some call it not taking ownership

[sergebroom]

As some of you well know…
(“Huh oh… Serge is going to launch into a Science lecture.”)
Am not.
(“Are too.”)
Really, I’m not. I’d have to think I know much about Science before I start a lecture. There are plenty of times I’ve made a fool of myself because I went in thinking I knew what I was talking about. Why then would I do something that I know I know nothing about? So, no, there will not be any lecture.
(“Go ahead. Knock yourself out.”)
Thanks.

As some of you know, one of the office projects that has consumed quite a few of our team’s waking hours(*) is the setup of a backup server for our programs. So, should our main server go belly up, or croak, or burp, or hiccup, we could switch over to the backup fairly quickly and keep our team’s business going. One of the project’s elements that has been my sole responsibility is the setup of file transmissions. For every file sent to our main server, I’ve been working with each file’s provider so they would also send that file to our backup server. That, unlike other aspects of the project, is pretty much on schedule and will be completed before the end of October. Huzzah and all that.

One of those files has been a bit problematic though because its provider said in late August that they would not have the resources to work on this. As a result, I wrote an email describing the situation and possible alternatives and sent that to my team, which is 1100 miles away. One team-member wrote back right away, seeing problems with what I felt was the best option. I agreed that there were indeed problems, and wrote back to the whole team, saying that I was aware of the disadvantages of my preferred solution, and asked them for other possibilities. That was on August 27. In the weeks that followed, since nobody had written back, I asked them again a few times, and never heard back. This week, when I mentioned this to my manager, she said that, unless I write to a specific team-member, nobody will respond because that’d mean they’re taking ownership of the situation. I call that not being dutiful team-members no matter how far away people are physically, but I didn’t say so to my manager. I took her at her word and, on Friday, wrote specifically to the programmer who had had problems with my initial proposal, and asked him outright about alternatives. He wound up agreeing with my original idea of 4 weeks before, provided certain conditions were met. As those were indeed met, I sent an email to the whole team delineating what I’d do. And right away another team-member wrote back saying NO-YOU-CAN’T-DO-THAT. Too bad she took so long in doing so. Now, I’m back to square one, sort of, and wrote to that file’s providers to ask if they really can’t spare the resources for this new file transmission.

Oh well...

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(*) And of few of our not-so-waking hours. And some of the waking kind that happened on my birthday.

Comments

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

This sounds rather Kafkaesque.

(On the other hand, I walked into my office this morning to find a fluorescent light fixture dangling by my desk. Had I been sitting at it, I would have been seriously injured by the light fixture coming off one of its supports.)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I've never had anything like that happen to me, but, a couple of weeks ago, one of my cubicle neighbors tilted back his fancy office chair, which made the chair pop some screws, which sent him landing on his back on the floor, which made a vase fall off its shelf near his head.

[tania-c.livejournal.com]

Yikes. That's a good example for why you want to avoid being in your office, outside of office hours.

Serge - You know, that's exactly the sort of job security a person doesn't want. Ugh.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I know, but it beats being unemployed.

[scorbybird.livejournal.com]

Actually, maybe not so much. Since I left my evil employer, I've been semi-unemployed (my business hasn't quite taken off as well as I had hoped), and I gotta say, not having to sleep on the floor of a cubicle these days is a delight.

Happy belated birthday!

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I hope that your self-employment picks u. As for myself, thanks to the wonders of telecommuting, I haven't had to sleep in my cubicle in 10 years. I get to sleep on my couch - if I think that I'll have to get up frequently, as I have no wish to disrupt the nights of my significant other. No telecommuting this week, what with my being in the same physical space as the rest of the team. I don't know if you and I could meet, but let's see,

As for the birthday wishes, thanks. One year older, one year wiser. A tiny bit wiser.

[scorbybird.livejournal.com]

Drop me a line if you have time for coffee. Enjoy the weather while you're here... it has been exceptional as of late!

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Will do.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Well, now you know how to handle situations like this in the future. Just don't wait until so close to deadline to announce that X is what you're going to do, because apparently that's what it takes to bring out the commentary. So do it far enough in advance to counter the opposition before the deadline hits!

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Yup. Smokey would say "Let that be a lesson to you." The funny thing is that I shouldn't have to play these games. On the other hand, it reminds me that I probably know more about what makes a team than others who think I'm not a team player.

Ow!

I should be more careful next time I pat myself on the back. I just dislocated a shouyler.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

'Shoulder', not 'shouyler'.

[readinggeek451]

It's hard to type with a dislocated shoulder.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I should put a cold compress on my shoulder and on my swollen ego.