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Re: This Angers Me: Challenging and oppressive SME situation
Subject:Re: This Angers Me: Challenging and oppressive SME situation From:Mark Forseth <markf -at- MERGE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 21 Aug 1998 17:43:51 -0500
>I am really angered by the overall response to this posting...
Understood. Classic case of a fallacy known as "Poisoning the Well."
However, given the alleged facts, "Challenging" may have a truly
incompetent, if not psychotic, supervisor/SME on her hands, judging by the
sentence:
"Fortunately, I'd had an inkling of what [the SME] was like and had had the
secretary make a copy of
[the SME's] edits, so when I was called on the carpet for ignoring the
information I'd been given, I was able to produce a copy of the incomplete
edits I'd gotten from [the SME]."
Some people simply are not cut out to be managers or supevisors. Many could
benefit from enrolling in org. comm. studies, especially re: preferred
supervisor traits (empathic, good listener, clear communicator, shares
information freely, fair in allocating rewards and critiques, reprimands in
private and not in public, sensitive to employees' needs, etc.).
And, as George Mena postulates, this supervisor may very well be
incompetent, which could explain the super's behavior. Too often I've seen
unqualified, incompetent people harrassing those by whom they feel
threatened. A thoughtful person once said, "The educated will always have
distinct advantages over the uneducated." Now substitute "qualified" for
"educated" and you'll understand the source of the problem in too many
instances. I suspect that "Challenging" is a threat, intentionally or not,
to her super.
I think the outpouring of support for "Challenging" stems from too many of
us having weathered such circumstances as incompetent and inhumane
superiors assuming roles for which the gods never intended them to serve.
You're right about the poisoned-well fallacy aspect of the issue. But in
the absence of the "demon SME's" side of the story (and I suspect the demon
doesn't subscribe to this listserv, unless you are she, no offense), the
best we can do for "Challenging" is offer her our best and sincerest
advice. How "Challenging" applies all that advice to her own situation is
strictly her decision.
On the upside, everyone in the "Challenging" scene is anonymous, so no harm
done, no slander or libel. And, look at all the ideas we each plucked from
the garden of responses in the event any of us is unfortunate enough to
wade through that swamp known as the Satanic Supervisor.
Perhaps this listserv best serves as a sounding board for advice rather
than as a repository for feelings. I appreciate that you're angry, but this
does not answer the call for help. Perhaps Eric Ray can comment to this
effect.
