Not the Same As The Old Boss

[darkemeralds]

They fired my boss today.

He called us into an all hands meeting and dropped the bomb into a shocked silence. Only a couple of people in the room had the faintest idea that this was coming, and I certainly wasn't one of them. There were tears. It's possible that a couple of them even sprang to my own eyes.

Now, I've had my quibbles with him, notably around the steady, unspoken pressure to work extra hours. But he's been an extraordinary manager in many ways. Under his leadership, I've probably stretched to more achievement and knowledge than I have in any other job. He's been instrumental in shifting the fossilized bureaucracy I work for towards 21st century technology and management standards. It's been exciting to be part of that.

His dismissal seems to be of the honorable bailout variety, rather than the "take your hands off the keyboard and come with us, sir" kind. Nevertheless, it was not voluntary and not happy. He announced at 3:00 and was gone by 5:00. It's pretty clear that this is political pissing-in-the-corners by some of the new brass. Scapegoating. Something like that.

He wasn't free to say who's been appointed in his place (and NOBODY on my longstanding grapevine around the place had a clue), but "appointed" is the key word. They're going to use the position as a political favor to someone, and it's obvious from the short timeline that they haven't gone hunting for expertise in the field of high-tech project management.

We'll Meet The New Boss at a 9:00 tomorrow. Gonna be an interesting day.

Comments

[branchandroot]

*whistles* Yeah, that doesn't sound like a recipe for brilliant success.

[darkemeralds]

I have to admit, I'm a bit unsettled at the prospects.

[donutsweeper]

oh BLERGH, what an awful situation.

[darkemeralds]

I don't normally want an alcoholic beverage, let alone crave one, but this evening a shot of whisky really was just the ticket.

[donutsweeper]

Completely understandable I'd say

[jumpuphigh]

Well, that sounds stressful. I'm so sorry to hear that.

[darkemeralds]

Thanks. I'm taking my mind off it with Scotch and Sherlock.

[jumpuphigh]

I'm thinking of you and hoping your day goes well.

[darkemeralds]

Thank you! That frozen moment of shock has given way to new information this morning, and busyness of our everyday jobs. I imagine things will go on pretty much as usual once we all get the bitter taste of politics out of our mouths.

[executrix]

Gonna be an interesting day.
Unfortunately I don't think you're going to be offered ANY money to betray your Captain, somebody already did it for free.

[darkemeralds]

Lowdown, dirty...deceivers.

[bluemeridian]

Wow, I'm feeling bad for him, for you, and your whole department!

[darkemeralds]

Thanks. I feel bad for him too, though I believe he's in good shape for both a bit of time off and finding another job. His skills are in pretty high demand.

The rest of our jobs, at least for the moment, are not under threat.

[dine]

wow, that's definitely unsettling!

I hope this morning's meeting was enlightening and doesn't lead to disaster. I'm crossing fingers that the New Boss isn't a complete dud

[darkemeralds]

It was informative. Things are looking cautiously brighter today. Thanks.

[tehomet]

Justified quibbles with him aside, that's really rough on your boss. Your ex-boss, I mean. Crikey.

God only knows who you'll get landed with now. O.o

[darkemeralds]

The nearly-ex boss seems to be in pretty good spirits today. Possibly he's realizing what a relief it will be to escape from the World's Tallest Basement.

And the new boss sounds reasonably promising. So we're muddling through.