• Shameless plugger (unregistered) in reply to LintMan
    LintMan:
    The day the friend got walked out would be the day I started hunting for a new job. No way I'd stick around any longer than I'd need to after that. And in the meantime, I'd probably try to find a way to send an anonymous "whistleblower" type email or letter to the upper management, though likely it'd be ignored.

    I have a "whistle blower" website for you: http://www.venompen.com

    They allow you to send completely anon email - for free - no account required.. nothing. Sorry to spam, but this site is worth a mention at least.

  • (cs) in reply to Demaestro
    Demaestro:
    Do us all a favor... go to the interview then bring up this guy and tell them you have heard about him and you can't in good conscience take the position based on "the word on the street"

    It may get them asking questions... I know i would wonder if someone walked in and knew damaging details of the management team...

    Have to agree here - most HR departments (either out of genuine interest in their jobs or simply corporate CYA) will keep records of such things. When the last six people who quit all listed the same person as the primary reason for leaving, it gets harder to dismiss it as "isolated troublemakers".

    The WTFs (in my opinion) should be:

    1. If you're going to do an end run around the boss, do not announce it. Find their boss (or their boss' boss - I wouldn't recommend someone outside the chain unless you have an existing relationship), and lay it out. Having a public meeting guarantees that this guy is going to make your life miserable.

    2. This person should have claimed for wrongful dismissal. I suppose your luck here might depend on local jurisdiction, but around here it would guarantee attention at higher levels. You may or may not get money from it, but you'll definitely get a chance to lay out the chain of events. Of course, depending on clout, you might just end up blacklisted. Mileage may vary.

  • merc (unregistered) in reply to anonymous
    anonymous:
    I guess I'm in the minority here, but I think it IS rude to be having a private conversation in the middle of a meeting. Drives me nuts when I'm in a meeting trying to hear the person who is speaking and there are 2-3 sub-conversations drowning it out. Also, as much of an a**hole as the CDM appears to have been, going over his head behind his back was just plain stupid (except maybe in a very small company...)

    Going over his head in front of his back would have been even more stupid.

  • Ben4jammin (unregistered)

    In reading some of the responses to this story, it is easy to tell those that have "been around the block" in large corporate settings. I work for a company that has about 500 or so employees at 9 sites in 2 states. It is the biggest firm I have ever worked for. And it is WAY different than working for a small firm. As some of the earlier posts point out, it is politics that often wins, not the truth. Do not underestimate the effect of a department head that has the ears of upper management on a regular basis (meetings and such). If you continually throw crap at a wall, some of it will eventually stick. Perception becomes reality. Upper management knows the dept head...they probably couldn't pick you out of a line-up. Think about it: would you tend to believe someone you talk to on a regular basis (maybe daily) or someone you only know by name...if that? But after reading this, I feel pretty good about my company's situation, because I've never had to go through ANYTHING like this story.

  • (cs) in reply to Anita Tinkle
    Anita Tinkle:
    It's purely a game of office politics.

    You have an insufferable fool that is fucking things up for everyone. Bonuses might be at risk, but so would your job if you crossed the fool. What to do?

    [...]

    Excellent and wise advice, all of it. Including the admonishment that there are no guarantees (but it's still worth a try).

  • (cs)

    What are anyone's thoughts about using an anonymous email to upper management?

  • Dustin (unregistered)

    "Manage and lead the digital services paradigms of the future" -- AMDocs

    Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

  • Ben4jammin (unregistered) in reply to Hellz99
    Hellz99:
    What are anyone's thoughts about using an anonymous email to upper management?

    My first thought is that if it is truly anonymous, it probably won't have enough facts/proof to be credible and if it does have the facts/proof to be credible, it probably won't be as anonymous as you would like.

  • (cs) in reply to Gsquared
    Gsquared:
    I'm probably speaking for the majority here: I would have quit a long time before ever being fired for that "meeting".
    It's not that black-and-white.

