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IT Management Always Blames the Worker Bees
An anonymous reader writes "A refreshing dose of sanity, It Management Fail: Always Blame the Worker Bees counters Security fail: When trusted IT people go bad, which advocates the usual reactive and punitive Big Brother measures for keeping those icky, untrustworthy IT staffers in line. Management really needs to look in the mirror when IT screws up."
I blame God for this. It's clear who fucked up in all cases. If this were a perfect universe, I might let him slide, but NO MORE!!1!
This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
If you do your job correctly, then everything runs smoothly and you don't get any attention (or credit) at all. But as soon as something goes wrong, it's obviously because YOU FUCKED UP, and you get LOTS of attention! Other than money, can anyone cite an upside to working in IT?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
No, seriously. It won't. If you think Management is going to own up to a fault (especially a massive one) of their making, and risk losing job, career, etc? Heh... good luck with working under that assumption.
The best counter you can have against such a manager (especially one who consistently screws up) is to make sure you get a paper trail and project management chart all set - and get his signature on it! Then, be double-plus careful to note all changes and deviations, again with supporting evidence. It won't prevent an asshat from blaming you and/or your team anyway, but it will make fixing that blame much harder to do.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
The guy who sneaks into your bookstore with a portable scanner and makes a copy of a book and leaves without buying anything isn't a "customer."
No, that's what we call "a potential customer".
Sure they might do that.. If they were well paid and treated with respect instead of treated like a replaceable nameless cog in a giant machine.
Silly... i know... But hey.. If you want respect and loyality from the worker... You have to show them some yourself.
The workers are learning the lesson business is teaching them. Get whatever you can by any means. The only thing that matters is the bottom line.
Slashdot has always been that way. You (or we I guess) just got older. And blogs got more common too, so blogger opinion pieces went from being on a few sites to being absolutely everywhere.
It isn't that the site has changed, it's that your memories of slashdot a decade ago are rose-tinted.
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
...throw employees under the bus. My boss told me I had X number of days to get a project done (X = I don't remember the days). The code needs to go through a senior developer before it hits QA. Here is the kicker: I was given this project because a senior developer did not have time to get it done. Now you may be thinking, "Well if the senior developer did not have enough time to do it, wouldn't that mean that he would not have time to go through the code?" If that is your question, the answer is, you are correct. The senior developer did not have time to look this over. What happened was that this sat at the senior developer for about 3 days with my boss yelling and getting snarky at me. I told him where the code was. No changes were required for the code. What happened was that this manager was looking to get rid of me (there are reasons that there is no need to bring up, but let me just say he pulled me into some office politics and I had never been in the situation and did not know how to handle it). and since this was a new manager, he thought he needed to fire somebody so that everybody knew who was boss (I seriously had confirmation of this with people I have kept in touch with from the company). Also, the senior developer the boss really liked. Even though the senior developer took 3 days and found nothing, I got fired from it.
What does this have to do with anything? My boss really liked the other person and did not want to tell people in a business meeting that the project was late due to him taking too long. I got thrown under the bus since according to my boss, "if it was going to take that long for the senior developer, I should have gotten my portion done in 4 days instead of the 7 I took".
Some IT managers will blame everything on the "worker bees" (even if it was the manager himself who pulled in an unrealistic due date when he personally knew how busy the senior developer was). He knew that the senior developer could not get the project done in time and needed a scape goat or whatever it is called, so it was all pinned on me. I will not say all of them, because I have had some incredible IT managers as well.
The world is how you make it
They're still a "customer" of Barnes & Noble, or Amazon, or wherever they bought the book. They're also still a pirate violating the author's copyright. And for the violation of the copyright, yes, the person whose rights are being violated should still sue.
Don't forget the ITExampleCorp that has 1500 legit copies of XP running on 1500 machines, but when the BSA come a-knockin' can't definitively prove that each machine has a valid license. Say, the machines started out OK, but over the course of business they got wiped, reinstalled, cloned, moved, repurposed, etc... There may still be 1500 licenses and 1500 machines, but that won't cut it when dealing with the BSA. In the end, ITExampleCorp is coerced into shelling out even more money to appease the BSA and be deemed "legit", even though they did nothing wrong.
