Publication Time

So, it's weekly corporate newsletter publishing time. Some articles are new and some articles are the same old items yet again. Where does the boss dig these nuggets up from?

Every time the corporate blah is delivered to my inbox, to be QA'd, edited, published and electronically distributed to the worldwide email list, I use my executive editorial powers and years of experience to remind the boss that he has no experience, no skills and no idea what he's doing. And yet he persists in overriding my authority and telling me what's works best, even though there is absolutely no evidence and common sense indicates otherwise.

For example;

Corporate Newsletter #101, article #2 - The boss cuts & pastes a chunk of text from the corporate intranet to the newsletter template, as an introduction to the full intranet article... It is revised, edited, proof-read by my team and then happily signed off by the boss.

Corporate Newsletter #121, article #1 - is the above-mentioned article #2 from corporate newsletter #101 that proved so popular he wishes to use it again; so the boss cuts & pastes the same chunk of text from the corporate intranet to the newsletter template, rather than the revised, updated, edited, and proof-read version he signed off last time.

Corporate Newsletter #131, article #5 - is the above-mentioned article #2 from corporate newsletter #101, and the very same article #1 from corporate newsletter #121, that once again proved so popular he wishes to use it for a third time! So the boss cuts & pastes the same original chunk of text from the corporate intranet to the newsletter template, rather than the version that was revised, updated, edited, and proof-read and signed off TWICE.

You get the picture! It doesn't matter how many times you tell him, he just doesn't get it. Goddamnit, he is such an idiot.

VPN Gateway

Our IT service provider suggested we have a VPN gateway so we could access the company servers remotely. A good idea for the sales team to hit the road, log-in, do all their reporting (or whatever it is sales people pretend to do with their laptops) and handy for us web guys, except that we're always stuck in the damn office!

We never really used the VPN gateway but it was there.

And then, 6 months later, when our IT service provider performed a network security assessment they deemed the VPN gateway a security risk, a potential breach of our network and so it got canned.

Who had the executive decision on this? Yep, that's correct, the boss. What an idiot.

A Reluctance to use common tools

The boss was working on a Word Document.
It was OK until he needed to organise a table.

Figures.
Rows.
Columns.

Yes, a table, that'll be the one.

Boss:"How do you do this?"
Me:"How do you put these figures into a table?"
Boss:"Yes, how do you put these figures in a table?"
Me:"In the Word toolbar go to 'Table>Insert>Table' and then tell it how many rows & columns then cut & paste your data into the new table. Easy as that"
Boss:"Show Me"
Me:"I've just told you, it's in the toolbar"
Boss:"Show Me"

Despairing Worker leans across desk, takes mouse and points to 'Table>Insert>Table' in toolbar

Me:"There you go, just as I said - 'Table>Insert>Table' "
Boss:"Do it"
Me:"I beg your pardon?"
Boss:"Can you do that for me?"
Me:"I can, but I've just shown you; it's dead easy, do it yourself"
Boss:"No, you do it"

Despairing Worker is offered the bosses idiot chair whilst the boss goes off to waste someone else's time; maybe he can ask one of the programmers to sweep the floor, get a project manager to fetch him lunch or even have an accountant make him a cup of coffee and waste their time & skillsets too?

The boss is such an idiot.