So, posting update as mentioned before: Yeah.... It's that....
History and Overview:This guy is an issue, specifically an "efficiency expert," pronounced "hatchet-man." Worked with these buffoons before. Haven't found a legal way to slap them, not easily anyhow.
My skills include being a turnaround expert; they try and fail to make me look bad. There have been a steady stream of these guys being hired and fired, because they do nothing.
Whereas I found ways to shore up failing enterprises, these morons come in and look for "cost savings" (things, and people, to cut). I rarely ever "cut" anything. I
buttressed. They are the cause of death spirals, failing to realize the "costly" department losing money, was holding up 5 profitable departments....
These logical fallacies roam from foolish executive to foolish executive; whereas I've been a senior executive a time or two and booted a few of these parasites.
Statement: Evade and survive suggestion still stands. Recon without appearing to do so. Resolve to build up a base.This guy is a systemic threat you are not equipped to handle right now. You are new, do not know the system well/have recon, and I suspect you have not determined who your allies and foes are yet? .... Further, you have not determined who wields what power (formally AND informally), nor have you grasped the Union yet and its strength or lack thereof.
Furthermore, you have not determined who has what motivations, roadblocks to attaining that motivation, and desired means to get what they want.
Translation: Without appearing to do so, evade, survive, recon, refortify. Slowly build foundation.
Relax:One thing these pissants all have in common is: they all work slow. (Note: that is unless he's a corporate raider, but he's not acquiring the business/its stock. This one is not).
If they tried to swoop in too quickly, then their
long con medium con wouldn't work. This "doubles production" crap doesn't work. If it did, then I'd hire 2 of them, 3 of them, 4 ... and so forth until production approached infinity. It can't. The "double" production is a number I unapologeticly use the technical term, "bullshit, like most of the other stuff coming out of their mouths," for.
Countermeasure 1: Avoid proximity to him: physical or otherwiseDo not offer to give this prick any information. He can and will use it against you. He will question, mock, and replace any process, claiming the idea as his own and charging a mint for it. Any ideas he overhears that are good, he will steal.
Countermeasure 2: "I don't know about." This innocent statement can be used as both deflection and stirring questions in the same breath. If you realize this guy is here, others will too. Inevitably, he will come up in conversation, and seeing as how you know of him, he clearly already has, somehow. This is your response. It deflects from you, gives an excuse not to help him, and raises questions; three purposes for the price of one breath.
Recon objective 1: Figure out if your union is effective, and howUnions are one of the only hopes for your average working person to avoid the
robot automation apocalypse from a widescale standpoint.
Ask your grocery store cashier, while you can, before they fire her for teaching you how to use her replacement machines.... Sadly they are fading both in official power and institutional knowledge of the behind the scenes workings of getting stuff done, for real.
The old used to protect the young and show the ropes while doing it, in a competent Union model (read: rarer today).
Find your mentor. Note that your mentor may have goals opposite to yours, so remember that the phrase, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" is wrong. The correct version is "the enemy of my enemy is my ally." The difference is that you never completely trust an ally. One of the lost tactics was protecting vulnerable employees, who were vulnerable merely because they were new/on probation (YOU). An older member with seniority and tenure would complain instead of the newer one, when management tried to abuse the newbies. You have a union. Who are its OFFICIAL senior members? Who are those in the union without position but with power: who do people listen to despite not holding a position. What have they accomplished? These are harder questions we can talk about in PM or something.
Background Note: I was never in a union. I was often on the management's team. That stated, I wasn't a jerk about things and actually used logic and pragmatism to get things done. Sometimes I agreed with the union and worked with them. Other times I fought and won. O the war stories I couldn't tell.... Sometimes I fought them. Just, the morons who worked in healthcare but wanted to use a patient's photo on their union flier advertising a
strike "informational picket" because the person was vulnerable and they wanted to be seen as "protectors," alone raised my red flags (It's called HIPAA, and for the love of God, you better have a release signed at minimum and armor to deflect the management's rage resulting from using a patient like that, never-mind the health department's potential citation for exploitation). Other times I helped them. It was well within reason to get a $1/hour raise for more difficult, riskier work. The smart ones KNEW I wouldn't screw them, even when fighting them, because I was fair. They HATED a lot of the others, but they at minimum were OK with me, and a lot of them liked me. Oversimplified, I could have, but never did roast anyone. The only exception was when somebody got wayyyy too far out there and was sinking the ship we were all sailing on. Otherwise, nobody got fried from me, and quite the opposite.
I still recommend laying low, while discretely surveying the landscape. My old advice and tactics still apply. You are not ready to do anything about this. You don't have the intel., comms, recon, equipment, money, connections, or frankly anything to deal with this. Stay low, focus on being productive and out of the way: nose to the grindstone, not stepping on anyone's toes. For now, becuase you are so new, come in a bit early, leave a bit late. Do not be the problem your manager has to focus on. "I just ... I don't know what being a manager is about, but I'm sure you're busy with lots of problems and I just don't want to be one. You probably have enough to worry about, you know?" This will get the attention off you, and place you more towards the "I don't have to worry about this one," slot in your manager's consideration. Out of sight; out of mind; not a problem for manager = safer. They can't hate you for that. Be safe. Will keep in touch. Thank you for inclusion in this matter.
Final thought in this post: You are making progress. It's all about forward motion and you are making that. No substance abuse, dealing with things better, better job, old boss is less and less likely to hurt you as time goes on.... These are all improvements. It's true that you aren't out of the woods yet, but you are closer to the forest's edge. Even then, there may still be problems, but you will be better equipped to deal with them.
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Topic: Problems with stress and being upset from dealing with people. How do you? (Read 78095 times)