Quote from Babak:
Holmes, I agree. I know consultants (Monitor, McK, Merce and BCG). The only thing they share in common is that they are the best at BS. And the only way to move up is to backstab and manipulate (the up or out agenda combined with comparative evaluations makes sure of that). Its an organizational structure where you can bet your bottom dollar that the worst will rise up and the ones with an ounce of decency will leave or be pushed out.
Spot on Babak. One place where I worked (I didn't stay there very long - couldn't stand the stench), the division manager was ex-consulting. It just so happened that the managers he then hired used to work with him at - lets just call them - ABC Consulting. Funny about that.
These managers would sell their own grandparents to get ahead. Backstabbing like you would not believe.
I was particularly unimpressed with these jokers bailing out of projects that were going nowhere (after of course having shot their big mouths off - as to how they would be implementing this by when, etc, etc - grandiose plans). Some other poor sucker would be "promoted" into the role to take the fall. NICE! They would then move into a project that was going well, displacing the successful manager, as he or she would be given supposedly "more important/critical" (read going nowhere) work.
Highly illogical of course - but the only reason it happened was because of massive
cronyism by the head asshole...err... I mean manager.
Needless to say all their better people left in droves.
Funniest incident was when a group of guys had produced a very detailed design for a project. Went over this manager's head. She then asked these guys to put together a 2 page summary for the design review meeting - Why I do not know, since it was a DESIGN REVIEW and the people present were meant to read the bloody thing!
So these guys produced for her a 2 page word document summary.
Idiot-features' response was a classic:
[Ex-Cons-Idiot_Mgr]: What is this?
[Competent Guy]: Its the summary you asked for.
[Ex-Cons-Idiot_Mgr]: No its not!
[Competent Guy]: What do you mean?
[Ex-Cons-Idiot_Mgr]: This is unprofessional!
[Competent Guy]: OK, please explain how so? It is a point-form summary, with a high-level diagram, of a 70 page detailed design document.
[Ex-Cons-Idiot_Mgr]: It is NOT IN MS-POWER-POINT Format!!!
[Competent Guy]: Why, are we going to be using overheads?
[Ex-Cons-Idiot_Mgr]: No.
At this point, the designers with stunned-mullet expressions on their faces decided to keep their mouths shut. That night they began updating their Resumes.
There we go, another Random Rant!