    There appear to be a lot of jobs out there, but it turns out most of them are crap. Indeed, if you take another job, there is a good chance you'll end up in an environment that's even worse!

    Just because there's one dickhead working at a place does not mean everyone there is insufferable. We already know Chris got along with one other coworker. There might have been dozens of people there who were good people to work with, and quite possibly friends who cannot be easily visited outside of work. When you leave a job, you leave behind more than just the manager.

    There may be other jobs out there, but it's quite possible that they all have dramatically less desirable commutes.

    We don't know what Chris was getting paid. Maybe he was getting paid very well. Most of us would have a high threshold regarding the amount of crap we'll take before we decide the generous pay just isn't worth our sanity. The need to support a family can heavily influence such a threshold.

  • (cs) in reply to Ben4jammin
    Ben4jammin:
    I work for a company that has about 500 or so employees at 9 sites in 2 states. It is the biggest firm I have ever worked for. And it is WAY different than working for a small firm.

    I guess size is relative. I think if I ever worked at a company that was as tiny as this one, I wouldn't have any problem going around anyone's back. I would pretty much know everyone in the company, at some level.

  • Dustin (unregistered)

    anonymous email to upper management?

    My first thought is the spam filter would eat it.

    My inbox nukes just about every email sent to me from outside the company.

  • Charlie (unregistered)

    I had a similar experience a couple of years ago. And yes, after i confronted upper management my job was suprisingly made redundant.

    Although in the weeks that followed the company tore itself apart. The sweetest of revenge.

  • TSK (unregistered) in reply to Hellz99
    Hellz99:
    What are anyone's thoughts about using an anonymous email to upper management?

    Bad. Very bad. The first immediate reaction is almost always thinking "coward" because a) you have nothing to lose while you hope that someone will be punished. That is wicked thinking and I would have no qualms to fire you if I were a manager and can identify you even if your complaint is truthful.

    b) With your anonymity there is no way to separate foul-mouthing and legitimate complaints. As a manager: How should I divide what is right and wrong in the complaint ? And even if I could why should I investigate in the first place ?! Use my own precious time for hunting a possible ghost ? No way.

    The wisest tip was meeting with the higher executive face to face with support without interruption. I would even advise: Prepare to be fired. You need cold blood and firm resolution that the situation is intolerable as it is; risking a job if you still want to hold it puts terrible pressure on you.

    If your firm has a real and competent independent mediator with professional discretion and not a powerless "we-are-a-caring-company" shill, use him.

    Don't attack personally. That is very tempting because you have endured a lot of abuse. Explain exactly what the situation is, why you haven't tried to talk face to face with the manager in question (a very good reason to bring a coworker who can testify that all criticism is mercilessly blocked) and what blocks the progress of your work. Put it clear that your aim is to complete the work; even if a possible solution left the manager in question untouched.

    While many employees seem to think that managers don't care at all, they do. They fear the question "Dear Sir/Madam, are you able to keep your people in check and get your tasks done ?" because they are paid for it. They can be aggressive, cooperative, whatever...as long as these two preconditions are met. If a subordinate isn't able to get his tasks done he/she will tint his reputation as manager so it is likely he will do something about it. Not for charity, but for self-preservation.

  • G-Unit (unregistered) in reply to Anon

    "...it's a waste of shareholder's money to make 200 developers spend hours trying to update a shared spreadsheet when there's perfectly adequate tools available to perform the useful bits of the task efficiently."

    Nonsense, such a tool doesn't exist. I think I shall invent a tool like this though....I shall call it a "database."

  • TSK (unregistered)

    Question: How is the situation with managers who got fired in the US ?

    The situation here is: The higher the position, the deeper the fall. If you climbed up the career ladder, you will never again a happy developer again. So what is your situation if you are an US manager ?

  • (cs) in reply to Anita Tinkle
    Anita Tinkle:
    I really wish Alex would have given some hints as to which company where this little turd lives.

    I hate people like that (the know-it-all CDM). Would be helpful in the future so I can steer clear of ever running into that situation.

