Today at work I was told that for the next four weeks my company (the company I work for -- I don't OWN it) will be going whole hog on a project for the next four weeks. The plan includes two weeks of 10 hour days and two weeks of 12 hours days. There's a weekend of work in there too.
Is this like my old place of employment all over again? No. It's not. This is one month with a launch date at the end -- a light at the end of the tunnel. Likewise, this will be the first weekend I'll have to work this year. A quick look at the scoreboard has one weekend so far in 2006 while I worked 35 weekends in 2005. And, in my position at my former employer, I was not 'entitled' to any kind of extra cash for that extra work. I didn't even get an extra vacation day for that.
Not only do we have a target launch date but the best part has to be that this will be a full office effort. This will be everyone pitching in. This won't be a scenario where management status precludes long hours. Everyone's pitching in.
There's really nothing quite so disheartening as your fearless leader cutting out as soon as the five o'clock whistle blows while you're just settling in to work into the wee hours. (And you KNOW that they're out for the night -- they're not going to be doing anything for the rest of the night except spend time with their family, mistress, or significant other). It's like, "Next time I see you, the work better be done! 'Night!" And, zoom, they're off...!
Yeah, I'm a bit unrealisitic. If management stuck around at my former company every time someone worked late... they'd just about never leave. Here's a quote for an email I got last week:
"[Blank] and I have both put in all-nighters over the past week [...] I have not been out of the office until after 9pm for the past 2 weeks." If only that were the exception. Alas, it's the rule. It's funny. I blanked out the names of the poor suffering employees. That's the only way to know who they are as their stories are so typical. They won't be recognized for going above and beyond. If anything, they'll be chastized for not giving their "all" on another project. You're only as good as your last promotion.
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2 comments:
Creepy is my middle name. It's just tough to "get over" things when the knife wound in my back is still so fresh.
I don't think that that TR quote would fit on a sign. Here's an appropriate one that basically says, "Get off your duff."
"A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later." - George S. Patton
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