I hate my job too

[silencio]

One who operates outside the parameters will become a scapegoat - no matter what his skillsets are, no employee is irreplaceable.

Great point.

[WebHead]

All of you have excellent insight on this topic, really seem to know your stuff and all the info you all have given me has really made me understand what I need to do. Thanks so much!

[Stalemate]

So when is the "meeting" going down?

[KINGofBLEH]

Sounds like they have painted you into a corner, bro. This kind of sh*t happens to me quite a bit. I work for a bunch of wannabe-MBA-types and 20-year-bankers. I am the lone wolf at my site when it comes to software and O/S support. I support over 1,000 users and 30+ servers. All of our hardware and network support has been outsourced. So I have the lovely job of playing traffic cop with those clowns. And when the vendors don't want to play ball, it gets dumped on me. The vendor and I have a love-hate relationship because they see me as stealing money from them when I am doing the work they should have done under contract.

And since I work for businessmen who have no clue about IT management, I get asked all the time to "bend the rules" (aka "stretch your ethics" or "do something illegal").

Over the years I have learned their game. It's all a matter of language. If you speak to them in megahertz and gigabites, you will lose them at hello. If you speak to them in dollars, risk, liability, lawsuits, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, you are talking their language. When it comes to licensing I have actually taken the time on my own to read up some on the software piracy law and stay current on recent lawsuits. That way I can go back to that manager that asked me to install the "bootlegged" copy of Microsoft Project for his staff that if someone ever blew the whistle on him he could be looking at millions in fines and maybe jail time. That may or may not actually happen, but it's usually enough to scare 'em.

As for questioning your judgement, you have to remember that YOU have the power, not THEM. You just have to remind them of that occassionally. My favorite method is whenever a senior executive in my office has a nasty email or PC problem, I hop right into his office and have the problem fixed before he even has a chance to call our helpdesk and open a trouble ticket. When I do this, I have a 100% completely captive audience with that executive. While I am fixing their PC I am sure to drop a word or two about one of my major projects I am working on or some major problem I solved last week. Do this a few times and you will have them eating out of your hand, and you only had to deviate slightly from your normal process.

The bottom line is you have to make the business manager look good. The better he/she looks, the better things will look for you.

My advice may be too little too late in your case, Wrbby, and it certainly does not work for everyone. But ever since I committed myself to this philosophy I have continued to stretch my limits and matured immensely.

[WebHead]

So when is the "meeting" going down?

I'm not sure. Maybe they changed their mind. Nothing has been mentioned of it and they have joked around with me already several times. I'm confused.

Thanks KoB. More good stuff. I'm thinking of going over this whole thread later tonight and just taking notes on all this stuff so I can try and practise and hopefully get better at this game/red-tape stuff.

[gazzak]

As for questioning your judgement, you have to remember that YOU have the power, not THEM. You just have to remind them of that occassionally. My favorite method is whenever a senior executive in my office has a nasty email or PC problem, I hop right into his office and have the problem fixed before he even has a chance to call our helpdesk and open a trouble ticket. When I do this, I have a 100% completely captive audience with that executive. While I am fixing their PC I am sure to drop a word or two about one of my major projects I am working on or some major problem I solved last week. Do this a few times and you will have them eating out of your hand, and you only had to deviate slightly from your normal process.

This was my policy at my last job, and I had some powerful allies by the time I finished there. Great advice from KoB.

[NetBizz]

KoB You are a king really.

Was with the same problem like webby, Good God you have shown a better light and thanks for other guys too, great Forum Great people.

[Tekboy]

So, Wrbby, you still employed today?

[WebHead]

So, Wrbby, you still employed today?

Yup. I guess I just got a little paranoid. Not quite sure what is going on, but at least I can count on a paycheck for the time being.

[MobilePCPhysician]

They're just waiting for after the holidays to give you the boot.
They will look bad to all the other employees if they let you go now.

If your Christmas bonus is a copy of Windows 95, might be time to update the resume.