    From my experience that would be a long list because they are everywhere.

  • Franz Kafka (unregistered) in reply to TSK
    TSK:
    Hellz99:
    What are anyone's thoughts about using an anonymous email to upper management?

    Bad. Very bad. The first immediate reaction is almost always thinking "coward" because a) you have nothing to lose while you hope that someone will be punished. That is wicked thinking and I would have no qualms to fire you if I were a manager and can identify you even if your complaint is truthful.

    So you'd fire someone who's trying to avoid retaliation? What a jackass.

  • (cs) in reply to speaking of wtf's
    speaking of wtf's:
    speaking of wtf's:
    does this forum software suck or what???
    also I need some help, I'm trying to write some javascript to post the "forum software sucks" message automatically so I don't have to visit this place so often, but I don't know how to decode the captcha with javascript. any ideas?
    Yes! 1) Outsource the building of a table that maps the checksum (md5, etc.) of the picture file (jpg, png, etc.) to the ascii text. 2) Pop up a dialog with the captcha and wait for a human to type in the word. 3) Acknowledge that everybody already knows about the forum software and they don't need another reminder.
  • TSK (unregistered) in reply to Franz Kafka
    Franz Kafka:
    TSK:
    Hellz99:
    What are anyone's thoughts about using an anonymous email to upper management?

    Bad. Very bad. The first immediate reaction is almost always thinking "coward" because a) you have nothing to lose while you hope that someone will be punished. That is wicked thinking and I would have no qualms to fire you if I were a manager and can identify you even if your complaint is truthful.

    So you'd fire someone who's trying to avoid retaliation? What a jackass.

    Yes, I would fire him for this reasons:

    1. If he is trying to "avoid retaliation" why is he writing to me in the first place ? If he writes anomynously, what is he thinking of me ? Perhaps: "Gee, my current executive is an asshole, but you can be an asshole, too, so be sorry if I protect myself. I am afraid to be responsible for my actions either way, regardless if you fire him or fire me". And if the workers fear retaliation, what do you think about the chance that even if I try to investigate, all workers will tell me: Uh, boss, everything is all right. I would say: Probably. Very probably. Do you really expect someone to base his actions on a possible smear campaign ? How would you feel if I tell you: "Hey Franz, someone phoned me anomynously that you were a real troublemaker in another firm. I am not finally convinced of this accusation, but one never knows. Please leave immediately."

    2. Anomity means noone knows who sent the message. Was it a current employee, one who was shortly fired before or it is simply a malicious coworker ? Don't tell me that this cannot happen, mobbing is a severe problem and the "jokes" other workers played with their colleagues were painfully illustrated in one of the former WTFs.

    If I receive several mails how do I know that it isn't exactly the same person trying to be more convincing ?

    1. Calumniare audacter, semper aliquid haeret ! This means if you are throwing mud you will hurt always the reputation of a person even if the person is innocent. So attacking other persons from anomity and being therefore not accountable is from every perspective plain mean and never ever acceptable ! Especially because the person is always on the defensive and must waste time and energy to refute accusations. If you want to blow the whistle, attack senseless procedures or working violations, but not persons. If you want to attack persons, do it openly. Or go into politics.

    So perhaps you should ask yourself if I haven't very good reasons to kick someone vehemently the butt.

  • Anon. (unregistered) in reply to Scott B.
    Scott B.:
    meeting about the Build Process, invite execute management, and directly confront
    Hmm, Freudian Slip?

    Yup, missing conjunction, should read "invite and execute management, and directly confront..."

  • Mr Steve (unregistered) in reply to TSK
    TSK:
    Franz Kafka:
    TSK:
    Hellz99:
    What are anyone's thoughts about using an anonymous email to upper management?

    Bad. Very bad. The first immediate reaction is almost always thinking "coward" because a) you have nothing to lose while you hope that someone will be punished. That is wicked thinking and I would have no qualms to fire you if I were a manager and can identify you even if your complaint is truthful.

    So you'd fire someone who's trying to avoid retaliation? What a jackass.

