![A laptop with password stickies A laptop with password stickies](../images/password-stickies.png)
A laptop with password stickies
Here's a collection of lightly edited expressions of frustration, disdain, and disbelief about jobs today, and about how people in those jobs are managed. Some are based on specific reports that have come my way, and some are mixtures of reports from several people. Any similarity to your situation is both coincidental and unfortunate.
- Twice they've laid off my best friends. Time to go.
- Whenever layoffs happen, I get more work and no raise.
- I used to "stretch" to deliver superior performance, only to be rated "meets expectations." I thought, "What a lie," but now I realize that stretching myself was their expectation.
- The only thing I hate more than being told to undo what somebody just finished is being told to undo what I just finished.
- I take that back. I hate even more being told to do something that I know somebody will have to undo as soon as I'm finished.
- If meetings were any more mind numbing, they'd be classified as illegal drugs.
- I used to trust my boss to tell me what was really going on. I now realize that he doesn't actually know.
- I liked my old boss better than my new boss. Neither of them knows what they're doing, but my old boss at least knew that he didn't know.
- I don't know what's worse: (a) my boss making decisions about stuff he's clueless about, without consulting us; or (b) my boss asking our advice, and then not taking it. Wait, it's (a). At least with (a) he doesn't waste our time before making the wrong decision.
- Two things are If meetings were any more mind
numbing, they'd be classified as
illegal drugs.mysterious about Steve: (a) how he spends his time, because he sure doesn't do his job; and (b) how he gets away with it. - Only one way the cafeteria could be worse: if they raised the prices. Ah. They just did. Never mind.
- I stuck sticky notes on my wall with fake passwords to fool password thieves. Then IT ran a surprise inspection and wrote me up. I told them the passwords were fake, but they said no passwords on the walls, real or fake. The I in IT must stand for idiotic.
- I got used to my boss not keeping her promises, but I can't get used to her denying she ever made them.
- I have so much work that I can't focus on anything long enough to remember where I was when I had to drop it to do something more urgent.
- I used to tolerate the bad parts of my job because I loved the good parts of my job. Now I don't even know what the good parts of my job are.
- Why am I classified as a "resource?" I'm a human being.
That's all for now. I'm collecting these items, so send me yours, and when I get a batch together, I'll send them out. Top
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Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Express Your Appreciation and Trust
- Some people in your organization have done really outstanding work. You want to recognize that work,
but the budget is so small that anything you could do would be insulting. What can you do? Express your
Appreciation and Trust.
Renewal
- Renewal is a time to step out of your usual routine and re-energize. We find renewal in weekends, vacations,
days off, even in a special evening or hour in the midst of our usual pattern. Renewal provides perspective.
It's a climb to the mountaintop to see if we're heading in the right direction.
Holey Grails
- How much of the time and energy you spend in meetings goes to finding the best way? or a better way?
It's of questionable value unless you first agree on what you mean by "better" or "best."
The Tyranny of Singular Nouns
- When groups try to reach decisions, and the issue in question has a name that suggests a unitary concept,
such as "policy," they sometimes collectively assume that they're required to find a one-size-fits-all
solution. This assumption leads to poor decisions when one-size-fits-all isn't actually required.
Getting Value from Involuntary Seminars
- Whatever your organizational role, from time to time you might find yourself attending seminars or presentations
involuntarily. The value you derive from these "opportunities" depends as much on you as on
the presenter.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Workplace Politics for more related articles.
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And on July 10: On Delegating Accountability: I
- As the saying goes, "You can't delegate your own accountability." Despite wide knowledge of this aphorism, people try it from time to time, especially when overcome by the temptation of a high-risk decision. What can you delegate, and how can you do it? Available here and by RSS on July 10.
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