Random Thoughts - Part III The Search for Spark (No Politics)

[soundman98]

the world would be a better place if there weren't so many people here.

[Spuds]

I'm at the point of just letting the world burn for the rest this week. Or at least our IT department.

I could put out the figurative fire. I have the extinguisher right here. Literally just send an email pointing out that they don't really know what they are doing and offering a solution. But the past few weeks have been one fuckup after another and I'm just tired of covering for them.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Spuds

I'm at the point of just letting the world burn for the rest this week. Or at least our IT department.

I could put out the figurative fire. I have the extinguisher right here. Literally just send an email pointing out that they don't really know what they are doing and offering a solution. But the past few weeks have been one fuckup after another and I'm just tired of covering for them.

Same here. I have gotten in yelling matches with our GM 3 days in a row over stupid shit.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

Same here. I have gotten in yelling matches with our GM 3 days in a row over stupid shit.

have you tried throwing the chair?

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Literally just send an email pointing out that they don't really know what they are doing and offering a solution. But the past few weeks have been one fuckup after another and I'm just tired of covering for them.

What about just leaving out the Don't Know part and offer a solution, or better yet just fix it and act like you didn't know they were working on it.

I've done that a couple of times in my career. Just entered the room (either really or virtually) fixed something and just walk away with a "hey guys, figured it out".

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by soundman98

have you tried throwing the chair?

No, but my insulated water bottle is no longer a cylinder.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

What about just leaving out the Don't Know part and offer a solution, or better yet just fix it and act like you didn't know they were working on it.

I've done that a couple of times in my career. Just entered the room (either really or virtually) fixed something and just walk away with a "hey guys, figured it out".

My only argument against that is they start to rely on you to do it for them. That has been my experience anyway. I recently stopped covering service calls for our service manager when he is gone because of this.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

What about just leaving out the Don't Know part and offer a solution, or better yet just fix it and act like you didn't know they were working on it.

I've done that a couple of times in my career. Just entered the room (either really or virtually) fixed something and just walk away with a "hey guys, figured it out".

I feel like you are misreading the situation due to my exaggerations. By "pointing out that they really don't know what they are doing" I really mean "explain that certain assumptions they made are incorrect". They put together multiple plans with a whole lot of assumptions and not a lot of communication and thought they would just roll it out without really discussing it with anyone. I know this because when I asked a bunch of "how is this supposed to work" questions there was quite a bit of "oh I just assumed..." answers that were not based in the reality of the situation. So now I have to take time away from actually making the company money to walk them through reality with very limited time. I can't just solve the problem and fix it for them because A I still have my own job to do and B I'm not an admin. Meanwhile I'm playing whack a mole with the consequences, of which there are too many for me to whack myself.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Spuds

I feel like you are misreading the situation due to my exaggerations. By "pointing out that they really don't know what they are doing" I really mean "explain that certain assumptions they made are incorrect". They put together multiple plans with a whole lot of assumptions and not a lot of communication and thought they would just roll it out without really discussing it with anyone. I know this because when I asked a bunch of "how is this supposed to work" questions there was quite a bit of "oh I just assumed..." answers that were not based in the reality of the situation. So now I have to take time away from actually making the company money to walk them through reality with very limited time. I can't just solve the problem and fix it for them because A I still have my own job to do and B I'm not an admin. Meanwhile I'm playing whack a mole with the consequences, of which there are too many for me to whack myself.

Are they asking you to fill them in on corrections? Otherwise just let them burn. Or if it's asking you to do an impossible thing "uh, doesn't work that way... What are you trying to do? Oh, sounds like we need to design review please write up a ticket on our backlog so we can get it in the prioritization queue..."
And always in writing.
I have problems like this all the time at work. And use this process. You still do the work when you didn't want to but now layers of management can read the paper trail that you were a team player despite their ineptitude but that did bump some other priorities a bit...

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by cjd

Are they asking you to fill them in on corrections? Otherwise just let them burn. Or if it's asking you to do an impossible thing "uh, doesn't work that way... What are you trying to do? Oh, sounds like we need to design review please write up a ticket on our backlog so we can get it in the prioritization queue..."
And always in writing.
I have problems like this all the time at work. And use this process. You still do the work when you didn't want to but now layers of management can read the paper trail that you were a team player despite their ineptitude but that did bump some other priorities a bit...

While I appreciate the advice, I don't feel like that's the right approach for my particular situation. I believe that blame and credit for some event are irrelevant for the most part. Customers and executives don't care who caused or fixed a problem, they care that the work continues on time and on budget. My job, or at least one of them, is to make that happen. Happy customers means more money which makes happy executives which in turn benefits the team. In this case, I'm just burned out trying to keep everything together and thus venting anonymously online.

I did wind up asking someone else on the team to handle the matter that prompted my venting and it turns out they were already handling it. +1 for teamwork.

[villainous_frx]

Took BRZ for inspection. Shop calls at end of day "we finished up and there's some stuff to address to pass"
M:"Okay that's fine, what stuff?"
S:"We can start ordering parts now and get them replaced for you"
M:"What parts need replacement?"
S:"I'm not sure yet, the tech is finishing the report now"
M:"Don't order anything, I'll be there in 10"
???? so they wanted to just get a blank cheque to parts cannon stuff at the car? Get outta here!


I can't help but wonder how many people they pull that stunt on... particularly people who couldn't pull their car apart in their sleep.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Spuds

While I appreciate the advice, I don't feel like that's the right approach for my particular situation. I believe that blame and credit for some event are irrelevant for the most part. Customers and executives don't care who caused or fixed a problem, they care that the work continues on time and on budget. My job, or at least one of them, is to make that happen. Happy customers means more money which makes happy executives which in turn benefits the team. In this case, I'm just burned out trying to keep everything together and thus venting anonymously online.

I did wind up asking someone else on the team to handle the matter that prompted my venting and it turns out they were already handling it. +1 for teamwork.

Well that's healthy too, both the venting and the teamwork.
It's funny, my first reaction was "I wasn't giving advice" and I immediately realized I was indeed... So why did I feel like I shouldn't? Weird. Anyway, definitely not upset it doesn't fit in your situation. Maybe at least the reminder you're not alone dealing with this kind of crap helped.

[Racecomp Engineering]

It really sucks ass outside right now. I'd like to work on my car, maybe go for a run, walk a dog...but doesn't look like that's happening today.

- Andrew

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

It really sucks ass outside right now. I'd like to work on my car, maybe go for a run, walk a dog...but doesn't look like that's happening today.

- Andrew

That sucks to hear. I remember what it was like here a couple years ago when we had a lot of fires in the area.