    Yes, I would fire him for this reasons:

    1. If he is trying to "avoid retaliation" why is he writing to me in the first place ? If he writes anomynously, what is he thinking of me ? Perhaps: "Gee, my current executive is an asshole, but you can be an asshole, too, so be sorry if I protect myself. I am afraid to be responsible for my actions either way, regardless if you fire him or fire me". And if the workers fear retaliation, what do you think about the chance that even if I try to investigate, all workers will tell me: Uh, boss, everything is all right. I would say: Probably. Very probably. Do you really expect someone to base his actions on a possible smear campaign ? How would you feel if I tell you: "Hey Franz, someone phoned me anomynously that you were a real troublemaker in another firm. I am not finally convinced of this accusation, but one never knows. Please leave immediately."

    2. Anomity means noone knows who sent the message. Was it a current employee, one who was shortly fired before or it is simply a malicious coworker ? Don't tell me that this cannot happen, mobbing is a severe problem and the "jokes" other workers played with their colleagues were painfully illustrated in one of the former WTFs.

    If I receive several mails how do I know that it isn't exactly the same person trying to be more convincing ?

    1. Calumniare audacter, semper aliquid haeret ! This means if you are throwing mud you will hurt always the reputation of a person even if the person is innocent. So attacking other persons from anomity and being therefore not accountable is from every perspective plain mean and never ever acceptable ! Especially because the person is always on the defensive and must waste time and energy to refute accusations. If you want to blow the whistle, attack senseless procedures or working violations, but not persons. If you want to attack persons, do it openly. Or go into politics.

    So perhaps you should ask yourself if I haven't very good reasons to kick someone vehemently the butt.

    i gotta disagree with people who say this is cowardly

    in my experience 95% of people are fantastic and only have the best of intentions. 99.9% of geeky IT workers fall into this category.

    if i was a manager getting emails from IT geeks saying 'hey this manager is a total asshole, please please pleeeease get rid of him' chances are its cos the manager is a total asshole, not cos its a smear campaign

    geeks are good at coding. assholes are good at playing politics. sorry if geeks appear 'cowardly' but we're simply outmatched and we have a lot to lose.

  • Tim (unregistered)

    I can't believe we've got this far without someone mentioning one of the other WTFs: Excel is able to handle spreadsheets being written by multiple people simultaneously, so the problem of people not being open the spreadsheet shouldn't have been a problem.

    Yes, it doesn't solve contention problems elegantly like a proper database would - but that part could be solved (some sort of process would be agreed - maybe partitioning the rowspace, maybe setting up some Excel forms or macros for data entry, maybe a simulated two-phase commit process; there are enough geeks involved that someone could come up with something).

    Yes, it doesn't address the inherent boneheadedness of the CDM's build process. But (as loathe as I am to defend anything Microsoftish) in this case the tool is not really the problem.

    Amother WTF is the geeks focusing on their fantasies of humiliating the CDM with a showdown instead of solving the problem (getting the CDM out of their way). If someone is a better gunfighter than you, you don't challenge them to a gunfight - you poison them or something. Geeks trying to outplay a political animal like the CDM is sadly naive.

    Someone earlier was right - you collect the evidence, analyse the problems, identify possible solutions, and go and see someone higher up the food chain to help you address the problem - and also be prepared for the risk of being fired. Sending the CDM a meeting invite with all these higher-up types on the invite list is like (captcha:) ninjas wearing fluro safety vests, you see the problem coming a mile off.

  • NOBODY (unregistered) in reply to Mr Steve
    Mr Steve:
    if i was a manager getting emails from IT geeks saying 'hey this manager is a total asshole, please please pleeeease get rid of him' chances are its cos the manager is a total asshole, not cos its a smear campaign
    Don't compare oranges to apples. The mail was supposed to be from NOBODY and NOT some of your "IT geeks".

    Having said that.

