Send in the Clowns

If you’re tired of reading my rants about work, then skip this one, because it is the same old thing. I just have to include the latest episode because it makes the EXIT sign flash in red neon for me.

Last night I found the following e-mail message from one of the b___s to my boss and a few others, including me:

"After reviewing the list that DK sent out and looking over my notes from our meeting last week, I have a proposal for your consideration. I am concerned that we are not clearly identifying the key things that need to be demonstrated. I also do not think that we have the best background to decide what level of testing is truly needed to make the decision that we are ready for production. BP has done this several times already for other clients - he is in a much better position to advise us on the amount of testing and the specific things that MUST be done. I think we need to give strong consideration to his opinions.

I also think that it would be very useful to get an independent eye to advise on the design, prioritization, and implementation of these tests. To that end, I suggest DD. He is an acknowledged expert on systems design, development, and testing. He also knows the {survey name}. He works well with {our division name} staff and {b____ #1 division name} staff. I propose that we ask him to serve in a leadership role to define the key measures and to work with us to be sure that we are doing this correctly. We could ask him to chair a series of meetings to help us get through this critical stage.

Your thoughts?"

Basically she is saying that I no longer know how to do my job. And she is proposing that a family of semi-related individuals take over my responsibility.

The proper response from my boss would have been, "Thanks for your concern and your suggestion. However, I am confident that my staff have the expertise and experience necessary to make this judgment." Instead, she said, "This makes a lot of sense to me if DD is available and willing. What do the rest of you think?"

I didn’t even dignify this with a reply to the group, but instead I sent my reply just to her:

"I see this as one more slap at my attempt to do my job. No one has ever before questioned my ability to decide when something was ready for production. But I am happy to defer to BP or DD on this if others want to trust their judgment. I would ask if things go wrong, are they going to be around to fix them? We are ready on our end whenever someone says GO. I'm very tired of disagreeing with all these people, although I was not aware of a current disagreement with BP or { production division } on this."

Send in the clowns...