Confessions of an IT Manager_Phil Factor

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Section I: On Learning to Love your Manager 37 against his appointment with equal vigor, "What are they thinking of, putting Dim David's name forward. He's struggling in the role he has!" Slowly, but surely, his profile increased to the point that his manager asked him to apply for the post, which he happily did. Pedro the Bookie observed the progress of this rank outsider with initial fascination. This turned to mounting alarm as David cantered along the rails, overtaking more fancied center-field candidates. He felt sure I was up to something but was not sure what. I groomed David carefully for the interview. We went through all the right answers, and made sure he was neatly turned out with the correct colour of suit and so on. It's worth bearing in mind that if you are a candidate for promotion and an analyst starts giving you tips on interview techniques, it is probably only because he has a few dollars on you each way . You will have guessed the outcome by now. Dim David passed the finish line head and shoulders in front of the next candidate. To all except Pedro, the victory was a cause for a great deal of pride and celebration in the department. What happened next, however, is painful to recall. Poor Dim David had to supervise friends with whom he'd worked for years. They resented it slightly, and Dim David reacted with bad tempered authoritarianism. He'd learned his management style from a bad role model, and his 'school monitor' approach was ridiculous in the workplace. After a while, his senior managers noticed that he was floundering and shook their heads, wondering who on earth had promoted him in the first place. They decided that his difficulties were largely due to having to supervise his old workmates, so they decided to move him to a different team. Suddenly, Dim David was my boss. I'd had a most harmonious relationship with my previous boss. He understood the technology. He understood his role. He only ever intervened to assist. For Friday lunch he always insisted on buying the drinks In short, he was ideal in every way. Unfortunately, Dim David clung to his autocratic techniques in his new team and felt that I was too rough a diamond to be left alone for very long. There was little left of the amiable Dim David I'd known in the old days. Promotion had turned him into a parody of a manager, and I couldn't help feeling that it was largely my fault. Soon afterwards, I left the company. Even now, I find it hard to believe that I affected a decision process as serious as career progression just by viral campaigning. IT workers are largely just flotsam on the tides and storms that are typical of the industry, and I try to console myself with the thought that it was just coincidence. This particular storm, characterised by the usual confusion and unpredictability, had simply swept David into a post to which he was ill-suited. Maybe my meddling actually had little impact in the grander scheme of things. Nevertheless, I wish I
38 Betting on Promotion could at least finish by saying that I never bet on promotions ever again. Not a bit of it. I am always ready for a flutter. So when, as an IT manager, you gaze out of your glass box at the sea of heads, bent intently over screen and keyboard, don't be deluded into thinking that all is diligence and harmony. A good proportion of those heads will be gazing keenly at the latest odds in the sweepstake on who will get your job when you lose it.
Page 1 and 2: Best of Simple Talk Confessions of
Page 3 and 4: ii Copyright Phil Factor 2009 ISBN
Page 5 and 6: iv Clinging to the Flotsam. A Survi
Page 8: Introduction During my career as an
Page 11 and 12: 10 Training Your IT Manager The DBA
Page 13 and 14: 12 Training Your IT Manager Section
Page 15 and 16: 14 Training Your IT Manager via cur
Page 17 and 18: 16 Training Your IT Manager it. Per
Page 19 and 20: 18 Training Your IT Manager Of cour
Page 21 and 22: 20 The Septic Tank Miscellaneous el
Page 24 and 25: The Yancey Men First published 03 O
Page 26 and 27: Section I: On Learning to Love your
Page 30 and 31: Bunnikins! First published 24 Augus
Page 34: Section I: On Learning to Love your
Page 37: 36 Betting on Promotion At one stag
Page 41 and 42: 40 How to Prevent Initiatives that
Page 43 and 44: 42 How to Prevent Initiatives Guys,
Page 46 and 47: Irregular verbs for IT managers Fir
Page 48 and 49: Phrases with which to discourage id
Page 53 and 54: 52 Initiating a project with a Stra
Page 56 and 57: Looking Busy First published 23 Nov
Page 61 and 62: 60 Doing things - The Manual Do som
Page 63 and 64: 62 The Incident of 'The Two Johns'