    If the anonymous mailer attacks the person
If i find out who mailed
- i would fire the coward.
Else
- ignore and update spam filters
Else (aka. something in the work process is wrong)
    

      

    • check what is going on.
  • tieTYT (unregistered) in reply to Mr Steve
    i gotta disagree with people who say this is cowardly

    in my experience 95% of people are fantastic and only have the best of intentions. 99.9% of geeky IT workers fall into this category.

    if i was a manager getting emails from IT geeks saying 'hey this manager is a total asshole, please please pleeeease get rid of him' chances are its cos the manager is a total asshole, not cos its a smear campaign

    geeks are good at coding. assholes are good at playing politics. sorry if geeks appear 'cowardly' but we're simply outmatched and we have a lot to lose.

    I agree with TSK. While you are thinking about it from the perspective of your intentions, he's thinking about it from the perspective of a manager. That is the right way to approach the problem.

    TSK: I really appreciate all your advice. It's hard for me, as a developer, to put on a management hat and consider how they would perceive my actions.

    I've only had 2 technical jobs and I never had to deal with someone like this. Well I kinda had to deal with someone like this but in the end we generally ignored him and did things the right way.

  • (cs) in reply to speaking of wtf's
    speaking of wtf's:
    speaking of wtf's:
    does this forum software suck or what???

    also I need some help, I'm trying to write some javascript to post the "forum software sucks" message automatically so I don't have to visit this place so often, but I don't know how to decode the captcha with javascript. any ideas?

    Sure. Have it crawl the site, picking up words from the captcha comments, and iterate through the list testing for a successful match.

    Please don't, though. The most boring posts on this site are the repetitive messages about how the forum software sucks. We all know it sucks, and we work around it, or live with it.

    BTW: what does this have to do with Chief Development Managers or other PHBs?

  • (cs)

    (sorry, off topic) this guy in the picture of the article (boss.jpg) kinda looks like alan rickman to me... (http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0250716/rickman.jpg)

  • little slash (unregistered)

    I don't know what to find more scary...a single bad manager or 200 people not fighting his decisions. Dave did the right thing. Do you know what makes bad managers? Hundreds of co-workers bowing to his will. If you choose to accept manipulation, power, a stable financial situation and job security under such circumstances you're feeding your own fears.

    Its like that one article some time ago. People were bitching about the author who accused us of doing nothing against WTFs in the first place. Guess what, he is right and this is as bad as it gets!

  • Marcin (unregistered)

    The real WTF is that this continues to be legal in America.

  • dkf (unregistered) in reply to Tim
    Tim:
    Geeks trying to outplay a political animal like the CDM is sadly naive.
    This is something that puzzles me time and time again; people claiming that they're not "political" because they're geeks and that therefore their role in life is to get dumped on. It's a true WTF. You can learn to be political; it's just a skill and you've already got all the tools you really need, you just need to use them (and you're probably already better practiced than most at using the most important tool of all, your brain). It's strongly beneficial to work on becoming better at the political game; it keeps you out of the clutches of the CDMs of this world.
  • ld23 (unregistered)

    Seven years ago, I quit my job. I was developing and maintaining +100 reporting users on +5 number of databases. I had to evaluate the new reporting tool. The existing situation was quiet strongly customized but lacked growing power and had some security issues.

    I got the possibility to take free courses for the major players on the market. Guess which courses I did not get permission/time for to attend ? Yes, the one I used a demo version to create a working analytical tool in only two days, including the time to let some key users test the result. This is what we need, they said....

    "His wife was working in a bank somewhere and there they choose the other one", was his explanation to me...

    I send an e-mail to the management to tell them that I would not be possible to provide the needs of my reporting users with the new tool. I even mentioned that the newest version of Excel would have more reporting capabilities then the new tool. Sadly, I was right.

    I was working 4 years in the job, the new chief less then one year in the firm. One week later i found the job I was looking for and left the building...

    The only thing I know is, that at least three times over the last five year, i found advertisements which asked specific experience in the magnificent tool they bought...

