Yeah by the moment they replace him it will be too late.This is true, however this boss want to cut cost so the chance of him approving an entirely new system is close to nil. After he is fired or the comp went belly up though, maybe.
Well, she DID include a user manual on how to use/manage the system. Which doesn't sound like much until you realize that MOST people don't even do that. She left enough information for the next developer, which she said was 'innocent' to be able to maintain the system. (Chapter 1, page 16)They don't need to bring her back, what they need is a different system
If she were to die tomorrow due to a random accident, they would be facing the exact same problem, without the convenient solution of just bringing back the one woman team that was able to keep up with a system that only she knew how to handle
Their mistake was that from the beginning they were too reliant on her, and they still are, so they have to change the system itself, to stop being reliant on her
She designed the system iirc and was then fired out of the blue, so she probably didn't train anyone or leave documentation. So it isn't at all impossible she could do better than four people. I used to work on server upkeep at IBM and proprietary server systems are quite complex - the people you went to with the worst problems literally had decades of experience. A unique system she herself designed isn't just something her replacements could come to grips with in a few weeks.The part where shes the only who did the job but is better than 4 people is abit idealistic but the reality where the higher up doesnt give a shit how difficult coding really is is just a slap to the face man.
Watch them hire her back for a month as a consultant/mentor for a few years' worth of salary lol.Well, she DID include a user manual on how to use/manage the system. Which doesn't sound like much until you realize that MOST people don't even do that. She left enough information for the next developer, which she said was 'innocent' to be able to maintain the system. (Chapter 1, page 16)
Should the company have had her do a graceful turnover and/or train some people AND have her provide detailed documentation on the new system? Of course. But if you don't know that as a manager and don't put those things in place BEFORE you fire people then you get what you get. Also, hindsight is 20/20. You need to put measures in place to document any new system you are building and have backup people that can take over a task even if they only have the documentation.
TLDR, fire experienced and important staff at your own risk if you don't have a backup plan. Sadly most execs don't have one and are so far removed from the actual work that they actually don't know their ass from their elbow.
Funnily enough, it's exactly as you see. His "just keep asking it and they'll do it" tactic has worked so far, every time (at the expense of the workers) so he doesn't realize (since he doesn't care what it actually takes) how impossible "impossible" really is.sometime i wonder how moron like this have this high position?
I don't think a different system would help.They don't need to bring her back, what they need is a different system
If she were to die tomorrow due to a random accident, they would be facing the exact same problem, without the convenient solution of just bringing back the one woman team that was able to keep up with a system that only she knew how to handle
Their mistake was that from the beginning they were too reliant on her, and they still are, so they have to change the system itself, to stop being reliant on her
I am not defending the manager that fired her without making sure the company didn't had a fail-safe planWell, she DID include a user manual on how to use/manage the system. Which doesn't sound like much until you realize that MOST people don't even do that. She left enough information for the next developer, which she said was 'innocent' to be able to maintain the system. (Chapter 1, page 16)
Should the company have had her do a graceful turnover and/or train some people AND have her provide detailed documentation on the new system? Of course. But if you don't know that as a manager and don't put those things in place BEFORE you fire people then you get what you get. Also, hindsight is 20/20. You need to put measures in place to document any new system you are building and have backup people that can take over a task even if they only have the documentation.
TLDR, fire experienced and important staff at your own risk if you don't have a backup plan. Sadly most execs don't have one and are so far removed from the actual work that they actually don't know their ass from their elbow.
I don't think a different system would help.
An off-the-shelf third-party system is not exactly a particularly good idea, especially since this is a huge company. The bigger the company, the more specific needs it have in its operation and such. If the manager forces to use an off-the-shelf system, then they have to made some company changes operationally and/or structurally to conform to the system, which is stupid since they were just finished a restructuring for reducing "wasted manpower" or something.
If they want to create a new system, that's just means more work other than what already a huge pile of work of maintaining and administrating the current system.
What they need is exactly what the current engineer said in this chapter. They need more people. (The other thing is to get rid of that stupid manager/CEO/whatever the hell he is but lets not go there)
You'd be surprised how often this happens in real life.sometime i wonder how moron like this have this high position?
That will happen when the phase out COBOL.They don't need to bring her back, what they need is a different system
If she were to die tomorrow due to a random accident, they would be facing the exact same problem, without the convenient solution of just bringing back the one woman team that was able to keep up with a system that only she knew how to handle
Their mistake was that from the beginning they were too reliant on her, and they still are, so they have to change the system itself, to stop being reliant on her
Depends on how much she was being paid. If she was being paid $100k then 4 $20k entry level positions would save $20k on payroll.How does that boss think that hiring 4 (or more employees) to replace 1 employee is "more economical"?
While not understanding how to deal with it themselves 😴Exec: ”it’s just a one man job. Y’all are whiny bitches”
I'd rather watch the company collapse due to the CEO's stubbornnessWatch them hire her back for a month as a consultant/mentor for a few years' worth of salary lol.
Agreed, it was already bad (that she did the job alone) and then they make it worse. Either they hire her as a consultant or tbh I'd love to see the company going under. It would be refreshing lolI am not defending the manager that fired her without making sure the company didn't had a fail-safe plan
I am blaming the old manager that allowed the entire system to get to a point in which they are all reliant in one person with no real option to recover the moment she becomes unavailable, even if she was never fired, the moment something happened to her this same thing would have happened, and something was bound to happen to her eventually with how overworked she was
This situation was bound to happen regardless of the new guy making bad decisions
Getting a new manager is something they need because the guy is a bad boss, but that doesn't address the core problem of them working with a system that is only optimized to be used by one person, and that no one else knows how to manage to the point that the department becomes a resource hog
Whoever comes in new will have to face the same problem of a system that was not made thinking about other engineers using it, they would have to go and hire her as an instructor, to teach a new engineer group how to deal with her code, which is something they should have done years, and years, and years ago, at the moment of development
So they are lucky she is alive, and coincidentally working as a programing teacher, and this is probably how the company is gonna save it self
But if she had never been fired, and had died yesterday, this exact thing would been happening to them, this is an old hole they dug themselves in, is the reason why she was overworked, and would have happened eventually even without the new asshole manager
If by system you mean the department organization, sure. But if you're talking about the software she wrote, no way. They don't have proper documentation and experience on this system, and your solution is to replace the whole thing? That would be a huge waste of time even if this wasn't the best in class system, a point they made clear in the first chapter.They don't need to bring her back, what they need is a different system
If she were to die tomorrow due to a random accident, they would be facing the exact same problem, without the convenient solution of just bringing back the one woman team that was able to keep up with a system that only she knew how to handle
Their mistake was that from the beginning they were too reliant on her, and they still are, so they have to change the system itself, to stop being reliant on her
moneysometime i wonder how moron like this have this high position?
nepotism is unfortunately all too common (and knowing a buddy / connections)sometime i wonder how moron like this have this high position?