The danger here is that I may well cop some posts here myself (though hopefully I rarely fall into this category). 
Talking to a friend who I know is an awesome Infosec guy and also delivers. He’s been marked down somewhat in his performance appraisal because he’s; “not putting in above and beyond….”. (Read: he’s not coming in at 7am and leaving at 7pm). But all his work is delivered on time and quality. Colleague X whose projects are always late and generally troubled receives a good appraisal (as usual). Yeah, he’s one of those guys who’s in at 7am, leaves after the boss, and talks up his “successes”.
I always wonder what some of these bosses are thinking. Is it just their own belief that you need to be spending half your life in the office to show your worth or are they part of a monkey delivery system (where each link works on this premise)? (No relationship to the monkeynet). Saw a damn lot of this in my time in the Big 4 and investment banking world.
Don’t get me wrong – sometimes it has to be the case that people work long hours; short on resources, deadlines approaching, personal research etc etc but outside of these areas that should only be temporary in most cases, what’s the excuse? I suppose if the money is good and you have to play the game, some do it…..but is it right to judge those people who don’t, wrongly? Poor old Socrates copped the majority vote against him and was executed – the “norm” (read: “culture” in some respects) and “majority” aren’t always right.
I have a friend who works for a large investment bank. He’s an Internal Auditor and one of the best IT security guys I have worked with. He cops crap every appraisal for constantly not staying within audit scope for 100% of the audits he does. He can’t help himself. He’ll find a big security issue as part of the work he’s doing on an audit – some things just pop out at you that require deeper investigation. Now if it’s not within the agreed scope of the audit AND regardless of the severity of the issue he has identified, he is criticised by his Manager and made to ignore the finding and get back into scope! This is “Internal Audit” we are talking about. You’d think this boss would love having a guy like this working for him….WTF?!
There’s a heap of pyschology stuff we could rant on about here – the whys of all this, motivational factors etc etc but they’ve been done to death. (Thanks Scott Adams). Instead, it would be cool to hear some of your “dumb boss” stories.
What is anything but perception and Image creation? It’s all smoke and mirrors, what people believe is what’s real. Who needs substance and real?
Peace,
Wade
Christ don’t get me started. This could be a great thread, but also a dangerous thread!
Information Security Manager for telco/wireless ISP, emails to a few well regarded public security newsgroups prior to beginning the role basically asking for recommendations on a “practical” infosec management reference book and then goes on to state that they are looking for something with case studies and not just theoretical ones!!!! Eek… good hire huh?
The person also goes on to quash the fact that the organisation+client+outsourcer has been targeted explicitly and successfully with keyloggers to steal admin access to ERP systems and telco kit. This is then swept under the carpet by said manager and boss and is still unremediated to this day I believe!
Same person sends imagery of male gentalia on a barbecue to the security and networking teams which comprises a wide array of individuals, ages and both genders.
Same person re-writes their direct reports professional/correct emails (by introducing spelling errors and grammatical errors!?!!) and passes them off as their own work/ideas in their broken english, which is indeed more characteristic for that person! Yikes…!
Chapter 2 tomorrow, maybe…
Jeez what a great topic, DD.
A long time ago in a former life as a sysadmin/helpdesk we introduced (then) cutting-edge technology allowing us to fix users’ problems via remote proxy. (Ok I admit, I’m old say lay off).
Back then, I worked in a small, single-floor office with around 45 end users.
My boss at that time was a very cranky old dragon woman with horn rimmed glasses, and whom obviously suffered from a really bad case of menopause. Her knowledge of technology was limited to the distant punch card era, of which, she was obviously a subject matter expert.
Getting back to the introduction of the remote proxy, I recall copping a massive blast from her of monumental proportions – so bad I’m still suffering it’s effects years later. The reason: I hadn’t utilised the new remote proxy software, chosing instead to physically walk over to the user’s desks to fix problems. The users’ desks were only metres from my workstation, so I didn’t quite see the point !
My disobedience was duly noted on my annual performance appraisal.
But deep down, I think she really liked me.
Hi, Maureen !! (Do you get the internet at the nursing home ?)
I too had a dodgy boss a number of years ago. The damn bugger forced us to accompany him on his numerous drinking binges and visits to all manner of lewd establishments. Having to continually lie to my wife put a great strain on me emotionally, and in the end, enough was enough. Things appear to be working out with my second wife, but I only hope that no one else has to endure what I went through.
@SM, I feel for you mate. Seriously, sounds like you were a blessed and lucky man to have a boss like that. Some of us can only dream of such a work life.
Now back to my Quake….
Suruchi,
I seem to recall you might have been one of my many bosses at some stage.
At a licensed establishment in Sydney’s Rocks area, you forced me to watch scantily clad Brazilian dancing girls for several hours. If that weren’t enough punishment, you then instructed me to drink the full contents of a 1 litre jug of Magarita.
Of course, being the loyal employee that I am, I unquestioningly complied with your instructions to the letter.
@Big Galoot, I expect that your end of year performance appraisals would have been exceptional? This thread has degenerated into good boss stories.
@Suruchi
…The thread has degenerated into good boss stories ??
Lets re-word that for accuracy’s sake.
From my recollection I’d prefer to say the thread is now about degenerate and paradoxically, good bosses, who morally corrupted their once innocent staff via copious alcohol consumption. I also include others in that statement, DD.
What a great thread. Best ever I reckon.
I concur. I too remember the pain of boss pressure, being a very innocent 19 year old I was corrupted beyond repair. I wonder if I could sue the particular organisation for Harassment related stress and anguish
Ah, they were the days my friend – I thought they’d never end….
By the way Big Galoot, Maureen never liked you – she only had eyes for her tubby Netware administrator
I didn’t think Maureen liked anyone.
@Big Galoot – At least you didn’t seriously consider catching up with Maureen in a dark alley to “Express your opinions” like you did to some other bosses.
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