  • London Geezer (unregistered)

    Let me guess, this CDMs name is Bob McK. at a diamond company? He was a similar, thought he knew everything and got aggressive - weasel!

    Never mind I left there and got better job after better job, I probably earn waaaay more than him now!!

    captcha: darwin - the manager evolution

  • s (unregistered) in reply to Reid

    First answer the questions. Then use the interview to ask several questions like "Are you still using this retarded system with a single spreadshit?" "Is that fucktard development manager still employed at your place?" Then say "No, thanks, I'm looking for a job where the boss isn't a complete loser asshole. I'll try my chances elsewhere". And do.

  • Anonymous Is Smart Not Cowardly (unregistered)

    [quote user="TSK"] [quote user="Hellz99"]What are anyone's thoughts about using an anonymous email to upper management?[/quote] Bad. Very bad. The first immediate reaction is almost always thinking "coward" [/quote]

    The poor reasoning demonstrated here makes me think that TSK is probably the kind of problem boss that we're talking about here. He has probably been criticized anonymously before and doesn't like that he can't retaliate.

    Why is it cowardly to want to avoid retaliation? It's kind of like saying that soldiers that wear camouflage and hide behind cover are cowards. There was a time when such an unreasonable opinion was common. The victims of an injustice have no responsibility to make themselves easy targets.

    [quote user="TSK"] because a) you have nothing to lose while you hope that someone will be punished. That is wicked thinking [/quote]

    That's crazy. There's nothing wicked about it at all. If punishment is justified then why shouldn't you hope for it? And even by sending an anonymous email you usually put yourself at major risk.

    [quote user="TSK"] and I would have no qualms to fire you if I were a manager and can identify you even if your complaint is truthful. [/quote]

    Even if your complaint is truthful!? Now THAT is wicked!

    [quote user="TSK"] With your anonymity there is no way to separate foul-mouthing and legitimate complaints. As a manager: How should I divide what is right and wrong in the complaint ? [/quote]

    There are lots of ways to investigate the accusations in an anonymous complaint. To suggest that there is "no way" is absurd.

    [quote user="TSK"] And even if I could why should I investigate in the first place ?! [/quote]

    For the good of your company and because it's your job as a manager! Not that you should waste time on accusations if they lack credibility.

    [quote user="TSK"] If he writes anonymously, what is he thinking of me ? Perhaps: "Gee, my current executive is an asshole, but you can be an asshole, too, so be sorry if I protect myself. [/quote]

    Yes he might be thinking that. What's wrong with that? Judging by your comments here it might be a legitimate concern.

    [quote user="TSK"] I am afraid to be responsible for my actions either way, regardless if you fire him or fire me". [/quote]

    If the accusation is just then there's nothing for the accuser to be responsible for. The accuser shouldn't have to face retaliation for making a valid accusation.

    [quote user="TSK"] And if the workers fear retaliation, what do you think about the chance that even if I try to investigate, all workers will tell me: Uh, boss, everything is all right. I would say: Probably. Very probably. [/quote]

    Getting people to come forward who may face retaliation is one of the challenges of investigation. It's a hard problem. But unless the accusation is trivial or lacks credibility then it's often worth the effort to get at the truth.

    [quote user"TSK"] Do you really expect someone to base his actions on a possible smear campaign ? [/quote]

    Of course not. You have to do a fair evaluation of the evidence before taking action. Accusations which can't be substantiated should be dismissed.

    [quote user="TSK"] ... if you are throwing mud you will hurt always the reputation of a person even if the person is innocent. So attacking other persons from anomity and being therefore not accountable is from every perspective plain mean and never ever acceptable ! [/quote]

    IF the accusation is justified then the person is NOT innocent and the accusation is NOT mean. If the accusation is not justified then of course it is wrong.

    [quote user="TSK"] Especially because the person is always on the defensive and must waste time and energy to refute accusations. [/quote]

    If the accusation is justified then the perpetrator should be on the defensive, and the time wasted is the perpetrators fault not the accusers fault.

  • Misha (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward:
    AmDocs. The company in question is AmDocs.

