What do you do when your boss is wrong?

[easjer]

Just sit back and laugh? Try to tell them? Just huddle at your desk and wait for it to blow over? Assume they know more than you?

I've had a blow up with my supervisor over what our boss has done to one of my projects. Something I've worked on for five years. I've worked hard to get it where it is and it's had proven benefits of making other departments aware of our policies, making them informed, opening new relationships with them, and directing people to the right place. And in five years, no one has said one word. Now the high-up have decided that since I've been utilizing staff instead of faculty (because, uh, the staff are the people trained to do this, and faculty don't have the first clue, because that's not their job) that we are wrong. He cut out a huge group. This is going to damage relationships with other departments, undo a lot of the good I've done, and provide poor help to our students.

However, the decision is made. I can't, apparently, even try to make a persuasive argument. I'm angry, hurt and bitter. And he's wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. I can't do anything else, and it's making me crazy.

Is it like this everywhere? Because if so, I think we need to try harder to win the lottery, since working clearly isn't gonna work out well for me.

[angel_luv]

Wow- that's upsetting. I'm sorry.

Over the years, I've had to deal with a few difficult co- workers.
I can only imagine the magnified frustration when the person sabatoging your hard work is your boss.
Sorry, easjer.

[midgetonadonkey]

Just collect your paycheck and don't think twice about it.

[Duff McCartney]

There's nothing worse than having a boss who totally ruins your day. Or who is a huge hypocrite...lately it seems I've been having some that are both.

[Bob Lanier]

Just collect your paycheck and don't think twice about it.
:tu

It's not your problem.

[zero signal]

Is it like this everywhere?
In academia, yeah pretty much.

[tlongII]

Get a job in industry. Academic institutions have no clue about operations.

[CosmicCowboy]

I have been fired twice in my life from otherwise good jobs because I couldn't keep my mouth shut about/to stupid bosses.

The first time I was in a management program for a major homebuilding company in Houston. I was the senior superintendent in a subdivision. My boss had been fired several months before and I had been provisionally running the subdivision since that time. We had a construction contest going at the time and the winner became my new boss ( I was 2nd in the contest out of about 40 superintendents) My "new" boss didn't like the fact that the other employees still came to me for guidance/help after he got promoted. To screw with me, he intentionally didn't submit a check request I had prepared for one of my subcontractors. The subcontractor pulled a gun on me when I told him I didn't have the check for him and I spent at least five minutes staring down the barrel of that .357 trying to convince the guy not to kill me. I finally got him to put the gun down and leave. I went back inside and picked up my boss by the throat and slammed him against the wall. I told him I would kill him if he ever did that to me again. That was firing number 1.

The second time was a couple years later. I was a division president for another major homebuilder. I was in a board meeting where we were doing projections for our divisions for the next year. We had been in a housing boom for years but it was painfully obvious to me that the market was about to tank. I took the position that the market looked awful and made a strong case for ceasing doing speculative homes completely and only starting homes we had earnest money contracts on. I had all the facts and figures to back up my projections. (We were building about 5000 a year at the time). I made the statement that we would be extremely lucky if we sold 2000 houses the next year. The President told me I was crazy and had a bad attitude. I told him that the most positive attitude in the world wasn't gonna sell houses in the market we were looking at. We went back and forth as the argument got more heated. All the other Division managers were nodding their head agreeing with the President. it suddenly became painfully obvious that I had just argued my way out of a $150,000 a year job by defending what I thought was the right decision. I guess that wasn't really a firing, but would have been if I hadn't left there and gone upstairs and cleaned out my office. It turned out not to be that big of a deal because I would have eventually been out of a job anyway.The market tanked just like I said it would. The company went bankrupt a year later and the President committed suicide. That was right before the S&L / RTC crisis and homebuilding was devastated for years.

[tlongII]

I have been fired twice in my life from otherwise good jobs because I couldn't keep my mouth shut about/to stupid bosses.

The first time I was in a management program for a major homebuilding company in Houston. I was the senior superintendent in a subdivision. My boss had been fired several months before and I had been provisionally running the subdivision since that time. We had a construction contest going at the time and the winner became my new boss ( I was 2nd in the contest out of about 40 superintendents) My "new" boss didn't like the fact that the other employees still came to me for guidance/help after he got promoted. To screw with me, he intentionally didn't submit a check request I had prepared for one of my subcontractors. The subcontractor pulled a gun on me when I told him I didn't have the check for him and I spent at least five minutes staring down the barrel of that .357 trying to convince the guy not to kill me. I finally got him to put the gun down and leave. I went back inside and picked up my boss by the throat and slammed him against the wall. I told him I would kill him if he ever did that to me again. That was firing number 1.

