Monday, September 13, 2010

A Cycle of Avoidance

Just making a note here: Avoiding ownership of a task neglecting responsibility for notifying affected parties or ignoring (what should be) obvious required steps is NOT a formula for success. Tribal knowledge is an equation for disaster and failure and simply remaining below the radar when the fallout occurs does NOT remove one from the realm of responsibility.

It certainly seems to be de rigueur in certain circles to follow this methodology and the predictable outcome is repeated with the regularity of the seasons. In fact, the practice has become almost a foregone element of the production process.

This is post is simply a recognition of the mechanism. It's laughable and it shows in part, the passing of the torch from one generation of (mis)management to another. Interestingly... the ones who bluster and protest the loudest at the incremental failures produced from such failures of management and communication are often those who should have verified that said information was successfully disseminated throughout the organization to the involved parties.

Another issue that has been observed over the years is the use of verbal intimidation on the part of specific (but certainly not limited to) persons upon their subordinates. Behavior that would normally be identified as inappropriate and unprofessional is tolerated (and as a result encouraged) provided it is only directed at a limited segment of the employee base: namely contingency staff. This is behavior that, if directed at formally employed personnel would likely result in accusations of creating a hostile work environment.

Those most heavily and most adversly influenced by the aforementioned practies are those with the least amount of control over the same...

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