Professional Darwinism: Update to OP on p.74

[doodlemor]

I've really been enjoying this thread!

Although I have no interesting story of my own I am enclosing a link to one of the first stories I ever read here, and still one of my favorites. I think you'll agree this is very much PD.

http://www.etiquettehell.com/smf/index.php?topic=4104.0

I've always hoped for an update from the OP saying how Mr. Connie's career took a nose-dive after this dinner party...

Thanks so much, eltf177!  That is one of my favorites, too, and hadn't read it for a long time. 

I also wondered whether there were repercussions concerning Mr.  Connie's career.

[Sophia]

I'd never read that one.  Thank you.

[kherbert05]

I've really been enjoying this thread!

Although I have no interesting story of my own I am enclosing a link to one of the first stories I ever read here, and still one of my favorites. I think you'll agree this is very much PD.

http://www.etiquettehell.com/smf/index.php?topic=4104.0

I've always hoped for an update from the OP saying how Mr. Connie's career took a nose-dive after this dinner party...

I forgot about that one. Reminds me of one of two guys that worked for Dad.

He, Peter, was ticked off about working for Dad - because he had a University degree and Dad didn't. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was a big deal. Big boss had a wagon in the Grand Opening. Generally he had adult customers ride in it - because a beer distributor doesn't want to appear to be selling to kids.

The matinee were an exception - they would have the kids of customers in the wagon. Employee's kids were only to be used to fill in if there were not enough kids. The driver HATED the matinee because of kids being kids. He actually requested sis and I be in the wagon, because we helped keep the other kids calm.

Well this didn't sit well with Peter or his wife Marcy.  They pushed to have their three boys on the wagon. It happened once - and the driver threatened to quit if those (he used not nice language about the kids) ever were put on the wagon again. I remember that I had to grab the oldest one (elementary aged, so old enough to know better) and pull him back into the wagon. He was trying to climb by the driver to pet the horses from the wagon. (No way he could reach, he would have fallen under the horses/wagon)

Peter tried to embezzle money and frame Dad and another worker. The owner caught it because the signature of Dad and other worker were in black - Dad NEVER signed any legal document in black ink always blue. He had copied documents with their signature and changed the documents.

[BarensMom]

I've really been enjoying this thread!

Although I have no interesting story of my own I am enclosing a link to one of the first stories I ever read here, and still one of my favorites. I think you'll agree this is very much PD.

http://www.etiquettehell.com/smf/index.php?topic=4104.0

I've always hoped for an update from the OP saying how Mr. Connie's career took a nose-dive after this dinner party...

Thanks so much, eltf177!  That is one of my favorites, too, and hadn't read it for a long time. 

I also wondered whether there were repercussions concerning Mr.  Connie's career.

I think the OP is still on here.  Asharah - could you, would you update for us, please?

[Outdoor Girl]

I don't think Asharah was the OP - I think it was a story copied from the old site, before the blog.  She just made her own comments on it.

[BarensMom]

I don't think Asharah was the OP - I think it was a story copied from the old site, before the blog.  She just made her own comments on it.

Bummer

[WolfWay]

We don't seem to have very good luck with analysts this year.

A few weeks ago one of our new analysts went completely AWOL after two weeks. Now another new one is insisting that the reason he's taken two weeks (so far) to not complete a simple change is because he has to understand the ENTIRE business process, in every possible permutation, even the areas that will never be affected by the tiny one line change he has to make, before he understands what change he has to make.

I've pointed him to the three things this change will affect, and basically talked him through what needs to change, but still he won't make the change because he need to know EXACTLY what it will affect (to the point of wanting to look at the code itself, which is a big No-no in our company. Analysts should never need to look at the raw code, that's not their job).

I've pointed out that we have daily review meetings to check all changes going out and any change he makes will have to be run through at least three review sessions before it gets near our live servers, but he won't even put it into the first review stage until he "understands the entire system perfectly".

I'm all for knowing what you're doing, but there's a point where you become so paralysed by the need to know EVERYTHING that you can't do anything because of the uncertainty.

The PD bit - He insists that the way he works has worked for him for 16 years, and the problem lies not with him but with the environment that we work in. And since his system works, the environment will have to change to suit his working method.

We're a high pressure, high workload, tight deadline environment and I don't think there's room for that level of perfectionism in our team. We've had one like him before and they got themselves coiled up in so many details they were worse than useless because they couldn't get past the knowledge stockpiling to make a useful contribution, and just ended up running around in circles unable to finish anything.
 

[blue2000]

<snip>

The PD bit - He insists that the way he works has worked for him for 16 years, and the problem lies not with him but with the environment that we work in. And since his system works, the environment will have to change to suit his working method.

We're a high pressure, high workload, tight deadline environment and I don't think there's room for that level of perfectionism in our team. We've had one like him before and they got themselves coiled up in so many details they were worse than useless because they couldn't get past the knowledge stockpiling to make a useful contribution, and just ended up running around in circles unable to finish anything.
 

No problem! He can change it himself by leaving and finding another job with an environment that suits his work style. That way everyone is happy (with the possible exception of his new boss).

