Wednesday, July 07, 2004

"These are a hard working,Simple Folk. Y'know... Morons"

Two posts in one day.. bet you weren't expecting that.

Just been reading Dixies post over at the 'coven.
Its a tale of morons at the top. I can relate to this (admittedly my story is not as
exciting.. can't see the CIA kicking in my door anytime soon (and not just because I live in the west of Ireland)). Y'see I been involved in these rather large EU funded IT projects , a couple of 'em now. You'd imagine that with the kind of bigshots that attracts these people would be either technical gurus or frighteningly efficient managers.

Its true that there are a lot of technically skilled folks at these things. However the Project managers and project leads and whatever they call themselves.. There are a frightening number of people just not fit for the job they are doing..

I'll cite an example:
Firstly the cast of characters

The overall project manager ,lets call him MR.T (I pity the fool), is the guy who proposed the project and got it approved. This is his baby and ultimate responsibility falls to him.

A representative of one of the companies involved in d consortium .. responsible for a relatively small but important part of the project. we shall call him Bert.

Berts end of the project is encountering some difficulty and grumpy is complaining that he does not know what to do.

Mr.T is trying to find out what exactly grumpy can do. But is having a hard time getting Bert to be a little more forthcoming with possible solutions.

Mr.T (already slightly exasperated): Tell me what you can do for us. Help me to help you.

Bert(frowning and making funny noises): I told you already what it is that is my state, I ask you now what should I do?

Aside: I should explain. Being an europe wide project these guys are from various countries and all with varying grasps of the english language ( most seem to be some kind of headlock..)

Mr.T (More exasperated): You are not helping. I am asking you a question so I can know who to help you fix this problem.

Bert: I am already explaining what is the problem.

ASIDE: ETC ETC. ok I'm gonna skip on here. eventually MR.T changes tact.

Mr.T (really turning some quite interesting colours): I cannot help you then. We cannot help you. You must look to these problems yourself.

Bert(angry): Oh I see you would have blame me for how far behind is the project.

Mr.T: I never said this.

Bert(more angry and frustrated): Yes, You are you are trying to blame me for all this problems.

ASIDE: Right this is where it gets surreal.

Mr.T: I would ask everyone to say if I am blaming Bert for these problems.



Mr.T ( to me): What do you think, David?
ASIDE: you read that right. to me. The guy is asking me to exonerate him from saying the other guy is a troublemaker. At this point I felt like I was in playschool again.

Me(way outta my depth and trying to be diplomatic): Umm I think that Bert obviously has some technical issues which we should try and resolve or find a work around between us..

Mr.T( not letting this go): And do you think I am blaming him for this problems?

Me ( Not liking having the attention focused on me at all): No.. I think we are wasting time though..

..and then their attentions turned elsewhere thank god. I get the impression that this kind of shit happens a lot though. All it takes is one person to behave irrationally.

Also I figured I'd mention don't be afraid to leave comments people. While I do enjoy hearing myself Clickety-clack, feedback would be good. Honestly If I didn't know ye were there (got a site tracker, remember?) I'd give up due to lack of interest ;)









1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You will become depressingly more and more aware of these "morons" as you go on lad... They are an insidious breed found all too commonly in the workplace - especially among middle to upper management and "decision makers".
It can be sooooo infuriating having to work with and compromise with them. With time however there is a way round them (I hope... *shudder*) anyway - I don't think they are all just going to die off or develop some sense overnight so we just have to live with the little buggers - kinda like mosquitoes!
Salubri