I agree. As Michelle Shocked said: "The secret to a long life is knowing when it's time to go."
I was in a similar situation for 5 years. Until I left, I had no idea how demoralized I'd gotten and how badly my confidence had suffered. I forgot that it's *not* this bad wherever you are, and that I'm basically a pretty jolly, positive person.
While there, I used pretty persuasion, logic, reason, lobbying techniques, sound management principles, quotes from gurus top management admired, built strategic alliances, used humor, wielded scare tactics, baked brownies, you name it--all to no avail.
Sometimes the *culture* is what it is, and it is not going to advance or evolve. Staying there is not only bad for you personally, it's bad for your career.
I left after 5 years--and that was 7 years ago. I still look back and shudder re: how bad the situation was. And how much longer I stayed than I needed to. But at the time, I truly thought I should be capable of changing the situation, that my inability to effect change was a reflection of my own shortcomings, and things would be the same or worse elsewhere--the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know--etc.
But that was all misguided. So that's the negative.
There are also positive outcomes of staying in a hostile, fruitless environment (and then getting the hell out). For example:
(1) it'll be quite difficut to rattle you--almost anything will look like a piece of cake after your current situation; subsequent superisors, management, and staff will appreciate that--a sense of humor will come naturally with your new perspective
(2) you'll find you did sharpen negotiation and additional management skills (and even though they didn't work doesn't mean you weren't wielding them well)
(3) you may find you've tightened written and verbal communications skills having made and presented so many proposals, creating decision matixes, cost justifications, etc.; again, very valuable skills to employers
(4) because you've handled so many diverse and disparate functions you have likely developed areas you might not have--the knowledge gained from which will be leveraged successfully in subsequent positions, both hands-on and as a supervisor
(5) you'll forever have empathy for anyone who is overworked and/or in an untenable situation (which will include both IS and non-IS people with whom you work, management and non-management), which serves as a basis for self-motivation (remember, I am helping improve people's situations), staying focused, and keeping moving projects forward
(6) you'll be astounded at how much you learned by witnessing really bad, self-defeating management practices, and how that resulted in improving your own management practices
(7) you'll trust your instincts more; you'll never again stay in a situation like that or doubt or torture yourself so badly for a job---in fact, you'll know what to avoid and take heed when bells and whistles go off
(8) you will never ever think that you need to stay somewhere out of loyalty or not wanting "to leave them in the lurch" -- they will always be in a lurch; when I look at the website of the place I left, I see in 7+ years they have addressed maybe 10% of the critical issues in the IS/IT realm, and within the company at large, and are just hobbling along -- few of the people I knew are still there, but those who are have the same complaints and continue to have the lifeblook sucked out of them
As I said, it's been almost 8 years since I left that situation---and I have had 2 jobs since then: each one a big step up from the job that I was languishing in. And none was 1/4 as bad.
So, get out!!!
Easier said than done? Do it gradually. Each step will be valuable to you in taking next steps (and the company):
1. Create your current job description -- maybe you have an accurate, updated job description, but it's doubtful -- since you're so focused on immediate issues and the position has probably morphed
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It's that simple.
I agree. As Michelle Shocked said: "The secret to a long life is knowing when it's time to go."
I was in a similar situation for 5 years. Until I left, I had no idea how demoralized I'd gotten and how badly my confidence had suffered. I forgot that it's *not* this bad wherever you are, and that I'm basically a pretty jolly, positive person.
While there, I used pretty persuasion, logic, reason, lobbying techniques, sound management principles, quotes from gurus top management admired, built strategic alliances, used humor, wielded scare tactics, baked brownies, you name it--all to no avail.
Sometimes the *culture* is what it is, and it is not going to advance or evolve. Staying there is not only bad for you personally, it's bad for your career.
I left after 5 years--and that was 7 years ago. I still look back and shudder re: how bad the situation was. And how much longer I stayed than I needed to. But at the time, I truly thought I should be capable of changing the situation, that my inability to effect change was a reflection of my own shortcomings, and things would be the same or worse elsewhere--the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know--etc.
But that was all misguided. So that's the negative.
There are also positive outcomes of staying in a hostile, fruitless environment (and then getting the hell out). For example:
(1) it'll be quite difficut to rattle you--almost anything will look like a piece of cake after your current situation; subsequent superisors, management, and staff will appreciate that--a sense of humor will come naturally with your new perspective
(2) you'll find you did sharpen negotiation and additional management skills (and even though they didn't work doesn't mean you weren't wielding them well)
(3) you may find you've tightened written and verbal communications skills having made and presented so many proposals, creating decision matixes, cost justifications, etc.; again, very valuable skills to employers
(4) because you've handled so many diverse and disparate functions you have likely developed areas you might not have--the knowledge gained from which will be leveraged successfully in subsequent positions, both hands-on and as a supervisor
(5) you'll forever have empathy for anyone who is overworked and/or in an untenable situation (which will include both IS and non-IS people with whom you work, management and non-management), which serves as a basis for self-motivation (remember, I am helping improve people's situations), staying focused, and keeping moving projects forward
(6) you'll be astounded at how much you learned by witnessing really bad, self-defeating management practices, and how that resulted in improving your own management practices
(7) you'll trust your instincts more; you'll never again stay in a situation like that or doubt or torture yourself so badly for a job---in fact, you'll know what to avoid and take heed when bells and whistles go off
(8) you will never ever think that you need to stay somewhere out of loyalty or not wanting "to leave them in the lurch" -- they will always be in a lurch; when I look at the website of the place I left, I see in 7+ years they have addressed maybe 10% of the critical issues in the IS/IT realm, and within the company at large, and are just hobbling along -- few of the people I knew are still there, but those who are have the same complaints and continue to have the lifeblook sucked out of them
As I said, it's been almost 8 years since I left that situation---and I have had 2 jobs since then: each one a big step up from the job that I was languishing in. And none was 1/4 as bad.
So, get out!!!
Easier said than done? Do it gradually. Each step will be valuable to you in taking next steps (and the company):
1. Create your current job description -- maybe you have an accurate, updated job description, but it's doubtful -- since you're so focused on immediate issues and the position has probably morphed