Am I wrong to refuse to "help" the Department Idiot?

[BiggJawn]

There's this guy who's in charge of another section of my department who, frankly, I wonder how he gets through the day without drowning in his own spit.

His alligator mouth is always making promises that my section's canary ass has to deliver on, and frankly, I'm sick of it. The "Culture" of the place seems to be "We cover-up for our idiot cousin and make the whole department look good" and I don't wanna play along anymore.

This guy makes almost TWICE what I do and knows HALF (or less) than I do, but I'm expected to do his thinking for him and save the day so he looks like a furking Hero and I've had it.
One of the other techs, an "Old Timer" was telling me how I should have found out what a client needed and figured out how to supply it instead of letting the Village Idiot look like bozo.
I told him that since this guy exploited a "falling down" of mine this past year in order to cover his own ass and I got hung out to dry with a nasty letter in my file and NO raise that I didn't feel like I owed him any "favours".

This didn't go down too well.

What say ye, fellow Evil DU'ers? Am I wrong to give the village idiot enough rope to (finally) hang himself with?

Should I continue to wipe his ass and mop up after him for "the Good of the Department"? He had no trouble throwing ME to the wolves when I was down and he needed a diversion.

[lfairban]

1. You only have one?

Consider yourself fortunate.

[toddzilla]

3. don't

actively bring him down, but let him hang himself. it sounds like he's not just stupid, but not particularly nice either..

my company is full of idiots, and i never hesitate to point out thier flaws when i'm talking with the boss. If you do superior work, nothing wrong with bringing attention to it. kissing ass is an art form, perhaps you could accidentally let the chain of command know that you cover his ass.

[Booberdawg]

2. Do what's best for the customer FIRST

if the bozo needs to be taken down it will happen eventually without your interference. People like that always end up fucking THEMSELVES in the end. Don't make yourself a casualty.

Buck up and do what's best for the company and the customer. It WILL be noticed in the end.:D

[BiggJawn]

4. How will he end up F***ing himself when...

...All the techs and Engineers fall over themselves pulling his dick out of his ass?
My supervisor knows he's a dumbass, our Head of Engineering knows he's a dumbass, but Noooooooo, let's cover-up for Idiot Boy so the Department looks good.

When this asshole promises a client something without coming to us and asking if it's within the Realm of Possibility FIRST, why does HIS lack of planning constitute an emergency on MY part?

Or are you advising me to just be a good little Drone?

[Booberdawg]

6. You have pointed out that they already KNOW he is a dumbass

They KNOW this guy is a DUMBFUCK!! Just think of your job as thinking of what's best for the client FIRST! Don't think of it as covering up for the dumbfuck.

I'm not so sure the supervisor and Head of engineering are saying so much to cover up for dumfuck as they are saying to take care of the CUSTOMER.

Do what is right. I PROMISE you, you will come out ahead in the end. And you will sleep better too. It's all in how you "frame" it.

[Darth_Kitten]

15. I think supervisors KNOW they are covering up for dumbf@@ks

They KNOW, yet they always choose to make it the **good** people's business. If everybody in the office complains and complains for months and sometimes YEARS, then they have to have a something resembling a clue. :)

It's easier to make a good, smart person take on more responsibility then it is to make difficult, lazy, emotionally insecure and abusive person responsible or make them accountable for the disturbing ways they treat their fellow co-workers. :evilfrown: I've been dealing with this situation for YEARS. :( It's shoddy management that's to blame, because they don't deal with what really is wrong with a workplace. :(

[Dogmudgeon]

5. Let him grind himself into the dirt

I was just hired -- then fired -- because my boss needed someone to get her off the hook for bungling a major project over the past two years. And who should answer the ad seeking a short-term whipping boy?

Four weeks of hell, during which I endured what I thought was a heart attack, but I got a two-week "severance package" for my trouble.

But no COBRA plan.

--bkl
... since I don't believe in violence ...

[punpirate]

7. Rope....

Lots of it. One of the things I learned in the army is to do exactly what I was told. Never more, never less. That way, when the boss completely fucked up, it all came back to him.

In this case, always ask your immediate superior what this other idiot wants. Once your immediate superior says, "(s)he wants this," you ask, "is this what you want me to do?"

Then do exactly as requested--no more, no less. And, to the letter of instructions. If the other person is a lazy, stupid asshole, doing exactly as (s)he requested will result in that person having to explain. You can't be faulted for doing exactly as expected. Boss goes down in flames.