So, yeah, suing a customer.
There are a few things I've seen in work places that really contribute to the bashing:
1. Suits who won't talk to IT staff
2. IT staff that won't talk to suits
3. Both sides bitch about the other behind closed doors and the grapevine still passes the scuttlebutt
4. Both sides having a superiority complex
I'd encourage the IT staffs to go and talk with your management. You'll be glad you did.
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
IT leadership in my company turns over about every 6 months to a year.
For i until Bankrupt = 'yes'
Huge problem happens...
IT leadership is canned...
New guy/girl comes in...
BIG CHANGE!!!
MASSIVE HIRING!!!
BIG PROJECTS!!!
Bill comes...
VPs panic... there are charts and graphs depicting the panic in graphic detail...
IT leadership is canned...
Change canceled...
Layoffs...
Projects canceled...
New IT leadership declares the "Restructuring" was a "Massive success"
Next i
Hey, no where in my contract with the company did I sign "I will not set up a porn server on the network".
No, FOSS types love the BSA. Not only are they "vigorous" in promoting license compliance, but they're a walking billboard for the pitfalls of closed source/proprietary software.
Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
This is nothing new. Any industry is exactly the same. Blame it on whatever you like.
I used to work in IT - management would screw over the staff at a moments notice for no readily apparent reason.
I now work in Healthcare - where managed screw over the staff at a moments notice for no readily apparent reason.
It's called Capitalism.
Reminds me of the programmer joke:
A man flying in a hot air balloon suddenly realizes he’s lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts to get directions, "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"
The man below says: "Yes. You're in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field."
"You must work in Information Technology," says the balloonist.
"I do" replies the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but It's of no use to anyone."
The man below replies, "You must work in management."
"I do," replies the balloonist, "But how'd you know?"*
"Well", says the man, "you don’t know where you are or where you’re going, but you expect me to be able to help. You’re in the same position you were before we met, but now it’s my fault."
So you have ITExampleCorp that has 500 legit copies of XP running on 1500 machines, or something to that effect.
Suing ExampleCorp in that instance is, in fact, suing your customer. Of course, what the BSA prefers to do is to instead demand that ExampleCorp buy licences from them to cover the other thousand boxes, using the threat of a lawsuit to make them comply.
Which, of course, often comes back to bad management.
IT guy: "Hey, we're running 1500 computers on 500 legit copies of XP. We need to fix this, immediately."
Manager: "It's working, right?"
IT guy: "Yes, but, it's illegal. We're going to need to plop down a significant chunk of change to become compliant."
Manager: "There's no budget for that, and I'm not asking MY boss for extra funds for it. Just ignore it."
IT guy: "Er, ok, but I want it officially noted I object to this."
Manager: "Stupid un-manageable dork."
BSA: "Boogity boogity boo!"
Manager's Boss: "Why is your department running illegal copies of Windows XP?"
Manager: "It's them damn nerds down in IT, you can't trust'm!"
Manager's Boss: "Ah, good to hear. Here's your bonus. Mine's bigger."
Manager: "About the um... YP thing the eggheads were complaining about? We need to budget some money to fix it, I guess."
Manager's Boss: "... It's working, right?"
Repeat ad nauseum.
You treat me like something you can squeeze work from and throw away when there's nothing left, so I treat you like something I can squeeze money from and throw away when there's nothing left.
The prisoner's dilemma optimal solution applies. I cooperate and adapt. You cooperate, so will I. You defect, so will I.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
There are few "full black" sheep that have no licenses whatsoever. Usually the BSA crashes into a company on a more or less reliable source (disgruntled employee) who may even have a case where a company failed to keep up with the sometimes rather obscure licensing requirements and schemes of various companies. Quite frankly, if you want to get a company in trouble today, don't send the IRS anymore. Send the BSA. The chance that they somehow, somewhere, some way forgot or overlooked something is WAY higher, their licensing crap is way less transparent than the tax laws ever were.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Ability to:
Some people can, some can't. And yes, many managers fail at this too.