I did get a giggle over imagining his attitude in other places. "What do you mean you can't make me a Big Mac?? I don't care if you are a french restaurant, that's what I need right now!"

[suzieQ]

My normally really easy to please, bend over backward to help you boss had a meltdown last week. Threatened to fire several of us and mentioned what we were doing that made her so mad.

So the next work day I made sure I did nothing that she mentioned - i.e. she told us to quit doing "this" so I quit doing it!

A co-worker of mine continued to do something she was told not to do. I mentioned to her she should not do that, even though what she is doing is a good thing to do, boss has told her NOT to do it in this particular area of the building. She tells me she will fight this battle to do this thing, because it is a good thing to do.

Not sure if this will result in PD or not, as boss really is normally very laid back. So I don't know if boss will see this again and just shrug it off this time, or see this again and fire co-worker.

But I do know I'm not getting involved in it. It's a bit frustrating I have to take over her duties because she isn't doing what she is supposed to, but it's 1/2 hour a day so it's not worth it to me to say anything else about it.

[lilfox]

WolfWench, we had a guy like that on one of the teams.  He was hired into, say, a Quality Assurance position, and all his coworkers were also QA folks, doing basically the same job.

New guy spent at least six months claiming he would need specialized training in QA, that he learned best in a classroom situation and wanted formal instruction before he would attempt to do anything.  Keep in mind that the reason he got the job was tailoring his resume and interview to highlight his experience and interest in QA, and that once hired, it is ALL on the job training.  No amount of explaining this could get through.  After a few years of ineffectiveness, he wrangled a promotion into another (non-QA) group, which tells you something about my company's inability to weed out the deadweight.

And he was deadweight, by all accounts this was not perfectionist behavior but avoiding having to do his job for as long as possible (he filled his time doing personal tasks during work hours).

[gmama]

Just read this and thought about this thread.  In a nutshell, guy interviews for a job with the FBI.  During the interview, which involved being voluntarily hooked up to a lie detector machine, he admits to owning questionable pictures of the underaged variety.  Of course the FBI then sieze his machine and charge him with child p*rn*graphy. 

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1290925--how-an-fbi-job-applicant-ended-up-with-a-child-porn-conviction

[Winterlight]

Just read this and thought about this thread.  In a nutshell, guy interviews for a job with the FBI.  During the interview, which involved being voluntarily hooked up to a lie detector machine, he admits to owning questionable pictures of the underaged variety.  Of course the FBI then sieze his machine and charge him with child p*rn*graphy. 

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1290925--how-an-fbi-job-applicant-ended-up-with-a-child-porn-conviction

Wow. That is some world class PD there. You have to TRY to reach that level.

[Ceallach]

Just read this and thought about this thread.  In a nutshell, guy interviews for a job with the FBI.  During the interview, which involved being voluntarily hooked up to a lie detector machine, he admits to owning questionable pictures of the underaged variety.  Of course the FBI then sieze his machine and charge him with child p*rn*graphy. 

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1290925--how-an-fbi-job-applicant-ended-up-with-a-child-porn-conviction

Wow. That is some world class PD there. You have to TRY to reach that level.

It fascinates me how often just by asking a direct question you get a direct and surprisingly honest answer from a person!

[Slartibartfast]

Today kicked off the awkwardness that is Thanksgiving With Grandma.  (In short: Grandma is in her mid-90s and although she is still very independent and loves to cook, her memory isn't what it used to be.  She insists on hosting Thanksgiving every year even though she's starting to forget things like whether she's already added salt, defrosted the turkey before baking, or left the egg salad out on the counter overnight.  We try to eat as little as possible while here.)

Anyway, since we got into grandma's town relatively late this evening, she and FIL met me and DH and the kids at a small chain diner for supper.  Our waitress was friendly, cheerful, and . . . missing for everything past the part where she delivered our food.  Unfortunately, she gave FIL the wrong soup so he had to flag down another server.  Who also got distracted and forgot to bring him the right soup.

We we seated in the corner booth near the windows, so it was easy to see outside even in the dark - and easy to see our waitress go out and sit on the hood of a car and talk on a cell phone for the twenty minutes it took us to eat.  FIL finally got a manager, who apologized profusedly - the waitress had brought the wrong soup because they were out of the one he had ordered, and never bothered to tell him.  (Never did find out why the second server didn't come say anything.)

FIL: we could see her sitting outside the whole time!
Manager: I'm really sorry about that, and I'm about to have a talk with her right now.
FIL: it's okay - I'm glad she's your problem and not mine!
Manager: Not for long she won't be . . .

So yeah, I think that waitress isn't going to be working there much longer.

[sevenday]

With regards to the one waitress in the last dinner story... it could have been her break.  She can sit on her car and gab on her break if she wants.  She doesn't need to tell her tables that she's going on break - although breaks are usually only 15 minutes, and any good waitress will do a 'hand off' to another server while on break to ensure customers are taken care of.  I've had servers swap halfway through a meal when one server went off shift and another came on.  Although the manager's comment makes me think it was NOT a scheduled break. Just saying.