On Employees Educating Employers? 79
ramannoodle asks: "My employer currently makes many decisions that I feel would save them a lot of money by going about it in a different way. I have presented many of these ideas to them, but being the not-so-great sales person that I am, I feel in some ways that by voicing my opinion on these things, I am jeopardizing my standing with the company. Is it the right thing to do to continue educating my employer on issues they do not want to hear, but will save them money and just risk being one of the many unemployed honest IT professionals out there? Do I hide what I know from them by keeping my mouth shut and just doing what they tell me so I can keep my job and feed my family? It's a tough economy out there, and is it worth being over-enthusiastic about helping the company?" We touched on this issue for contractors, but what about actual employees?
In a word, no... (Score:3, Interesting)
I was involved with a large-scale Oracle deployment at my last employer. I kid you not when I say trained monkeys could have made better business and technical decisions regarding this deployment. I protested in varying degrees of urgency, getting more vocal as time went on (and my hours per week increased). I very very nearly lost my job over it, and I was NOT being a butthole about it. I nearly lost my job because I was RIGHT, and pointed out that I had correctly predicted many of the failings and problems that arose as a result of stupid decisions. Even though I was (at least I thought) polite and professional about it, I was taken aside by my non-technical IT superiors and told to shut the hell up or I'd be looking for another job.
I wound up looking for and getting another job anyway, but the moral of my story is, no good deed goes unpunished. You must realize, especially in huge corporations, that things like these have nothing to do with technical merits or doing things the right way. Its all about power ploys and political maneuverings(sp?).
Educate yourself (Score:4, Interesting)
Keep at it though, eventually they might listen. Or maybe the guy who mainly opposes your ideas will "seek opportunities outside the company". You never know.
I don't see how you can hurt your position by suggesting ways for the company to save money as long as you aren't being obnoxious about it. Absolute worst case scenario: your new communication skills will really help you out in interviews.
Re:I tried this. I got fired. Listen up. (Score:2, Interesting)
To quote Henry Miller, do exactly what they expect of you and let them live to regret it. Well, not a direct quote, but close from my memory of reading one of his Tropic books many years ago.
Re:I tried this. I got fired. Listen up. (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong, I know it's a tough world out there and all, but when you are looking to hire the best talent, you have to take the whole person into consideration. The sort of person who is happy to a) do what he/she is told without thinking about it themselves, b) sit idly by while watching their company tank, or c) is unable to recognize the broader scope of technical issues... well, that person is not someone who I want to put that much faith in. I don't want to work with someone who is happy riding a sinking ship down to the waterline.
All that said, if you are looking for a career track that ends at "I can code" (without a healthy amount of "I can think" and "I understand your business"), then good luck. Move to India, if they'll have you, because that's where an increasing of that job market is headed these days. However, if you want to be the sort of programmer who can continue to reliably command a good job in the US or western Europe over the next decade, then look into developing and being able to communicate that business understanding.
Re:I tried this. I got fired. Listen up. (Score:1, Interesting)
I was #1 Loyal Employee. Really. I defended the company and its machinations from detractors. I studied the business model and tried to offer constructive improvements to business processes. I put in extra time on weekends and evenings (and even, occasionally, got recognised for it). I went the extra mile for the company, just because I believed in what it was doing and thought that we could really make a difference. I was also cheap.
However, this did not play well with some in management who were either clueless or brooked no 'dissent' (where 'dissent' was defined as 'not doing exactly what I say, when I say it, even if, in my professional opinion, it's obviously wrong').
What happened, to me, was that after several years of ignoring my attempts at input, when it came time to make cuts management chose the noisy ones ('the negative ones' - again, equating professional opinion for dissent) and kept the 'nosey' ones, if you follow my meaning.
My attitude was Nigh-Perfect before management screwed it up by not managing effectively. You know a company has issues when *good* managers resign (in this economy) with no other job lined up, rather than continue to work with the other managers and senior team. This happened, repeatedly, at my company.