In any organization where creativity and independence is not valued, this system works exceptionally well. Stupid people do eventually get their comeuppance.

"Yessir, whatever you want, just tell me _exactly_ what you want me to do" really does fuck up mindless twits. They can't admit they don't know what they want you to do, and will then make things up, which then get them in trouble. Works every time.

On edit, I should add: take notes. Every conversation, ask for every order in writing ("uh, sir, could you send me a memo outlining those points so I can refer back to them?"). When you can't get that, make your own notes. It works.

Cheers.

[Pert_UK]

8. Seconded....

and if he won't mail you instructions, send him an email stating "This is just to confirm your instructions and ensure I've got them right:

a) break all the windows
b) turn down the heat on the firewall to save money
c) re-write MS Word using COBOL and ensure it's not backwards compatible....

Let me know if I've got any of this wrong please."

You DO need to be careful though - if it's your job to proof-read or OK his ideas, then you can't just do what he says and then blame him.

But, in all seriousness, speak to management if at all possible, and explain that it's very difficult for you to work in this situation.

[brokensymmetry]

9. You, sir, are a genius!

Lots of it. One of the things I learned in the army is to do exactly what I was told. Never more, never less.

Excellent advice! :)

[NashVegas]

10. What He Said + Start Looking Around

If you work for a small company and they've covered his ass for this long, they will probably continue to do so. If you do what punpirate says, you can at least make it so your bane can't fuck with you. Still, it's not a situation you want to stick around in; a company that allows incompetent managers to keep their jobs is a place where they'll be perfectly happy to allow your career to wither on the vine.

OTOH, if it's a large company, rope away and hope for the best. Sooner or later someone is going to look at what this guy is doing to the bottom line.

[BiggJawn]

16. Yes, i already do that, and there's the rub...

I'm expected to know that this guy's a moron and do an "end around" to find out for myself what the client needs.

Fuck That. I don't get PAID to do that.


The specific example was that the client needed more phone lines for the weekend. I told the Old Timer "I'm sorry, that's all we have there ain't no more" the OT said the Dieter (my super) and me should have met with the client ourselves last week and found out what he needed.

I told the OT that was Idiot Boy's job, not mine, and since nobody requested me to meet with the client, I didn't feel like I had any responsiblity to "take inititave" and do Idiot Boy's job for him.

I do what I'm TOLD to do and no more.

The OT disagreed.

[bleedingheart]

11. Its a tough call

You could end up getting fired if it backfires and to be honest if he is the resident company idiot...they may not fire him ever...especially if he is related to someone.

If you work for a small private company then I would advise moving on...if you work for a large company look to transfer.

I had an old professor from college tell me this .."If you can not make things better in your organization....leave because you will only become bitter and frustrate yourself."

[Nikia]

12. This situation just sucks

It sure makes one bitter and resentful. I am in a situation with a company idiot and am resentful but luckily I don't have to cover for him like you do. Yes, look for a different job. For some reason people like this might be well liked by the people in charge and things won't change. It's unfortunate and frustrating but business often isn't fair.

[Nlighten1]

13. Don't let bitterness and resentment drag you down.

What Pert UK said

[BiggJawn]

17. I gotta get through that.

I will admit, I am resentful and bitter.

I would LOVE to see this guy reel out 10 feet of his own dick and trip over it.

I headn't realized this place operated on the "Peter Principle"

[Darth_Kitten]

14. Don't go out of your way......

I never understand why the good always have to clean up the messes of the lazy and incompetent. It's amazing how most companies seem to deal with this problem. :eyes:

Anyways, will leaving him to sink or swim directly affect YOU? I would start documenting incidents and if need be, talk to some higher ups (yeah, like they care, I know...)

Don't enable this jerk. He's being paid the big bucks and if he can't handle it, then remove yourself from the hassle. Just do your own job properly. :)

(I've enabled so many idiots at my workplace and all I got was the runaround from stupid supervisors, harassment from jealous co-workers, and a note in MY file. I've been there, babe. ;( )

[philosophie_en_rose]

18. Is your job babysitting?

a nanny service? is this guy working for you?

If not, then his problems are not your problems. I recommend looking busy with your own projects and allowing this person and his enablers to work out their own issues.

Eventually, you may still be asked to cover, but they'll be forced to realize that they have a problem with this other person.