Sometimes it's damn hard to be compliant.
- An employee is terminated, and the license for something he installed years ago on a server is non-transferable. The software keeps on running as it always has, until an audit discovers that the person is no longer with the company.
- A legacy system runs software that since then has been bought by another company. While you have a legal license with the original company, this can not be verified.
- You use both open sourced and closed source licenses of the same software. An audit counts all, and sees that the number of closed source licenses is lower than the total. Good luck explaining that you can use both at the same time.
- Virtual machines that never run at the same time share licenses. The audit needs all of them turned on at the same time.
There's so many pitfalls it's not even funny. And quite often, companies pay for lots of licenses they don't use, or have for several times.
It sounds like the majority of their value add is rooted in politics and translation.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
A former company of mine ran into this issue, and the issue was that over the years they had purchased from multiple VARs, some of which no longer existed. How do you ask your VAR to check your licenses, when the VAR has vanished from the earth?
This isn't even rare. Any company that has been in business for a significant amount of time (say, since Windows for Workgroups) will have gone through several VARs, had churn amongst all personnel who might know about licensing, and couldn't tell you where all their licenses are if you put a gun to their heads. I guess in that case you just re-purchase some subset of your licenses every few years. This must be the "rental" model I've been hearing about.
Even in cases where licenses were purchased directly from the vendor, the contract was sometimes vague as to exactly how many licenses of what type could be in use simultaneously. In the best of times it's a headache.
It's "showing intent" that's missing from the equation.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Ding ding! (Dammit crazy frog!)
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
I don't agree with her response, just think she is more sympathetic than the others. My problem with the way the whole tale was presented was that the company's actions, which in my opinion were very nearly as bad as "Sally's" are glossed over as perfectly reasonable. Of course you outsource the entire department. Of course you don't tell anyone till the last possible moment. Of course you don't provide counseling or job search assistance.
While their points about escalation of privileged and job separation are perfectly valid, their most "valuable" piece of advice for this one appeared to be "Watch your employees close when you're about to screw them, the sneaky bastard probably figured it out." They didn't even bother to mention being open and honest with your staff, providing transition services or any of the other things the company could have to done to prevent or cushion the proximal cause of the employee anger.
Sure, watch people, especially people under stress. Sure, don't give people access to systems they don't need access too. Sure, make sure you know who has what keys. Also treat people with a bit of respect and don't fuck with them any more than you have to at a bad time.
I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
I fail to understand, in our modern society, why we retain this system of management-worker relations that is more appropriate to the mid-twentieth century. We rarely have strikes anymore (the ones that stand out are those by millionaire athletes, not laborers). We have effectively replicated the feudal system in modern times, with management operating as the king's court, complete with courtiers vying for executive favors. The best advice I can give my children (and this goes for more than just IT careers - doctors and lawyers play this game too) is to be mediocre at your job, but excel at playing the corporate system. Since government is likewise organized, and the corporate world wields so much power, this arrangement is not likely to change without a revolution - economic or otherwise.
My current job is actually the first where I *don't* have a beer with lunch every day. The German's and French have been doing it for a very long time without their society collapsing. My current employer has a clause specifically excluding drinking on company time so I generally don't push it even though lunch is technically my time and the CEO's office has about $100k worth of wine.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
The German's and French have been doing it for a very long time without their society collapsing.
And the English, and the Australians, and the New Zealanders...
I'm sure several more countries have similar attitudes, best described as "you're an adult, we trust you to behave yourself and make adult decisions, and if you don't, well, you're also adult enough to take the consequences". I just mention the places with whose work structures I'm personally familiar. The U.S., on the other hand...urgh...forget it, or at least on the east coast (everywhere I've worked, from Maine down to Georgia). In a country where personal rights are ferociously guarded, I don't know why this should be so, but I follow it so I won't get fired.
totally. the friday pub lunch is sacred. even the worst place i've ever worked at allowed a friday pub lunch.
Otherwise known as "soft skills". I.e. not acting like a complete tool around those who live by the dictum "time is money" and thinking they're a lot funnier than they really are.
