Tag Archives: ahab

Old Yellowstain…

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Queeg.pngSomeone asked me not long ago to describe my perception of a certain former boss. The first image that came to mind was Humphrey Bogart in character as Captain Queeg – Whose behavior was at first eccentric, but ultimately proved to be tyrannical, cowardly, and incompetent (thanks for that Wikipedia). He blamed others for mistakes he made, ignored standard procedures when they ran counter to what he wanted to do, and obsessed over minor details while losing sight of the massive storm threatening to swamp his ship. Yeah. That sounds almost exactly like the this particular old boss. The only difference, really, is that in the end Bogart’s Queeg is almost a sympathetic, broken character. I don’t know anyone who would feel that kind of remorse at the undoing of our own personal Old Yellowstain.

Maybe on my way out I’ll gift wrap a pair of ball bearings and see if he gets it.

Editorial Note: This part of a continuing series of posts previously available on a now defunct website. They are appearing on http://www.jeffreytharp.com for the first time. This post has been time stamped to correspond to its original publication date

Ahab…

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I’m convinced that my team leaders have lost touch with logic, common sense, and any grasp of reason that they have ever had. I teleworked on Tuesday… That’s right, working from the comfort of a well broken-in Lazyboy wearing slippers, shorts, and a t-shirt with grass stains on it. Without the typical office disruptions, these once a week sessions (when I’m actually at home) are a welcome chance to catch up on the reading and other minutia that piles up during a typical week.

This afternoon, however, I had my balls busted by a project manager and a team leader who seem to think I did it to personally inconvenience them… Asking why I didn’t tell them; wondering what would have happened if they needed me; how they were supposed to reach me; why I wasn’t at the office holding their hand.

The answers are as follows: 1) My regular telework day is listed on two master calendars; 2) I would have gotten in the car and driven to the office; 3) By e-mailing or calling one of the three phones I had with me at the time (home, personal cell, and office cell); 4) because I have an abiding dislike of sitting around watching other people make changes to documents when there are other things I could actually be doing myself.

I’ve concluded that in its waning days, this project has become the Great White Whale, the elusive target that always manages to stay just out of reach. Our masters have taken the part of the Captains Ahab; obsessed, driven, hell-bent, and consumed only with catching the Whale. When you step back and look at the actual damage that has been done to this project my some people’s malicious actions, one has to wonder why its leaders would choose to take a stand on an issue this trivial.

So go, Ahab, chase your whale, but don’t expect the crew to go down with you.