Office Politics Played Poorly
I was talking to a co-worker this morning - just after we arrived. I told him I heard that he'd be doing some web development - something I heard from the management team yesterday when they asked me about setting him up with a development box and such. He didn't look thrilled. I don't blame him. From his point of view, it's bad bad news. The one guy in this place that he outwardly hates, and outwardly hates him is the IT manager. This puts him under this guy and subject to his (often quite loud) rants. I've come to understand that they are as much a part f life here as the carpet and window cleaners. He's not yet at that point.
So he's trying to put a positive spin on things, and see it as once again, paying his dues, in order to get back to the place he was, and hopes to be again - quant trader-guy. Certainly an admirable goal, but there are many things standing in his way - not the least of which is the open feud between this guy and the IT manager.
My friend plays politics very poorly. He admits this. Maybe he's got a plan to learn better political skills, or maybe he's just going to sit tight and keep his mouth shut and try to ride this out. Not surprisingly, the "shit down and shut up" plan works remarkably well here, I'm guessing because so many people are pretty smart, and there's nothing a fragile ego likes more than to boss around someone who they fear is superior in some way.
But I'm not sure this is going to end up all that well. With the current financial crisis as the backdrop, there have been a lot of cuts - people and things, at a lot of organizations. I haven't heard anything definite about this place - yet, but it would not surprise me if the Bank as a whole decided cuts had to be made, and we ended up having to cut a few people. Wouldn't make it right, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Given this, I plan on doing what I've been doing, and simply acting like a little, neutered, slave and say "Yes" to everything they say. Oh, I'm not afraid I'm going to get cut, but there's no reason to ask for the unwanted focus at this time, either. Keep your head down, and let the storm blow over - it will... eventually.
I'm just not sure if my friend is capable of that. Maybe so, and if he is, he's learning, I'll give that to him. Previously, he'd have stood up and told them all they were acting timidly. It would have been right, but politically, it was suicide. So now he's looking at doing web pages.
He's a decent guy that doesn't deserve to have the political problems he has, but he did admit that he brought them down upon himself. I just hope this doesn't come back to haunt management or my friend.