Re: What would Simon say?
Simon might get lucky. He might get one of THESE managers...
(holding informal staff meeting)
Hello, I'm [so and so], your new manager. My main experience up until now has been in sales and marketing, and everyone seemed to *FEEL* that I should fill the position of I.T. manager at this company.
While most of you probably believe that I don't know anything about what you guys do here, let me assure you that you're ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. I don't know ANYTHING about what you do here!
So here's what I'm going to do: you people tell me what YOU need to get things done, and I'll present that to my bosses. That way, if the requirements are expensive or not available for a long time, they will be fully up to speed on the entire situation, and may decide to cancel certain projects that aren't likely to get done, instead of making daily memos and phone calls asking why it's not done yet. And you'll be seeing equipment and software upgrades, too, as long as you give sufficient justification for it. My job will be to "interface" (as you I.T. guys put it) between upper management and you, to absorb the shock, mollify the anger, and keep the department running so you can leave early on Friday and go home right from the pub
(and then Simon awoke to the alarm, realized it was all a dream, and called in sick so he could finish it)