The second time was a couple years later. I was a division president for another major homebuilder. I was in a board meeting where we were doing projections for our divisions for the next year. We had been in a housing boom for years but it was painfully obvious to me that the market was about to tank. I took the position that the market looked awful and made a strong case for ceasing doing speculative homes completely and only starting homes we had earnest money contracts on. I had all the facts and figures to back up my projections. (We were building about 5000 a year at the time). I made the statement that we would be extremely lucky if we sold 2000 houses the next year. The President told me I was crazy and had a bad attitude. I told him that the most positive attitude in the world wasn't gonna sell houses in the market we were looking at. We went back and forth as the argument got more heated. All the other Division managers were nodding their head agreeing with the President. it suddenly became painfully obvious that I had just argued my way out of a $150,000 a year job by defending what I thought was the right decision. I guess that wasn't really a firing, but would have been if I hadn't left there and gone upstairs and cleaned out my office. It turned out not to be that big of a deal because I would have eventually been out of a job anyway.The market tanked just like I said it would. The company went bankrupt a year later and the President committed suicide. That was right before the S&L / RTC crisis and homebuilding was devastated for years.


Alright already! The check's in the mail...

[easjer]

Oh, geez. Things may get nasty. Someone was left out of the meeting who most certainly should have been there. And he agrees with me. And he's LIVID. Although, I don't expect he'll really do anything that yell at me (not AT me, but to me. He's not upset with me, but he'll vent to me). He's going on vacation next week. So he'll go, look for another job, calm down and come back indifferent.

[easjer]

Damn, CC. Those stories make me cringe. I'd be terrified in that first one.

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

I have been fired twice in my life from otherwise good jobs because I couldn't keep my mouth shut about/to stupid bosses.

The first time I was in a management program for a major homebuilding company in Houston. I was the senior superintendent in a subdivision. My boss had been fired several months before and I had been provisionally running the subdivision since that time. We had a construction contest going at the time and the winner became my new boss ( I was 2nd in the contest out of about 40 superintendents) My "new" boss didn't like the fact that the other employees still came to me for guidance/help after he got promoted. To screw with me, he intentionally didn't submit a check request I had prepared for one of my subcontractors. The subcontractor pulled a gun on me when I told him I didn't have the check for him and I spent at least five minutes staring down the barrel of that .357 trying to convince the guy not to kill me. I finally got him to put the gun down and leave. I went back inside and picked up my boss by the throat and slammed him against the wall. I told him I would kill him if he ever did that to me again. That was firing number 1.

The second time was a couple years later. I was a division president for another major homebuilder. I was in a board meeting where we were doing projections for our divisions for the next year. We had been in a housing boom for years but it was painfully obvious to me that the market was about to tank. I took the position that the market looked awful and made a strong case for ceasing doing speculative homes completely and only starting homes we had earnest money contracts on. I had all the facts and figures to back up my projections. (We were building about 5000 a year at the time). I made the statement that we would be extremely lucky if we sold 2000 houses the next year. The President told me I was crazy and had a bad attitude. I told him that the most positive attitude in the world wasn't gonna sell houses in the market we were looking at. We went back and forth as the argument got more heated. All the other Division managers were nodding their head agreeing with the President. it suddenly became painfully obvious that I had just argued my way out of a $150,000 a year job by defending what I thought was the right decision. I guess that wasn't really a firing, but would have been if I hadn't left there and gone upstairs and cleaned out my office. It turned out not to be that big of a deal because I would have eventually been out of a job anyway.The market tanked just like I said it would. The company went bankrupt a year later and the President committed suicide. That was right before the S&L / RTC crisis and homebuilding was devastated for years.


Ahhh, the good ole days...

My dad has told many stories of having to track down his money in a similar fashion. Construction can be as shady and sketchy as the Cosa Nostra...

[CuckingFunt]

Construction can be as shady and sketchy as the Cosa Nostra...
Hmmm... I wonder why.

[spurster]

This happens to be another question on that personality test.

What do you do when your boss is wrong?
A. Kiss his ass.
B. Shoot everyone in the office.

[katyon6th]

This happens to be another question on that personality test.

What do you do when your boss is wrong?
A. Kiss his ass.
B. Shoot everyone in the office.

:lol

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

Hmmm... I wonder why.


It's not the same nowadays. Now, they don't like to pay because they use your money to finance other real estate purchases.

To steal a line: Fuck you, pay me.