took offense to my tagline and told me to remove it. So I replaced it with something twice as bad ;')

My new tagline would have been:

So let me get this straight...  a tag line suggesting that Political Correctness is a form of tyranny results in my boss using political correctness as an excuse to act like a tyrant and demand that I remove it?

Offline Alphabet Soup

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #23 on: August 06, 2014, 12:26:43 PM »
Quote
When she retired her successor was innocuous enough, and favored my tagline. After two years he took another position within the company and was replaced by a twit. This next guy was truly a blithering idiot. A consummate prog, he immediately took offense to my tagline and told me to remove it. So I replaced it with something twice as bad ;')

My new tagline would have been:

So let me get this straight...  a tag line suggesting that Political Correctness is a form of tyranny results in my boss using political correctness as an excuse to act like a tyrant and demand that I remove it?


Yea, that's a little wordy ;')
How about: "STFU he explained"

Offline Alphabet Soup

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #24 on: August 06, 2014, 12:46:46 PM »
"So I replaced it with something twice as bad ;')"

 ::thumbsup::   ::hysterical::   ::bows::

"He: I know that but you're encouraging the others to misbehave."

Suggested comeback - "Bullshyt!  I mean, that is just utterly ridiculous!  Stop treating the others with kid gloves!  If they are screwing up and not doing their jobs, warn them of the consequences, document their performance and act accordingly!  Stop being the cool parent and stop enabling these idiots to behave like spoiled children!  You have to start doing your job better!"

Good luck with that!




In a stroke of managerial "brilliance" he did one better - he kicked me out of his group. Down through May and June things started coming to a head and I found myself increasingly unwilling to dance. I will admit that I crossed the line of insubordination by mocking him. I couldn't help myself - I was working 12-14 hour days busting my butt to make things happen (see: The Expert) and he was consumed with micromanagement - but only of the extraneous crap. Several times and at several crucial junctures he left me hanging or sabotaged me with "spot-checks" of procedural trivia. Sometimes I look back and wonder why I didn't deck him!

The day that I officially finished my project and announced that I was embarking on a well-earned vacation he announced that I had been reassigned to a new group that was coming as the result of a reorg. When I came back two weeks later I discovered that my new position was in another town working as an assistant to someone who had been a subordinate and doing work that was clearly outside my skillset.

I think that they are trying to induce me to quit but I'm not inclined. I find it telling that they would rather have incompetent help that kisses their asses then proficient employees. I have five years to go to retirement and my inclination is to coast - like the rest of them. I may or may not be able to drag this out for the full five years but I'm definitely up to the challenge   ;)
 

Online benb61

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #25 on: August 06, 2014, 01:12:23 PM »
"So I replaced it with something twice as bad ;')"

 ::thumbsup::   ::hysterical::   ::bows::

"He: I know that but you're encouraging the others to misbehave."

Suggested comeback - "Bullshyt!  I mean, that is just utterly ridiculous!  Stop treating the others with kid gloves!  If they are screwing up and not doing their jobs, warn them of the consequences, document their performance and act accordingly!  Stop being the cool parent and stop enabling these idiots to behave like spoiled children!  You have to start doing your job better!"

Good luck with that!




In a stroke of managerial "brilliance" he did one better - he kicked me out of his group. Down through May and June things started coming to a head and I found myself increasingly unwilling to dance. I will admit that I crossed the line of insubordination by mocking him. I couldn't help myself - I was working 12-14 hour days busting my butt to make things happen (see: The Expert) and he was consumed with micromanagement - but only of the extraneous crap. Several times and at several crucial junctures he left me hanging or sabotaged me with "spot-checks" of procedural trivia. Sometimes I look back and wonder why I didn't deck him!

The day that I officially finished my project and announced that I was embarking on a well-earned vacation he announced that I had been reassigned to a new group that was coming as the result of a reorg. When I came back two weeks later I discovered that my new position was in another town working as an assistant to someone who had been a subordinate and doing work that was clearly outside my skillset.

I think that they are trying to induce me to quit but I'm not inclined. I find it telling that they would rather have incompetent help that kisses their asses then proficient employees. I have five years to go to retirement and my inclination is to coast - like the rest of them. I may or may not be able to drag this out for the full five years but I'm definitely up to the challenge   ;)

Sounds like time for a visit to HR because of a Hostile/Stupid Workplace.  Or at least a talk to his boss.
Eschew Obfuscation

Offline Alphabet Soup

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #26 on: August 06, 2014, 02:24:32 PM »
Quote
Sounds like time for a visit to HR because of a Hostile/Stupid Workplace.  Or at least a talk to his boss.

Not to belabor the point or go any further astray but my new boss's position was just recently invented (inserted a new layer of management). My new boss's (also new) boss doesn't want to rock the boat, and my new boss's new boss's new boss is a hard-leftist plick.

The markings are on the wall (and it's done in my blood!).

Offline Libertas

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #27 on: August 06, 2014, 02:43:01 PM »
Yeah, forget the inHuman Resources asshats, they talk the feeeelspeak bullshyt and prosecute a deserving neerdowell if a line supervisor/manager has documented everything up the ying-yang 12 times over...but when it comes to punishing/gassing someone they deem a real threat (boat-rocking common-sense-loving logic-grounded Liberty types) it is amazing how fast they can manufacture shyt and kick a butt out the door!  There are those rare cases like 'Soup's appears to be where the jackwagons will punish the productive but are unwilling to outright gas them, hoping to squeeze some productivity out of them until they leave...which they almost always do...

