It is damn near impossible to actually prioritize the impact of events. Just this week my boss was laid off, my MBA classes started up again, a pair of wide-scale revolutions have begun in otherwise stable Arab nations. Item number one has radically changed my work environment and prospects for staying at my current job. Item number 2 is otherwise routine but has the potential to open up dozens, hundreds, or thousands of opportunities that I otherwise either would not be qualified, wouldn’t see, or wouldn’t effectively take advantage of. Item number 3 may pass a blip in history, something quickly forgotten, or prove to be the first major catalyst to a new Middle-East and a new world. From a single snapshot of time taken from a single location by a single person, there is no methodology to predict what will prove important and what is utterly irrelevant even using the what effects me personally standard of precedence.
And so I elaborate each in turn.
My boss and I never had a sparkling relationship. In fact, we were casually antagonistic. I do not regret his departure in the slightest but it is one item in a string of petty annoyances and aggregated disappointments that have made my employment a topic. In short, everything is in flux. I am a decent enough worker and generally respected by my coworkers and clients, but I am terrible employee. I am lackadaisical at best concerning projects I don’t value, overprotective of real and perceived authority, and prickly about procedure, documentation, and overall propriety. With a new director, a new boss, a collapsing budget, a devastated staff, and an impotent conglomerate of well-wishers, I have no particular enthusiasm that we’ll manage much of anything. With Creekside going so well and my MBA studies becoming increasingly time-consuming (and interesting), I’m quickly reaching that equilibrium of why should I give a damn. In days of yore that meant quitting. Now that means protest ad lazium.
I foresee threes directions up, equal, or out. Up means standardization, centralization, and monetization. It means we raise our prices, actively work to encourage projects that we can charge for, minimize services that we cannot charge for, and go a on a tear through equipment and staffing to maximize income potential. It also means strong-arming standards – ex. we only offer to fix certain models – and making the lines of what we will and will not due razor sharp – ex. network assessments shall cost $200 and involve no actual labor. This is the most labor intensive line of activity, also the most politically difficult, but with the overall budget so bad, this, I believe, may be the only line of activity that could ensure the stability of my employer. Our state aid is quickly dwindling, any more cuts and we’ll almost be forced to merge with the Central Library. This could preserve our existence and set us on a stronger footing going forward.
One alternative is to do as we have – an exercise in wasted time, poor resource management, and half-hearted service. Easy, but doomed.
Lastly, we could constrict – outsource services, discontinue others. Done incrementally, we could decrease the infrastructure and personnel costs immensely. We could basically pull out of the computer operations field entirely. My employer has already officially done this with one department (print services) and de facto does this with another (child services). It seems foolish to a degree, but given the level of competence and management provided thus far, I’d rather see my employer leave computer operations to more competent private businesses than continue as it has.
These appraisals are, of course, my own, and I have a hesitancy in giving myself any authority. I certainly have the experience and the proximity to have a valid opinion, but I no longer feel like I have a stake. There is no monetary incentive, and never really has been. I have never planned on working for any extended duration at my current employer and recent successes elsewhere only shorten that time line. Mostly though, the upper leadership has just shown such a bombastic lack forethought that anything I might do seems utterly futile. It already seems likely that we’re going to spend our time dying upon the walls of projects that accomplish nothing. We will burn in hell over shiny websites and ‘synergized’ reorganizations. I have no optimism, none, but in lieu of depression, I have acquired separation. I am not an actor, but a patron, box tickets and all, to the implosion of a shitty quasi-state agency. It’s all quite drole.
And then there’s my classes. The first teacher introduced himself by saying that he dislikes teaching, Monday night classes, and, basically, us. I enjoy marketing and the work is mostly reading. I expect no problems. Class 2 is management accounting, basically statistics and metrics for internal decisions. This could also be called 20% of my job. The teacher is outside of her field by admission, but I think it’ll be quite alright and very manageable. Class 3 is statistics run by a teacher I had last semester. The organization is abominable, but the expectations are light. Yes, indeed, my MBA proceeds on course.
Lastly, Egypt. I used to write rather frequently about politics and then I realize quite all of a sudden that it was damn silly. I don’t actually know a damn thing about Egypt, but I did read that they completely shut down the internet in the country. Egypt is fairly large but the number of outside connections is relatively limited. Apparently only four companies manage the main internet pipelines. I can envision how it happened but it’s genuinely incredible. The technicals may not be substantial, but it takes a galling level of hubris to intentionally shut all form of electronic communication and think that it will actually calm a revolt. People raging in the streets are armed and primed for rebellion – not well oiled communication machines. The internet is used to rouse support, build opinions, gather local communities – up until the moment the revolution begins. At that second, the internet is no longer necessary . Shutting down the internet once strife has begun is like fixing a leak after the boat has already sunk except in this case it’ll more than likely devastate the regionally economy. Who would possible invest in a country that commits seppuku over street riots? It’s madness, theatre, something from a shitty science fiction book. Insanity, truly.
I’ve written more than I intended but I do like to leave with something interesting: Pioneer One, a free episodic show produced to be distributed over bittorrent. I’ve yet to watch it but I support the effort and it seems quite fascinating.
Adieu
