On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 3:00 PM:
[...]
> He has been running a one man show for quite a while. [...] He also
> has a pattern of refusing to communicate, it makes it tough to figure out
> what his point of view is.
[...]
This may be your "in". The boss I used to have always invoked the
"HBAT" question. What would happen to things if "you" (the keeper of
the knowledge) got Hit By A Truck? Some "glass half full" types might
say it as "If you won the lottery" but the odds and end effects are
the same.
The mantra I tried to use (and did not do a glorious job at) was
"There's always a next guy" and that for any given moment in time I
*am* the next guy. So, if I want to be fair to the people I work with
and the next person in my seat, I make it obvious by documenting
everything, commenting code, and taking the easiest route for
everything so that it's obvious what's being done. We all blame the
"last guy" so let's give them as little to blame as possible.
My job isn't to do what $BOSS decides needs to be done next but to
make sure that the concept of "Business Continuance" is enforced and
facilitated.
It is this area of the business side of the process that may give you
the opening you need to wedge yourself into. If you were to begin to
make noises such as asking about radical concepts such as:
Do we have a disaster plan?
Do we have a security response plan?
Do we have a "security has been comprimised" plan?
Do we have a business continuance plan?
Do we have the ability to pick up from ground zero and return to
business in a reasonable time with a reasonable effort?
You take down the confrontational approach causing dissent and you
create a positive "Can do!" environtment which allows you to help
management (who wants to prove their worth) develop business cases for
spending more money, looking better, and doing things "the right way".
A friend actually got his company to perform the tasks of putting on
paper some of the steps and *COSTS* associated with the idea of
starting a second datacenter up to handle their traffic if the first
one was distroyed. They were STUNNED at the costs, time, etc., and
actually began to listen to him when he suggested things "for the good
of all."
Just my mind dribbles.
Good luck!
--
<< MCT >> Michael C Tiernan.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mtiernan
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