10-23-2012, 01:40 PM
I think I'm 18 days into Stage 3, give or take a day. My behavior in today's team meeting was eye-opening for me.
We've been going around and around with our outsourcing partner for years. They're paid on T&M, which disincentivizes creating any efficiencies. Efficient means less time, which means less revenue. My colleague mentioned being in meetings with them again, requesting that they do their job. I usually let these things slide, but today I spoke up:
"Bob, we've been doing this dance for at least two years. What are we doing differently this time to achieve some measure of success?" There was a protracted debate on what we're doing to move them along, and after some colorful metaphors (all polite and things I'd say in front of small children with no qualms) I gave up. I said, "Then the inmates are running the asylum. Let's move on to the next topic."
Later, my boss tried his usually bullying tactics on me. He is nominally charged with governing the outsourcer, and I don't think he liked my forward comments during the meeting. During the roundtable, when called, I announced that I had said what I needed to say during the erlier discussion. He tried to pin me down on an email he'd sent a few hours before, and I used his own tactics against him: I interrupted his question and provided the information he wanted. That disarmed, he tried with another question on a different topic where he thought he could nail me. I interrupted again, answering his question satisfactorily. All he could say was, "Ah... good."
This is a huge contrast to my behavior six months ago, when I mostly tried to get through these meetings without being noticed, much less challenging someone on asinine behavior. I even called out my boss's BS during the discussion when he was trying to evade answering a question posed by one of my other colleagues on what's going on with the outsourcer.
I brought some strong alpha qualities to that meeting, and I feel like a million bucks for it. HOORAW!
We've been going around and around with our outsourcing partner for years. They're paid on T&M, which disincentivizes creating any efficiencies. Efficient means less time, which means less revenue. My colleague mentioned being in meetings with them again, requesting that they do their job. I usually let these things slide, but today I spoke up:
"Bob, we've been doing this dance for at least two years. What are we doing differently this time to achieve some measure of success?" There was a protracted debate on what we're doing to move them along, and after some colorful metaphors (all polite and things I'd say in front of small children with no qualms) I gave up. I said, "Then the inmates are running the asylum. Let's move on to the next topic."
Later, my boss tried his usually bullying tactics on me. He is nominally charged with governing the outsourcer, and I don't think he liked my forward comments during the meeting. During the roundtable, when called, I announced that I had said what I needed to say during the erlier discussion. He tried to pin me down on an email he'd sent a few hours before, and I used his own tactics against him: I interrupted his question and provided the information he wanted. That disarmed, he tried with another question on a different topic where he thought he could nail me. I interrupted again, answering his question satisfactorily. All he could say was, "Ah... good."
This is a huge contrast to my behavior six months ago, when I mostly tried to get through these meetings without being noticed, much less challenging someone on asinine behavior. I even called out my boss's BS during the discussion when he was trying to evade answering a question posed by one of my other colleagues on what's going on with the outsourcer.
I brought some strong alpha qualities to that meeting, and I feel like a million bucks for it. HOORAW!
Fear is a liar.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. -- Ernest Hemingway
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. -- Ernest Hemingway
