Surely you must be tired of reading about the snake. I know I'm tired of living it. This situation has invoked such a strong reaction in me that I am absolutely sure there is a lesson buried in here somewhere. I want to let all of this go, but I can't until I understand what it is that I need to learn here. Maybe it'll come to me as I write all that has happened in the last 24 hours. Or, if you can stand to hang on until the end of the post and it seems clear to you, please share your insight with me. Really, I can be rather dense at times and I'd sure like to get this lesson over with.

I met with my manager yesterday morning to try to get this whole thing resolved. I didn't bash the snake in this meeting, because it's not my style. I simply stated facts. The end result was one in which I was not comfortable, but I was not prepared for this outcome therefore I didn't have a response.

It's been a very long time since I've worked for someone who has the technical knowledge that I have. Generally, my managers have been people who have the other half of my skill set. My managers like me because I can speak both languages. They also like me because they don't have to get involved in my daily activities. I just do my own thing and get a lot of work done. I've liked this too, and it hasn't really caused me many problems until now. If I had a manager with web design background, I'm certain that the outcome of this meeting would have been different. My manager doesn't have this background and doesn't understand that web design and layout is a skill set. It's not a matter of slapping information on a page.

Additionally, even web designers don't always make good decisions. Sometimes they're just order takers. They do what the client tells them to do, rather than listen to why the client wants something. I'm a good listener and that has been good for my clients. They may say they want something, but in fact, they really wanted something completely different. They just weren't aware of what could be done. I take a lot of pride in the fact that I'm able to really hear what my clients want, and then deliver it.

Since the snake is responsible for communication plans, my manager feels that it's OK for the snake to do layout, or at least be the last word. My manager feels that the snake has a vision with his plan, and it's my job to make that vision a reality. I'd agree with my manager if the snake had a web background, but he doesn't. I have heard many comments from the team that used to work with him about how difficult he was to work with because he "just didn't get it", yet insisted that it be done his way.

After pondering the meeting outcome for a while, I sent my manager an email telling him that I wasn't comfortable with the outcome of our meeting and I'd like to discuss it further. I indicated that the idea of the snake having the final say in web pages didn't make a whole lot of sense to me given our skill sets. The good news is that my manager is very open to talking about it some more.

During the last 24 hours, I've thought a lot about my strong reaction to the situation and several interesting things happened. It's almost as if I'm being pelted with a hailstorm of information, but I'm unable to understand what it all means.

I thought seriously about job hunting, but dammit, I love my job. I also weighed the pro's and con's of quitting this job in my head. The con list was much longer than the pro list.

Con: Would have a difficult time finding a job to allow me to telecommute more than half the week; it'd be hard to find a salary to match what I'm making now; I love my job; I really REALLY like my clients; I have a lot of freedom to learn new things. Really, the list is huge.

Pro: I'd be rid of dealing with the snake.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that quitting my job would be plain stupid.

Here are the other events, innocuous by themselves, but added together makes me feel that there is something behind it all:

1. The manager of the team that I send work to sent me this message and copied my division executive: "I just want to thank you for always being flexible when dealing with all of the changes to [company intranet] and for quickly adapting to them and putting them into practice. It makes my life a lot easier and your Web sites more user friendly. Thanks for being so easy to work with!" She has no knowledge of went down that day. This came completely out of the blue.


2. I got this email from one of her employees, whose last day is today: "It has been a joy and a privilege to work with you. I wish you the best of everything for both work and personal life. You are someone I highly respect and have learned a great deal from you about keeping it real while maintaining a sense of humor."


3. And three more email messages from clients thanking me for always being on top of things, listening to their needs, and delivering their product on time.

All of this happened in 2 business hours. HOURS. On a day that I felt defeated.

I am resigned to doing whatever my manager wants me to do. I really am. He's a great guy and I want to keep the good relationship that we have. I also want show him that I do appreciate the perks that I have, and if that means that I have to do the snake's grunt work- then so be it. I don't see where being cooperative will take me down a bad path. Perhaps this will give the snake enough rope to hang himself.

I will have the last conversation with my manager about the situation and then I'll accept the outcome and I'll change my attitude about this whole thing. Life is too short for turf wars, ya know?

With that, I leave you with this lesson for the day. Keep watching until the lesson of the day message comes up....



Signed,
The cat