I had a new experience today. In the course of a meeting where I was trying to get some information about a recent decision (well, sort of recent...but more on that later), I was told in essence that I could either be a "team player," or I could get out of the way. While I had been warned in the past that upper management has a tendency to use this tactic, it was the first time I have experienced it directly. The sensation was not pleasant, though I'm not sure it had the intended effect.
Some background may be in order. I'll keep this somewhat vague to protect the innocent, but will try to offer enough detail to paint a picture of the overall situation. I am a manager of a small group within a larger IT department. The larger department has a business office that handles the things that business offices handle-- purchasing, invoices, contracts, financial records, etc. Historically, the central business office has provided substandard service, and groups all over the department have been maintaining shadow copies of the books to try and better keep up with their finances. Our department has taken this a step further, and we have our own business manager to help run our accounts. This is not only because of the poor service we have received in the past, but also because our needs are somewhat specialized in comparison with the rest of the department. Over the last few years, this has proven to be very successful, even while the central office continues to flounder. For example, near the end of last fiscal year everyone was told to cease all purchasing because no one knew how much money units in the department had...except for us.
Here's where it gets interesting-- when I first moved into my current managerial position, I learned that upper administration wanted to move our business manager into the main business office. The stated reason was (and continues to be) to improve "efficiency and effectiveness." This move has been fought vigorously by nearly everyone who has experienced typical business office performance, but no matter how much we protested, the decision seemed to stand. There was a brief period where the idea seems to have been put aside, but within the last week we went from "they're talking about business office consolidation again" to "they've made a decision on business office consolidation, and they're promoting one of the key employees that everyone is complaining about."
Which brings us to today. I had a meeting with the head of the business office to express my concerns, and to try and get a sense of what's going on. I met with immediate resistance, including the "team player" comment noted above. I've been trying to work out why that particular comment bothers me so much, and it finally dawned on me. This may be a classic example of groupthink. There is a small group of decision makers who are wedded to this business office consolidation idea, and who will not let it go in spite of any and all arguments against it. Rather than listen to dissenting voices, they either ignore them or try to shut them down through intimidation. If I were an outsider I would find this fascinating, but as someone who has to deal with it...not so much.
Posted by Jason at May 7, 2008 11:13 PM