Well, it's been about a month.
I'm reminded constantly that I'm working at a big....large...um...HUGE company and the stuff I learned at the fast-agile firms in recent times ain't gonna cut it.
The saving grace is that I have the time to anticipate, to talk, to work things out with the really smart people I work with. And that's not a bad trade off.
Yeah, it sucks having your laptop locked down. It's worse using Internet Explorer 6 and Office 2003. But I'm beginning to understand why.
This company has about a gajillion (that's 1x10+3 higher than a bazillion) laptops and PCs out in the offices. I remember one agent's kid putting a Golf on his Agency PC. The kid didn't install it correctly and Dad's PC was toast. Of course, it was the IT department's fault.
So, a little sweet talk, a few sentences about how technical my gig is and a superb boss, I got local admin rights to the laptop, M/S Project, IE 8 and Snag It installed. OK. They gave me Snag IT Release 8 and Techsmith just released version 10- but 8 still has that great little image editor- which means I don't have to ask for PhotoShop.
I've been relying on the "people skills" I learned as a Parachuting Business Analyst (drop in for a few weeks and off to the next project). Yes, I should have learned these skills years ago- but a radio news guy is supposed to be a curmudgeon.
So, I've been listening carefully, holding off riffing with my strange, yet obscure sense of humor; until I know you very well- and even then I'm careful about my jokes. It's hard, but it beats getting fired. And it seems to be working pretty well.
I'm also trying really, really hard not to interrupt someone when they're speaking. Then I went to a status meeting of the Enterprise Architects. There wasn't a topic that didn't result in at least one interruption- except when the Director spoke. Hmmm. Kinda funny, no?
I'm using the extra time to extrapolate requirements and high level designs for what could be a terrific Capture/Store/Disseminate system based on existing, every day tools with a little bit of extra horsepower. If this goes the way I'm thinking it will, the only real issues we're going to have are cultural. But we're on top of that, too.
I'll ask the boss what's proprietary and what I can talk about as we go through the process. I'll letcha know.
I really like this gig- and I've been there for about a month.
I'm reminded constantly that I'm working at a big....large...um...HUGE company and the stuff I learned at the fast-agile firms in recent times ain't gonna cut it.
The saving grace is that I have the time to anticipate, to talk, to work things out with the really smart people I work with. And that's not a bad trade off.
Yeah, it sucks having your laptop locked down. It's worse using Internet Explorer 6 and Office 2003. But I'm beginning to understand why.
This company has about a gajillion (that's 1x10+3 higher than a bazillion) laptops and PCs out in the offices. I remember one agent's kid putting a Golf on his Agency PC. The kid didn't install it correctly and Dad's PC was toast. Of course, it was the IT department's fault.
So, a little sweet talk, a few sentences about how technical my gig is and a superb boss, I got local admin rights to the laptop, M/S Project, IE 8 and Snag It installed. OK. They gave me Snag IT Release 8 and Techsmith just released version 10- but 8 still has that great little image editor- which means I don't have to ask for PhotoShop.
I've been relying on the "people skills" I learned as a Parachuting Business Analyst (drop in for a few weeks and off to the next project). Yes, I should have learned these skills years ago- but a radio news guy is supposed to be a curmudgeon.
So, I've been listening carefully, holding off riffing with my strange, yet obscure sense of humor; until I know you very well- and even then I'm careful about my jokes. It's hard, but it beats getting fired. And it seems to be working pretty well.
I'm also trying really, really hard not to interrupt someone when they're speaking. Then I went to a status meeting of the Enterprise Architects. There wasn't a topic that didn't result in at least one interruption- except when the Director spoke. Hmmm. Kinda funny, no?
I'm using the extra time to extrapolate requirements and high level designs for what could be a terrific Capture/Store/Disseminate system based on existing, every day tools with a little bit of extra horsepower. If this goes the way I'm thinking it will, the only real issues we're going to have are cultural. But we're on top of that, too.
I'll ask the boss what's proprietary and what I can talk about as we go through the process. I'll letcha know.
I really like this gig- and I've been there for about a month.
Posts
Good for you, Scot! I'm at an even larger company, but worse, one with most of it's business conducted overseas, and many of the IT departments still following their own standards, while I work for a Shared Services group that has to be able to keep them straight instead of requiring them to conform to the best way of doing things...But I've already been called a hero by one of the big dudes in IT (my 5X boss; yes, that's another consequence of such a large company, 2 or 3 extra layers of management between me and the CIO), so I'm earning my keep....Alan Gredell...
ReplyDeleteI have worked at a couple of large businesses where the software and equipment were badly behind the times and the politics were prized over the company product. You never really get used to slowing down and/or not being able to do your job just cuz the IT guys don't wanna/can't handle the fast changing world of computers. All they want everyone to do is use old versions of Microsoft products. And don't get me started on how inept they are with all of the graphics programs such Photoshop and QuarkXPress. FWIW Interupting during conversation to me, means your are interested and excited and engaged. To those with sticks up their butts, it means you aren't kissing enough ass or worse ... you are smart and trying to constructively add to the conversation. My favorite corporate meeting is the kind in which a memo is sent ahead of time and then read aloud at the meeting, however no conversation allowed about the memo!
ReplyDeleteSorry it took so long Alan, I keep forgetting people can respond with distain. And dat stain.
ReplyDeleteBah-rump-pump
We're a shared resource as well...and will be much more so as we gear up the Knowledge Management projects. There are two of us now and I expect this project to grow into a real work group in a few months.
Great on being a hero!! I told you I worship them, didn't I?
Kem-
ReplyDeleteHave you worked at some of my previous clients? Seriously? I've found the key to that is to find yourself a Champion who has a lot of clout. It works.
Yeah- for some reason graphics are a big deal to these companies....if they could have kept PostScript at Release 2 they would have.
Change is hardest for the person who thinks s/he has the job wired and has done absolutely nothing to improve the skill set or internal knowledgebase. While I feel bad that these people are sooooooo self centered and technically weak, the fact is, the business needs to continually improve its tools, turnaround and service to the customer.
If'n you don't like it, get a job at the Post Office.