Effing cowards.  I'd try to skate as much as possible, make it look and sound like you GAFF about your productivity but instead just give them only enough to make their choice hard one for them to know what to do next (shouldn't be too hard, since these people or limited to begin with!)...if you produce just enough they may chortle among themselves and think they've cowed another PITA right-winger and leave you alone...or they'll invent new ways to torture you...or a mix of both...these assholes can flip and flop all over the damned place and not making sense is an innate skill for these douches!

We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Offline Glock32

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #28 on: August 06, 2014, 03:10:59 PM »
You could have put some choice Rev. Wright quotes on your email, like the timeless favorite "G**damn America", and he probably would have been fine with that.
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Offline richb

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #29 on: August 06, 2014, 04:13:15 PM »
HR folks are generally the worst and most incompetent people in a company.   I think companies often push people they cannot fire into this department.   

With some exceptions.    In that company I noted above,  there actually was a competent HR person.   She was the entire department,  due to the company small size.  (about 50 people worked there at its height) One of the few I saw that actually did what an HR department is supposed to be doing.

This company may have been small,  but the nonsense was at a huge company size.  Like I said before,  it was my first "professional" job after college.   This company unique position in its industry allowed the b*lls**t to continue for many years.    No one at the time could do what they do,  so they could get a premium price and people were happy to pay it.

It was founded by a married couple in the late 1980's.  At the time they were no different from any other in that industry.    The were very small,  and struggled to gain their footing.  This was the story told from the handful of employees left from the early days,  and it sounded like working there was actually fun and rewarding.   Many times were seat of your pants sort of thing.   

During the 1990's they got some great contacts (how they did, I could never figure out),  and got some amazing contracts with some major firms.   They bought expensive equipment to fill those contracts and did real well with it.  Up to that point they did all the work with a group of people who they hired without really looking deep into their backgrounds and didn't care much about college or even high school had been attended etc.   So they had some people who were loyal because nobody else would have hired them to do what they ended up doing.   Not a bad thing, most of the those folks could and did do their jobs well.   

So at that point the couple thought,  we need to be more "professional" since we are growing.   So they hired the HR lady.   I was the HR ladies first hire (they had done it themselves up to that point).   Unfortunately for the HR lady,  myself and the people she hired after me,  the couple weren't quite ready to give up control of hiring.

The wife was the worst,  she would talk the talk,  using every buzz word you could think of.   But when it came down to it,  she was a control freak.   Everything need to be cleared by her.   Even management were micromanaged.    The managers (before they had learned) decided to increase morale by fixing up the break room (since many tech firms at the time were doing things like that).   They put in games like a dart board,  ping pong table,  a couple of computers so people could check email etc.   New tables and chairs,  a couple more microwaves and an additional fridge to complete it. It was awesome and people loved it.    For the three whole days we had all that stuff.   

Since management hadn't cleared it with her,  she was mad. Really mad evidently.   All the stuff was returned.   Even her husband (her business partner!!) could not talk her out of it. 

The biggest problem with the wife running things,  her interests had moved on from that business.   She was more interested in her other interests, hobbies (since for the first time in their lives they had money) and a second business she wanted to start.   So when nobody was allowed to make a decision the business suffered badly.   You couldn't ask hubby either,  because she second guessed him even.

At that point  all of us hired by that HR lady had targets painted on our backs.  We all got fired over time,  along with that HR lady.    By the time I got fired,  the end game was clear.   They had begun to screw with longtime clients,  many they had probably busted their butts getting in the 1980's.   They didn't care,  since most were not "big time" like newer flashier clients.   But they still brought home the bacon.   The problem was the product we did was being eaten away (quickly) by better technology.   Technology we had nothing to do with (we weren't a tech firm).    They needed those older clients because they weren't going to new tech and frankly many wanted to keep doing business with them. 

You won't be surprised to know that company no longer exists.   The couple is now divorced (I think they had separated even before I got fired) and live across the country from each other (she in Florida,  he in California).   He now runs a business licensing to others the work he once did,  but can't do anymore.  She is out of the business doing something else.

It was an experience I never expected and sometimes wish I hadn't.   It was pretty bad. 

Offline whimsicalmamapig

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #30 on: August 06, 2014, 05:07:11 PM »

Alphabet Soup: I admire your poise and discretion. The  reason I started my own business is that I instinctively knew I did not have the tact to survive. Sometimes i think we should can the tact and just laugh in their faces and point out their absurdities. We enable them to stay stupid. We need to take back the high ground of common sense and rationality. Where are the Greeks when you need them? I once took a course at college on the philosophy of art, we got stumped with the definition of conceptual art. I though the prof and the rest of the class were all nuts then and that was in the 70's look how far they have come since then.
Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
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Offline warpmine

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Re: The Expert
« Reply #31 on: August 07, 2014, 10:50:07 AM »
you should have told him to tell them that when they're good enough.....
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