You'd think this isn't that difficult, but every day I'm constantly amazed by how many people I encounter who handily demonstrate otherwise and then proceed to moan about their managers.
Some people say everyone deserves respect, even strangers.. but what they really mean is everyone deserves consideration.
That sounds like a problem that resolves itself, though.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
No, the problem is that some Americans have not had an evolution in their moral makeup since the Puritans landed.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Agreed, I'm pretty well paid and treated like a real person at my workplace, hence I hardly ever steal and keep my illegal porn operation small enough to not tax the company servers way to much.
/M
The BSA are not the police though so if they come to "audit" you telling them to fuck off and maybe try to make an appointment next time is the correct response.
Saying that MS can be asshats about licensing too. The last place I worked wanted to sell second hand refurbished PCs but MS insisted that the Windows license was only for the original owner and could not be transferred. I.e. every machine that was being sold for £30 upwards needed a new Windows license at £70 a pop. We just ignored them as we felt their position was not legally sound and they shut up about it.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Or decency, which indeed should be bestowed upon everyone, perhaps especially on those who don't deserve it.
But respect? No, that has to be earned. That's what makes it respect. Like with love, you can pretend to respect someone, but unless you feel it, it will be a sham. And again like love, when it's mutual, it truly blossoms. If one part fakes it, it doesn't.
In other words: No, I won't respect you in the morning. You haven't earned it. I will treat you with decency and consideration, though. Not because you deserve it, but because it's what's keeps me on the path from caveman towards civilization. May we one day get there.
The problem for IT folks is, they are stuck in a no-win scenario of trying to handle a series of completely contradictory orders.
Order #1: "Make our systems bulletproof-secure."
Ok, fine. Minimal level of needed access; if you need to read the files in that network location, you can have read permission. If you need to create/edit in there, we'll grant you those permissions when the time comes. If you need software installed, see an admin.
Order #2: "Stop getting in our users' way! Marcy says she can't install software!"
Ok, fine. So now Marcy has local install-software rights. Next week, we're going to be rebuilding Marcy's system for the 80th time because Marcy the Clueless Bitch has yet again installed a thousand and one stupid little crap-apps with more malware, scamware, and virus tagalongs than anyone knows what to do with. Oh, and we're also now dealing with all the other crap that happened since some of what Marcy the Clueless Bitch set loose on the network is causing other problems.
Repeat ad nauseum. "Filter the web, some jerkass clicked on a link in a spam email from his Yahoo email and got his computer infected!!!" followed a few days later by "Turn off that filtering the CEO can't get to his porn sites to jerk off in his corner office."
"Software Audits" and keeping in compliance sound fine, right up until the moment when some CEO/CTO decides it's fine to "cheat" a little bit and orders you, the IT guy, to install twice as many copies of something as they paid for licenses to install. If you DO do it, your ass is the one on the line when the BSA comes knocking, and if you DON'T do it, your ass is on the curb in a market with over 20% Real Unemployment and outsourcing and "free trade" fucking over the job market worse every day.
Look at oldschool Russian communism. Anytime something went wrong, they'd tortue/interrogate/imprison anyone in order to extol the virtues of communism. In fact, they'd rather throw hundreds of people under the bus than admit that maybe they might possibly potentially be a problem. Sound familiar? Businesses are the same way.
The people in charge will do absolutely anything to remain in charge. This includes cherry picking the most complacent and defeated workers, and even creating the most complacent and defeated workers through a long series of soul crushing punishments. Like punishing you with menial labor if you finish your assigned duties before the end date. Put in 110% once? Congratulations, that 110% is now your 100%. You'll miss that raise for not giving even more than that when someone else makes tiny but consistent improvements over a few years, even though you work twice as fast, more efficiently, etc.
The end result is a crushed and defeated workforce. You can see this when people are too terrified to say hi to their supervisors or higher ups when they see them out in public. They instead avert their eyes in shame. Same thing in Russia, back in the day. You don't talk to a member of the Party because you might get interrogated.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?