When Idiots Attack

Well, my Idiot Director came roaring out of hiding this week and is hurling herself into everything.  Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water.  Basically, tomorrow, I have a meeting with my customers and team members regarding a project I am on.  However, a few minutes ago, after I had left for home at the end of the day, I got a call from my boss telling me I have to pull part of my presentation back tomorrow for fear that it might inflame my director, who is apparently on another passive-aggressive rampage. 

I am confident that everything I did was the right thing to do and that the quality of my work is professional as always, but suddenly a project that looked like it was going to move forward is going to grind to complete halt.  Once again, it is going to cost three times as much and take four times as long if she thrusts herself in the middle of it.  I wonder when the corporation is every going to take notice of her blatant incompetence.  Such is life when idiots attack.

Outside of that, I am in a fairly good mood today.  It was a non-productive work day, but that is typical of Monday's and my plan was to sit at home and work my way through my backlogged email. I may still do that, but I have to now add into it the process of redoing my presentation for tomorrow.  I may take a spot of time tonight to meditate, since that will pull me into a healthier place in regards to work stress.  I feel for my boss, who bears the brunt of my directors idiocy.

My Monkey Mind Chimes In

I was very cranky when I woke up this morning. I slept well enough, but my monkey mind was spinning about work almost immediately upon waking.  It got a pretty solid grip and me and just did not want to let go, complaining about all of the small injustices and incompetences that have plagued us for the last several years, then layering on top of it the general sense of pointlessness that has been a hallmark of that time as well.

For me, the last several years truly emphasize the importance of good senior leadership. We’ve been like a rudderless ship without it. We’re supposed to be notified of our reorganization sometime this month. I hope it is sooner rather then later and I hope it is in a good direction.  I am not sure how much longer I am willing or able to endure the incompetence. Today was a very rough day in that aspect.  As I drove in my brain kept repeatedly telling me “Don’t do it! Turn around! Go home! Don’t make that turn! Drive right on by! Don’t open the door! Turn around and walk out.”  It was a pretty constant chatter until I reached my seat.

The chatter has let up  a little, but it was rough on that commute.  We’ll see how the day goes. Hopefully, it will shape up and I’ll be able to pull something productive out of the day. Then again, maybe it will be a wasted day. (That was my monkey mind, chiming in with it’s two cents right there.)

Though busy, the last two days have been good, on several levels. Spent some quality time with T.R., was productive-though-frustrated at work, and the nephew has been moved out of critical care to a regular hospital room and I've had the opportunity to talk to him. Speaking of which, I am going to call him shortly and hope to have a nice little conversation.

The project at work is still drastically out of synch with reality, but the laborious and painful process of dragging it back into some semblance of normality in underway.  Many a deadline has been missed and I find myself actually hoping that their are consequences and then hoping that those consequences land on the right people, perhaps heavily. How a director can be so far detached from reality and still retain their position is totally beyond me.

I have a handful of project related things ahead of me this week and I suspect I will actually be able to get them accomplished.  I haven't worked any excessive hours this week - and I am not planning on working any. The price of those long days is very high and unfortunately I think it is being paid by good people. As a leader, that type of thing irritates me.  The fundamental responsibility of management is managing resources and the tragedy is, when management fails, it is often those resources that pay the price.

I was planning on watching some TV today, but in the last couple of minutes I've decided against it.  Instead, I think I will make a couple of phone calls, then settle in with my novel and read my way into the night.  There are a couple of sitcoms that come on around 8:00 tonight, but I'm not sure if I am going to watch them - I will make that decision when the hour approaches.

I have my Christmas tree and some decorations, except the full sweep of lights, up, so there is already a bit of a Christmas feeling spreading over the room, which I am enjoying. We have one more California rain storm stacked up to make a sweep through the bay area, so I think I will wait until after it has finished it's run to put the lights up.

A Little Bit Older and Deeper In Debt

Another 12 hour day under the belt.  (A little bit older and deeper in debt...).

Today's insight - perspective matters.

Work was the usual madness associated with this project.  I was frustrated at one point in the morning, but once that discussion was over I calmed down.  This project remains the perfect example of why leadership matters - good leaders made difficult circumstances better. Bad leaders make it worse.

I've got my feet up and I am going to wander off to bed to read shortly, but for now I am watching the latest episode of Castle and unwinding.