[PLUG-TALK] ARRRG!

Rich Shepard rshepard at appl-ecosys.com
Tue May 24 13:12:52 UTC 2005


On Mon, 23 May 2005, Brian Beattie wrote:

> I'm so frustrated, the only saving grace, is that as a contractor I know
> how long I have to put up with this nonsense,

Brian,

   Vent away. We all need outlets for our frustration. The most difficult
aspect of being in the situation you describe is detaching yourself
emotionally from the outcome. That is, putting aside your standards of
quality and effectiveness and just doing what they hired you to do,
regardless of product outcome. If you're not responsible for the overall
decisions then feeling responsible for the outcome just makes you more
frustrated and angry. Somehow you have to find a way within yourself to let
it go.

   We cannot change the dysfunctional organizations in which we find
ourselves trapped. All we can do is remove ourselves from that situation and
find one more to our liking.

> I'm not sure I can hold out, I'd bail if I could except that it would burn
> some bridges BIG time.  Maybe I'll juts have to hurt somebody, say
> something bad about their code.

   Your first sentence acknowledges that this is a limited assignment, so it
has an end date. You could try what those of us in the military during the
Viet Nam war did: put up a calendar with the end-of-service date marked.
Rather than focusing on how long it is until that date, focus on the steady
march of crossed-off dates approaching that milestone.

> What the heck, I'll juts give in, to hell with trying to coordinate with
> anybody, I can write fortran in Hungarian notation C.

   Each of us eventually learns the futility of trying to push water uphill
and we no longer try. Or, as Dorothy Parker once said, "you can lead a
horticulture, but you can't make her think." Unfortunately, no matter how
many anti-age-discrimination laws are passed, it's a reality for anyone over
40, and worse for those over 50. On the other hand, if those intervening
years have given you experience, expertise and valuable insight that younger
folks lack, then you can exploit that by working for yourself. Perhaps
that's not an option in what you do; I don't know.

   Hang in there until you decide how to gracefully exit the situation. If
you complete the assignment and can walk away knowing that the foobar will
not be laid on your doorstep, so much the better.

   Remember: non carborundum illegitimum!

Rich

-- 
Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM)
<http://www.appl-ecosys.com>   Voice: 503-667-4517   Fax: 503-667-8863



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