I'm a machinist. I was fired from my first job after trade school because I had the audacity to point out that my boss was doing his trigonometry incorrectly and therefore cutting the wrong angles on Inconel airplane parts. By showing him his math error I saved a $2mil/year contract but I didn't do it diplomatically enough so I got shitcanned soon after for a really flimsy reason.
A lot of that has to do with the feminization of the workplace, the playing nice, making sure everyone gets along, no feelings are hurt, the social aspect is more than the actual work sometimes. When how something is done, i.e. did you get consensus, did you get proper approvals, did such and such and so and so see this, is more important than the quality of what you're actually doing.
i lost the best job I ever had. One I trained for all my life and was the culmination of my career because my boss didn't like that I was older and more experienced.
I had a boss a few years ago during one of my college jobs that I refer to as Lenin. Mostly because he was a dead ringer for ol' Vlad.
He was the laziest piece of crap I've ever had the misfortune to meet. He did EVERYTHING by the book and was not capable of creativity at all. Lenin was useless. He'd been a store manager for 20 years or so and couldn't even work the cash register.
Instead of working, he'd type up memos and put digital art on them, which would take about 2-3 hours for him to do. He was all into 1980's style micromanagement and took the credit for everything everyone else did. He was a freaking loser.
A friend of mine (he used to work with me there) and I poo dollared Satan about a year after we quit. Sweet revenge.
I send this to add to the conversation, not to argue with any prior point made. I happen to agree with all those.
I work for my father in a two-man business. He's 82. I'm 55. We're kind of self-employed together.
I sell to men such as myself, though they usually hire people where I don't. So, this is my view from the outside, which makes it as ignorant as insightful.
My ex has worked at Wal-Mart for ... over 15 years as a cashier and such. I have heard about the people that got promoted from the bottom and it was - as you noted - never about their intelligence or ability.
They were the ones ready to take responsibility, and blame. I can see why that would make them stupid in a corporate sense.
Those people carping from below, the smart ones, I don't give much weight to their opinions of their bosses. They usually can't grasp that to step up and be in charge *is* to piss people off, and therefore those that *do* step up are more than ready to piss people off.
Looking from the outside, these inept bosses, particularly those from unprotected demographic groups, they do have courage, at least a little.
Ignorance and ineptitude can be addressed with training, experience,and judicious task assignment. You can't teach courage.
I know that in the corporate world, by opinion isn't widely held by corporate management. In addition to prior anecdotes, the very existence of Human Resources, much less its ascendency, proves that courage is rare all the way to the top.
You hit it out of the ball park.
ReplyDeleteKudos.
I'm a machinist. I was fired from my first job after trade school because I had the audacity to point out that my boss was doing his trigonometry incorrectly and therefore cutting the wrong angles on Inconel airplane parts. By showing him his math error I saved a $2mil/year contract but I didn't do it diplomatically enough so I got shitcanned soon after for a really flimsy reason.
ReplyDeleteA lot of that has to do with the feminization of the workplace, the playing nice, making sure everyone gets along, no feelings are hurt, the social aspect is more than the actual work sometimes. When how something is done, i.e. did you get consensus, did you get proper approvals, did such and such and so and so see this, is more important than the quality of what you're actually doing.
ReplyDeletei lost the best job I ever had. One I trained for all my life and was the culmination of my career because my boss didn't like that I was older and more experienced.
ReplyDelete--Hale
I had a boss a few years ago during one of my college jobs that I refer to as Lenin. Mostly because he was a dead ringer for ol' Vlad.
ReplyDeleteHe was the laziest piece of crap I've ever had the misfortune to meet. He did EVERYTHING by the book and was not capable of creativity at all. Lenin was useless. He'd been a store manager for 20 years or so and couldn't even work the cash register.
Instead of working, he'd type up memos and put digital art on them, which would take about 2-3 hours for him to do. He was all into 1980's style micromanagement and took the credit for everything everyone else did. He was a freaking loser.
A friend of mine (he used to work with me there) and I poo dollared Satan about a year after we quit. Sweet revenge.
I send this to add to the conversation, not to argue with any prior point made. I happen to agree with all those.
ReplyDeleteI work for my father in a two-man business. He's 82. I'm 55. We're kind of self-employed together.
I sell to men such as myself, though they usually hire people where I don't. So, this is my view from the outside, which makes it as ignorant as insightful.
My ex has worked at Wal-Mart for ... over 15 years as a cashier and such. I have heard about the people that got promoted from the bottom and it was - as you noted - never about their intelligence or ability.
They were the ones ready to take responsibility, and blame. I can see why that would make them stupid in a corporate sense.
Those people carping from below, the smart ones, I don't give much weight to their opinions of their bosses. They usually can't grasp that to step up and be in charge *is* to piss people off, and therefore those that *do* step up are more than ready to piss people off.
Looking from the outside, these inept bosses, particularly those from unprotected demographic groups, they do have courage, at least a little.
Ignorance and ineptitude can be addressed with training, experience,and judicious task assignment. You can't teach courage.
I know that in the corporate world, by opinion isn't widely held by corporate management. In addition to prior anecdotes, the very existence of Human Resources, much less its ascendency, proves that courage is rare all the way to the top.
I just admire it when I see it.
The real idiots are the ones who think they can chew you out right after they fire you.
ReplyDeleteI told one, "The game is over, you threw your last card away..."
Also loved your vid on Journalism majors.