    Ahh, AmDocs. A friend of mine used to work there, and had a manager very much as described in this article. An incredibly shitty job, which he eventually left. And the bank didn't foreclose on his house, but only because he was renting. He now lives in a squat.

  • (cs)

    In my experience, the best way to resolve stop-work situations is to go to exec management with the statement, "I and the other developers are unable to get work done because of X. We recommend Y in order for us to be able to continue working." Then go back to your desk and all play Tetris. If exec management thinks that work has stopped and will not continue until action is taken, then action will be taken. Anything besides a stop-work scenario is just complaining to them. Don't talk to the development manager or even involve his name in the discussion, just say, "this excel file being locked is costing us hundreds of developer hours per week, if not per day."

  • GT (unregistered)

    Ok, management is bad, developers are good. Developers know better than anyone else. I don't dispute that, and I strongly believe that a developer who actualy uses the new, fancy, complete WTF build process understands the problems better than the manager who enforced it. What I don't see at all here is an attempt from the developers to communicate with the manager the actual problems. Give hints, give ideas, suggest twicks. Says things like "The new process is good, but can be improved if we add XYZ database/process/product/etc). Managers usually love that. They get feedback and can adjust the process to be less problematic. They even like to claim that the fix was their idea and move higher in the chain (sometimes they will acknowledge the developer feedback as well). Politics will always exist in big companies and developers should learn how to play their own political game. If you start shouting "WTF this is wrong", it doesn't realy help.

    Just some thoughts...

  • (cs)

    lol @ the Excel document. I can only begin to imagine what would have happened if someone opened the document, forgot about it, went to lunch, got food poisoned and was home sick for a month.

  • HealthManiac (unregistered) in reply to bstorer
    bstorer:
    Volmarias:
    Gsquared:
    I'm probably speaking for the majority here: I would have quit a long time before ever being fired for that "meeting".

    Personally, I would have written a letter to senior management, with an "I doubt you care, but your Chief Development Manager is ... (details of the exact situation)". Don't send it via internal communication, and send it after I'd already resigned. If they ignore it, not my problem. If they pay attention, might help out some friends who can't afford to quit. But that's my style.

    The quitting, I think would be nearly universal. And when senior management asks the Chief Development Manager why he has zero employees in his area, he can try to lie his way out of that one too. His problem.

    Thats right! You tell em! And when the bank is sending you a forclosure notice for your home because you couldn't find another job to pay the bills, well, at least you still have your dignity!

    Not when he's living on the streets and eating out of dumpsters. Seriously, though, the industry's starting to change to the point where too many short tenures with different companies is now a red flag, like in most other fields. Me, I'd just document everything: 11:00 Tues, 4/3/07: Tried to access the Excel file for checking in code. File in use. 11:07 Tues, 4/3/07: Tried to access the Excel file for checking in code. File in use. 11:15 Tues, 4/3/07: Tried to access the Excel file for checking in code. File in use. 11:20 Tues, 4/3/07: Tried to access the Excel file for checking in code. File in use. It's nice when you're job consists of simply double-clicking a file every few minutes. And you've got the evidence to back up what you were doing.

    Even easier, Alt-F4 in any application inserts the current date and time. Very productive!

  • Aaron (unregistered)

    oy!

    I hate these kind of wtfs... what's with the depressing ending all the time? I feel like the story has great conflict, great development, but the ending always feels very unresolved...

    Can't the CDM like "accidentally" choke on his anchovy salad or something?

  • glow (unregistered)

    i'm not working in IT but i was just wondering, what if the developers set up a small database with some simple script to INSERT the code changes and dump the whole data into an excel file just before 3PM.. a hack of sorts, but wouldn't it solve the problem at least temporarily?

  • Eam (unregistered) in reply to glow
    glow:
    i'm not working in IT but i was just wondering, what if the developers set up a small database with some simple script to INSERT the code changes and dump the whole data into an excel file just before 3PM.. a hack of sorts, but wouldn't it solve the problem at least temporarily?
    You'd probably make a good IT worker. They're always coming up with good solutions to bad problems.

