The Day the User Came to Town
Our newest user subject matter expert (SME) has been persuaded to spend one day a week here in the technology outpost, and today was her first day. She was all smiles, as she usually is, and was promptly mobbed by the Puffed Up Ego of the Month.
Mr. PUEM gave Mrs. SME a grand tour of his land, sweeping hand gestures and all. This is the same guy who told Mrs. SME that the SME that came before her had tarnished her reputation and damaged the project by having favorites. For that reason, she should choose him as her preferred analyst. She should pull strings to get him and another on her team.
"The others are nothing, darling," I imagine him whispering. "Only I know everything. Even you don't know everything." His squinty eyes and pointy-toothed grin give her an uneasy sense of comfort. Either he really does know everything, or he's going to eat her with fava beans and a glass of Chianti.
Meanwhile, the analyst team manager is busy interviewing for yet another team member. Is a cast of 50 not yet enough to support what was previously done in a modestly-sized Excel spreadsheet? Clearly not.
Having said that, the blame layers are looking awfully thin and worn lately. Accountability for things going wrong threatens to go straight to the people who are responsible. Just last week, the users learned to their horror that the production release wasn't actually when management said it would be only a week prior. And management knew about the realities of the release for months.
What's that? A lie? Nah. Miscalculation? Don't think so. Sheer bloody denial and cheekiness? You decide.
Either way, the users found out the truth. We can't have that. We need more bodies to absorb shrapnel.
Mr. PUEM gave Mrs. SME a grand tour of his land, sweeping hand gestures and all. This is the same guy who told Mrs. SME that the SME that came before her had tarnished her reputation and damaged the project by having favorites. For that reason, she should choose him as her preferred analyst. She should pull strings to get him and another on her team.
"The others are nothing, darling," I imagine him whispering. "Only I know everything. Even you don't know everything." His squinty eyes and pointy-toothed grin give her an uneasy sense of comfort. Either he really does know everything, or he's going to eat her with fava beans and a glass of Chianti.
Meanwhile, the analyst team manager is busy interviewing for yet another team member. Is a cast of 50 not yet enough to support what was previously done in a modestly-sized Excel spreadsheet? Clearly not.
Having said that, the blame layers are looking awfully thin and worn lately. Accountability for things going wrong threatens to go straight to the people who are responsible. Just last week, the users learned to their horror that the production release wasn't actually when management said it would be only a week prior. And management knew about the realities of the release for months.
What's that? A lie? Nah. Miscalculation? Don't think so. Sheer bloody denial and cheekiness? You decide.
Either way, the users found out the truth. We can't have that. We need more bodies to absorb shrapnel.
posted by Little Green Potato at 8:14 PM
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