* mid management

I learn this trick today, please replace any instance of * with the correct assort of words.

So it turns out they are at it again. The * mid-management has demanded a new set of *. Now the interesting thing about this set of *, is that it’s so amorfous that it can fit everything that is “wrong” in it. It is supposed to be a security isssue, but when that fails is a bad-usage-of-resources * and if that fails then it’s the way things are done in <insert place you have never and will probable never be>.

It always starts with it’s a security issue, we must protect customers data. This way the manage to block all USB, CDROM, and peripetals in general. Of course this was because people where downloading torrents and burning them to go home. Since people started just watching stuff locally they are now on to kill the streaming. First it was by request but since a failed attempt to get move benefits from the “leaders of the real workers”, new measures needed to be taken by the * mid-management. The new rule involve adding a ban (ip/dns block) on mayor bandwith sites, yes they are talking about youtube, now when confronted with the fact that google video hosts a lot of very interesting talks like python 3000, anatomy of a debian package or conferences like javaOne, then the * switch over to the bad-usage-of-resources. I believe a little NDA stops me from telling you that is NOT an issue, because there they have the best price in the market. Any we accept the * claim that we should cut down on bandwidth usage, and then come the next one because some people where playing cards, OMG cards! people where playing cards! which made me wonder how is this a bad usage of resources or a security issue, well remember mid-*-management things of people as assets, employees are things they own, which is sad because that is all they are going to own. yes, yes I know they don’t but when your stuck with a loan for your house and/or kids it’s a little hard to not believe they own ur *.

Now the sad part of the story is that the real losers are the * at mid-management. Lets examine how they got there. They are good with numbers but not great, they are good with people but not the best, they can run a deparment but not a company and the most important part they probably got their promotion because they where high enough so they couldn’t be fired or for someone reason someone put them there. And the really sad part is that most think that being at the top is when they will finally rest, when you will finally stop * up and * down.

So the * mid management now wants people to get there at 8 leave at 5 in the mean time touch their computers for work related stuff and then sit and wait without doing anything, which is ok by mid-management standards (after all they only do what they learn) but they are forgetting the most important part of their work they they * up upper management they don’t give a * how much was paid in bandwidth (yes “free” one) they don’t care if someone is playing cards or chess or not being there half the day. Uppermanagement cares about 2 things how much we made and how much of that is profit. And what stupid mid management does not undestand is that the current state of affairs is what keeps the first happening, now of course you can make the % of profit go up by appliying all the * rules to reduce cost but then you are making the first thing harder to happen, and I’m certain that anyone from uppermanagement will fire your * if you go and tell him we increase our % of profit by 40% but we reduced our income by 50% because the measures we took made all our good employees leave the company.

Now the question is how to fight back? and yes you have to fight back because mid-management is stupid enough not to realize that the way things are is what makes the company good.

3 comments ↓

#1 xmonk on 05.16.07 at 10:14 am

You don’t fight back, it’s not a democracy, it’s a company, and you are bound by the contract you signed, follow and abide by the policies and rules of the company.

So, if you have nothing to do, for what ever reason that may be, then, yes, you should spend the time either reading a book (preferably one that has to do with your job) or staring at the ceiling, you don’t have to like it, but if that’s what they want, that’s what you have to give them.

Playing cards, video games, or listening to music, if authorized by the company it’s fine. But if not authorize explicitly then it’s a problem, as it will and it does –whether authorized or not, send a mixed message to the other employees that are actually working, or create their own work.

Like I said there is nothing to fight, it’s not a democracy, it’s not a form of government it’s business.

Not every company can be or should be like Google, that it works for them does not mean it will work for someone else.

#2 nav1 on 05.17.07 at 2:25 am

Completely agree with xmonk. It’s the way companies work. They have rules, and you have to follow them. The best and only way IMHO that you can fight back is by objectively and open-mindedly explain how things could be better, using the appropriate words and only to the appropriate people. And careful, first check if you have valid arguments. Can you honestly tell me the majority of the stuff you watch on Youtube and such is related to work? And even if YOU do, how can you make a standard control to every person that only work related stuff is available to you?

There are many great startups out there, that made many people rich and working on their own terms. But this is the exception rather than the norm. Companies are necessary, and in order for them to work, many rules that not necessarily you like have to be applied. Get used to it, or quit. And I’m not defending *’s decisions or the people making them, I worked for * and know how it is. But in general, there will always be stuff you don’t like in your job, and many times it is you who have to accommodate to them. It’s true for any business. I have never met a person who didn’t have complaints about how their companies did things, but I have met many that have molded them and made many accomplishments by making lemonade when they were given lemons.

#3 mae on 05.20.07 at 12:38 pm

guys the thing is that upper management doesn’t cares about any of those. What they want is results. You will be surprised of how many “rules” are there just because “that is the way it has been done”.

You are both right that companies have internal ways of “doing things” but they are flawed, and in the end they just end up making things worse for themself because the good people will get tired of the crap and leave.

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