    The best way to manage the whole process is by integrating an issue tracking package with revision control software. Hell, I've even seen Perforce integrated with Bugzilla, which was a lot like Krispy Kreme integrating with someone's ass to produce shit-filled donuts, but at least it worked.

  • Eam (unregistered) in reply to Aaron
    Aaron:
    I hate these kind of wtfs... what's with the depressing ending all the time? I feel like the story has great conflict, great development, but the ending always feels very unresolved...
    Welcome to the world of business...
  • (cs) in reply to jonner
    jonner:
    What's up with all of the long-winded over-dramatized stories on here lately? There used to be interesting stuff posted here, now it takes a good 10 minutes to read though all of the boring embellishments to find the one or two interesting WTFs in a story. It's too bad really.

    What's up with all of the whining lately?

    If you don't like the stories, don't read them. Quit whining. You waste more time whining than you spend reading the stories you don't like. So just don't read them. In fact, don't even bother stopping by here. Bye bye.

  • (cs) in reply to Tim
    Tim:
    I can't believe we've got this far without someone mentioning one of the other WTFs: Excel is able to handle spreadsheets being written by multiple people simultaneously, so the problem of people not being open the spreadsheet shouldn't have been a problem.
    Tim:
    Yes, it doesn't address the inherent boneheadedness of the CDM's build process. But (as loathe as I am to defend anything Microsoftish) in this case the tool is not really the problem.

    Ummm... from the original post:

    They’d have to add a row for every file changed and include its path, the issue number, and the reason behind the change.

    Isn't that exactly what version control software is for? And it's multi-user capable as well.

    The choice of the tool is exactly the problem. Even if it does support multiple users, it's the wrong tool for the job it was selected to accomplish.

  • (cs) in reply to Volmarias

    "Thats right! You tell em! And when the bank is sending you a forclosure notice for your home because you couldn't find another job to pay the bills, well, at least you still have your dignity!"

    You seem to be assuming that quiting from a job = never working again.

    That's a pretty simplistic assumption. Personally, I've never had trouble finding work when I wanted it. I've left several jobs over the last 2 decades because of disagreements with the ethics of the management. I've always had another job already lined up before I left.

    Is that always true for everyone? Definitely not. But for the vast majority in the US, employment is available.

  • dkf (unregistered) in reply to Eam
    Eam:
    Hell, I've even seen Perforce integrated with Bugzilla, which was a lot like Krispy Kreme integrating with someone's ass to produce shit-filled donuts, but at least it worked.
    Just out of curiosity, which one was which in that analogy?
  • Moroni (unregistered)

    I bet the CDM had a business degree. They are the only people getting promoted to management these days.

  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous Coward

    Hmm, I thought it was where I work right now!

  • Tim (unregistered) in reply to dkf
    dkf:
    Tim:
    Geeks trying to outplay a political animal like the CDM is sadly naive.
    This is something that puzzles me time and time again; people claiming that they're not "political" because they're geeks and that therefore their role in life is to get dumped on. It's a true WTF. You can learn to be political; it's just a skill and you've already got all the tools you really need, you just need to use them (and you're probably already better practiced than most at using the most important tool of all, your brain). It's strongly beneficial to work on becoming better at the political game; it keeps you out of the clutches of the CDMs of this world.

    I absolutely agree. I've been working on this myself, although I realise I still have quite a way to go. However, geeks as a group are not known for their political savvy - and this will continue as long as they spend all their energies on understanding hardware or software instead of wetware.

  • (cs)

    If it's an Excel spreadsheet, it can be shared, so that multiple users can update it AT THE SAME TIME. Each time you save the file, you'll see everyone else's updates... except that each person will probably be trying to add to the same "last" row.

    This is not really a solution, but don't blame it on the message "this file is in use by..." when Excel is perfectly happy to allow several users to have read-write access to one spreadsheet.

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