Making a deal with the Devil
Conventional wisdom, or maybe it was Robert Lynne Aspirin, holds that making a deal with the Devil is always a bad idea. Folk tales abound, including “The Devil and Daniel Webster” which caution that deals with the Devil often go awry, leaving one paying much for something of little value. Perhaps this thought is why I feel so much trepidation tonight, because my boss(es) have proposed a “deal” that creates more stress for me without really committing them to much in return.
As an interesting digression, (or not) it is curious that I can go months without writing in my blog, and then so much happens that I feel a need to vent… and VOILA, multiple postings on a related topic. In this case, this post is a follow on to the one I made early this morning and in which I discussed (ad nauseum) my problems in dealing with the ethically challenged management in my agency. As a part deux, to this post, I will pick up where I left off.
Mark apparently took the issue to the big Kahuna, with an interesting result. Rather than resolving the issue at hand (my leave and separation from the agency) they decided to come up with a bizarre “counter-offer” which really put nothing on the table on their side, while implying that they could fuck with my departure if I didn’t give them what they wanted. The deal is this: I fly to LA, next week, spend five days down there trying to whip the Elec. Technician into shape (Bilbo) and “transferring knowledge” and they will “try” to see their way clear to letting me take my terminal leave and separate as scheduled.
The reason this is a deall with the Devil? This management team has made a habit of breaking deals after the fact… particularly my boss Benny. I do’t have a lot of faith that they’ll do what they say they will do. The question then becomes, do I want to fight THIS battle or to save my energy for the final fight that is sure to come when they break their deal.
More to the point, I had no hand in making Bilbo what he is today. That he is a problematic employee is a direct result of management’s failure to get him under control over the last eighteen years. He disappears from the jobsite without notice, is gone for most of the day, no one seems to know where he is or what he is doing, and yet his immediate supervisor allows him unlimited overtime. When it comes time to draft scopes of work, estimates, requisitions, project plans, gannt charts, pert diagrams, and to do technical or contract reviews Bilbo will be found at the point furthest away from the work. He has, in essence, been allowed to be retired for eighteen years (on the public nickle) with absolutely no consequences. Now I’m supposed to fix this problem in five days.
I have already expressed my concerns on this issue to management. Specifically that I expect that nothing I do will change Bilbo from a slacker to a superstar. I should know, I sounded him out when I first had an indication that I would be leaving the agency… and I was completely underwhelmed by his response. He’s a likeable guy, but not a “go to” player when something needs to be done now. I have another employee (up here in SF) who needs more guidance and coaching-but he’s a self starter and with a little more mentoring could step up to the plate. Problem is that he’s a contractor and mangement wants me to fix the federal slug.
I am already stressed from the things I need to do to move, and some of those things MUST be done after work because there aren’t enough hours in the weekend to do them all. If I bite on this deal then I run the risk that they’ll jam me anyways, and I will be further behind on my move preparations. If I don’t agree the implied threat is that they’ll screw up my seaparation (even though they’ve known about my plans to depart since May.)
What to do? (more later)
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