Push Me Over - Into my Grave

Monday, November 3, 2014
One of the things I've noticed about getting older is my increasing unwillingness to concede to unreasonable requests. Maybe it's just me, but I have little to no patience with people or organizations who believe that regardless of what else is going on, they are the ones who should have priority.

I can pull dozens of examples from the 18 years I've been in the civilian work force, but why bother? The fact of the matter is that caving in to such requests never ends well, and the astounding lack of moral courage displayed daily all over the country boggles my mind.

People who roll over to these types of demands oftentimes claim that by doing so they're being "good corporate citizens" or "great team players."* Neither of those things are true. Doing so makes you a pushover, and damages your employer and the quality of your work.

So here is Janiece's list of the consequences of choosing not to confront when appropriate:

1.    Opportunity cost. If you fail to allocate your resources appropriately because you're holding out for the deadbeat, resource-bogarting client to actually issue a purchase order, then you're preventing those resources from working other, revenue generating deals. Please do the math.
2.    Quality control. You can have your project design and execution fast, or accurate, or cheap. Pick two. Because if you've convinced yourself that you're the exception and can have all three, I don't want to be on your project team. Ever. Getting thrown under the bus to protect a decision maker who goes off in the weeds in this particular way is never on my agenda.
3.    Credit where credit is due. In my business, I fill the role of the technical expert. I architect telephony solutions for clients that solve their business problems. Maintaining the corporate relationship is not part of my gig (although the technical one is) - that's what a professional sales team is for. In the last 14 years the occasions whereby a sales professional's inability to maintain the relationship has led to a crisis du jour are legion. So if the architecture is sound, but the sales person can't sell it, guess whose butt should be on the block?
4.    Piss poor planning leads to piss poor performance. Learn it, live it, love it. This happens ALL THE TIME, regardless of the company or the team. If you make a commitment on my behalf without speaking to me first and the commitment is missed, the fault lies with you. I'm not your beck-and-call girl, and have other obligations than your deal, cupcake. And when I work on weekends, it's because there's a genuine emergency,** not because you can't say "No, that's an unrealistic expectation" to your customer, or worse, failed to manage the relationship in a way that led to you knowing what the fuck is going on with your client.
5.    Job satisfaction and loyalty. If a manager is unwilling or unable to stick up for their associates when decency requires it, they should not be surprised when the ties that bind are loosened and their best and brightest fly away. I am really blessed in my civilian career to have worked for a number of managers who were actually leaders in this respect. The rest? Not so much.

Really, it's a wonder I haven't been fired for being so noisy about these issues, and the older I get, the louder I get. But it's a safe bet that when I do get pushed over, it's because an undertaker is rolling me into my grave.


*  Writing that actually made me throw up in my mouth a little.
** See: Hurricane Katrina, when I worked like a dog for a week to ensure the American Red Cross had contact centers available to help people get reconnected to their loved ones. Your desperation to meet your quota does not compare.

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