Page 65 and 66: Section II: The Strange Business of
Page 67 and 68: 66 Going It Alone I had it working,
Page 70 and 71: The Walrus and the Manager First Pu
Page 76 and 77: Click-A-Crematorium First published
Page 78: Section II: The Strange Business of
Page 81 and 82: 80 A Chilling Prophecy Some time ag
Page 83 and 84: 82 Talking Technical explaining tha
Page 86 and 87: The Diary of a Microsoft Marketing
Page 88 and 89:
Microsoft Boy announces his School
Page 90:
Section II: The Strange Business of
Page 93 and 94:
92 The March of Technology "Just be
Page 95 and 96:
94 The March of Technology got the
Page 98 and 99:
Clinging to the Flotsam. A Survivor
Page 100 and 101:
Section II: The Strange Business of
Page 102 and 103:
Section III: Software Projects: the
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108:
Page 111 and 112:
110 Confessions of an IT Strategist
Page 113 and 114:
112 Confessions of an IT Strategist
Page 115 and 116:
114 The Technically Minded Subclass
Page 118 and 119:
The Data Dialog First Published 30
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
The Joy of NAD First Published 30 O
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Smoke and Mirrors First Published 1
Page 130:
Page 133 and 134:
132 The Acronym Playpen Basic. I ch
Page 136 and 137:
The Writing on the Wall First publi
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
The Ghost in the Machine First publ
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144:
Page 147 and 148:
146 The Sticking Page-Down-Key Inci
Page 149 and 150:
148 The Sticking Page-Down-Key Inci
Page 151 and 152:
150 The Escape from Developer Hell
Page 153 and 154:
152 The Escape from Developer Hell
Page 155 and 156:
154 The Time Bomb The bolt from the
Page 157 and 158:
156 The Time Bomb I made sure that
Page 159 and 160:
158 The Time Bomb For us, it was so
Page 161 and 162:
160 On the Trail with the Cowboy Co
Page 163 and 164:
162 On the Trail with the Cowboy Co
Page 165 and 166:
164 When the Fever is Over, and one
Page 168 and 169:
The Computer that Swore First Publi
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Section IV: Hiring, Firing and othe
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
IT Agencies and the Devil First pub
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
The Stepford Geeks First published
Page 190:
Page 193 and 194:
192 The Terror of Technical Tests t
Page 195 and 196:
194 The Interview with the Psychome
Page 197 and 198:
196 Brown Shoes Don't Make It in th
Page 200 and 201:
Technical Interviews and Tests Have
Page 202:
Page 205 and 206:
204 Two stops short of Dagenham Eve
Page 208 and 209:
The March of Time First published 2
Page 210 and 211:
Fired With Enthusiasm First Publish
Page 212 and 213:
Page 214 and 215:
The Whipping Boy First published 21
Page 216 and 217:
Page 218:
Page 221 and 222:
220 Hens that Crow He seemed compel
Page 223 and 224:
222 Hens that Crow street. I spent
Page 225 and 226:
224 The New Man subject he knew abs
Page 227:
226 The New Man told me the Directo
Page 230 and 231:
Section V: What If …? 229 Had IT
Page 232 and 233:
Section V: What If …? 231 energy
Page 234 and 235:
Had offshoring been responsible for
Page 236 and 237:
Section V: What If …? 235 Beaumon
Page 238:
Section V: What If …? 237 Jonson:
Page 241 and 242:
240 Had Tennyson been a Technical A
Page 243 and 244:
242 Had God been a Technical Author
Page 245 and 246:
244 Had the Sistine Chapel been Cre
Page 247 and 248:
Page 249 and 250:
Page 251 and 252:
250 Captain Codd and the Simple Pro
Page 253:
252 Captain Codd and the Simple Pro
Page 256 and 257:
Section VI: Hiccoughs in the Workin
Page 258:
Page 261 and 262:
260 The Pub Lunch and Programming i
Page 263 and 264:
262 At half-past three, it's time f
Page 265 and 266:
264 At half-past three, it's time f
Page 267 and 268:
266 Cha: Tea-drinking for IT Develo
Page 270 and 271:
Survival Tips for PowerPoint Boredo
Page 272 and 273:
Page 274:
Page 277 and 278:
276 The Joy of IT Meetings period.
Page 280 and 281:
Why do we call them 'Bugs'? First p
Page 282 and 283:
The Ballad of the Tuple Relation Fi
Page 284 and 285:
Common Law, and the Need for Restra
Page 286:
Page 289 and 290:
288 Phil Factor on the Law my appli
Page 291 and 292:
290 Phil Factor on the Law Meanwhil
Page 293 and 294:
292 Santa's SLA revenue days for th
Page 296 and 297:
Tomorrow will be our Dancing Day Ph
Page 298 and 299:
Page 300:
Page 303 and 304:
302 The Data Center that Exploded:
Page 305 and 306:
304 The Data Center that Exploded:
Page 307:
About Red Gate You know those annoy
show all

Confessions of an IT Manager_Phil Factor

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?