Arrogant JERK...maybe

I was thinking all day about what an arrogant jerk the prof of my LAST CLASS is. Our class is small – 11 people and none have dropped out yet. People ask him questions and he never gives a straight answer, and he kind of puts a dig in to his responses. Anyway, I asked a question at the very beginning regarding something administrative and confusing on the syllabus. He gave me a smart-ass nonanswer, so I decided he won’t be getting any more questions from me.

One of the discussion questions due this week asked us about pitfalls IT managers should avoid. We were supposed to base the response on our own experience. One of the pitfalls I wrote about is something I’m dealing with at work right now. Of course, we can never just answer the question based on our own experience. I had to research and find a theoretical foundation for my response. Anyway, the issue is that my boss gives priority to the squeaky wheels and ignores the department managers who don’t ask for anything. Who can operate their business without IT in this world? NOBODY! This particular business manager has no strategy other than to let his local managers manage their IT. As a result, there’s chaos….it’s expensive, inefficient, no standards, and it’s putting the company at risk…seriously. Anyway, I talked to my boss and he says the man doesn’t want to hear it so it’s up to me to persuade him to adopt a more strategic approach. How persuaded would you be if management sent somebody 6 levels below you to tell you what you’re doing is wrong? Anyway, arrogant prof replied to my post and asked if I thought servant leadership could work as a solution. Well, first of all, that allows me to write up a quick answer because I’ve been researching servant leadership extensively for my dissertation. I’m required to write 6 reply posts per week to meet class participation requirements. Second of all….it’s made me think of a new approach to working with the guy. The real problem is the guy is overworked and always in the field. We are 5 hours apart in location so face-to-face meetings more than once or twice a year are impossible. The other issue is that I really don’t have time for him.

Other news….my face is getting better. It’s still red and I’ve got 4 big scabs left, but it’s better. Also, Gracie is getting good at playing fetch and Jack almost went outside today. He is a scaredy-cat. Something spooked him over a year ago and he rarely goes more than a few yards from an open door since then.

 If you click on the picture, you see my animals up close!  Blogger has made some worthy enhancements.


Our menagerie (Molly, Gracie, Jack)