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And now for something completely different: A meeting at work. Login/Join 
bigger government
= smaller citizen
Picture of Veeper
posted
We're merging companies, and the system admins had a meeting between West (them) and East (us) and while their lead guy and myself (sudo lead guy) get along really well, their lead guy and another guy on my team don't get along very well.

The rub is that a guy on my team wants to just mash all of our stuff into their systems, and their guy wants to make sure the structure is in place because their organizational structure isn't the greatest currently, and he wants it fixed before we dump stuff on their systems. I get it. I agree. Let's do it step by step.

HOWEVER.

This is how my meeting went yesterday afternoon. All of us between Irvine and Grand Rapids, Michigan stuck listening to this blather for over 40 minutes:

We need to do something about Sharepoint
No we don't
Yes we do
No we don't
But we do
No we don't
Yes we do, the Marketing team can't stay on the old tenant because they have multiple logins
They're fine for now
No we need to get them migrated
Okay we do but not now because it'll be worse if we screw it up
No it won't
Yes it will
No it won't
Yes it will
No it won't we can just fix it right away
No you can't
Yes we can
No, we can't
Yes, we can, especially if we just drag and drop things
No we can't
Yes we can
No, because it needs permissions that aren't easy to apply
No it doesn't
Yes it does
No it doesn't
Yes it does.
No, you can just import the data raw and it'll dump all the permissions.
No you can't
Yes we can
No you can't
Yes we can
No, you can't because if you dump all the permissions, then the teams will have access to the directories across all of the data and half of them aren't supposed to be in the entire site because they're 1099
It doesn't matter if they're down
Yes it does
No it doesn't
Yes it does
No it doesn't
Yes it does, because they can still access via the old site.
No they can't
Yes they can
No they can't
Yes they can, they can just use the onmicrosoft login
They can but it's confusing. We need to do something about Sharepoint
No we don't
Yes we do
No we don't

And on and on and on and on.... Today, when I join the integration meeting, I'm just going to say, "Hello, I'm here for an argument."

<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/25921512">Monty Python - The Argument Sketch</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user5872145">Scotty Altizer</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>




“The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.”—H.L. Mencken
 
Posts: 9144 | Location: West Michigan | Registered: April 20, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Step by step walk the thousand mile road
Picture of Sig2340
posted Hide Post
Where's Auntie?





Nice is overrated

"It's every freedom-loving individual's duty to lie to the government."
Airsoftguy, June 29, 2018
 
Posts: 31377 | Location: Loudoun County, Virginia | Registered: May 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
I can't tell if you meant "pseudo lead guy" or if you just made yourself the lead guy with sudo lead guy...
 
Posts: 5143 | Location: Iowa | Registered: February 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
bigger government
= smaller citizen
Picture of Veeper
posted Hide Post
Sudo was intentional, but pseudo is literally closer to the mark.




“The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.”—H.L. Mencken
 
Posts: 9144 | Location: West Michigan | Registered: April 20, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Crusty old
curmudgeon
Picture of Jimbo54
posted Hide Post
Ahhh....reminds me of my days before retirement. I was tasked with being the devils advocate in meetings like that. I never came out and said things like "shut the fuck up. That's a stupid idea or are you on drugs?" but I sure wanted to many times. I miss the job at times but never the endless and mindless meetings.

Jim


________________________

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll have to be a horrible warning" -Catherine Aird
 
Posts: 9791 | Location: The right side of Washington State | Registered: September 14, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go ahead punk, make my day
posted Hide Post
Thats when, as a higher up in the company, you sit in on these meetings then make the hard call.

"We are doing it X's way. Are you onboard? No? You're fired. X, take care of it."

Or better yet, it's why they cut the head off one of the merging companies and let the other run everything.
 
Posts: 45798 | Registered: July 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Veeper:
Sudo was intentional, but pseudo is literally closer to the mark.


I dig it.
 
Posts: 5143 | Location: Iowa | Registered: February 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Veeper:
and while their lead guy and myself (sudo lead guy) get along really well, their lead guy and another guy on my team don't get along very well.

The rub is that a guy on my team wants to just mash all of our stuff into their systems, and their guy wants to make sure the structure is in place because their organizational structure isn't the greatest currently, and he wants it fixed before we dump stuff on their systems. I get it. I agree. Let's do it step by step.


Sounds like you need to pull your guy aside before the next meeting to diplomatically tell him that the decision has been made that you're doing it West's way, and he needs to hush.

Or since you're only the "pseudo lead", if you don't have the actual authority to do that, get with whoever does to explain your position and request that they intervene before any more time is wasted.
 
Posts: 32427 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
An investment in knowledge
pays the best interest
posted Hide Post
There’s never a merger of equals so find out who is the responsible executive and get them involved. From what ERP changes I’ve observed during mergers or even when one is implementing a new system, it’s always best to get your physical/organizational processes mapped out first, then adopt and/or modify the new or combined IT platforms to support the former.
 
Posts: 3362 | Location: Mid-Atlantic | Registered: December 27, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Shaql
posted Hide Post
It's entertaining how little regard is given to IT when it comes to M&A.





Hedley Lamarr: Wait, wait, wait. I'm unarmed.
Bart: Alright, we'll settle this like men, with our fists.
Hedley Lamarr: Sorry, I just remembered . . . I am armed.
 
Posts: 6845 | Location: Atlanta | Registered: April 23, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of slyguy
posted Hide Post
Ha ha been there done that.

You pretty much have to drive down a path. Of course you'd like to choose the one with least resistance, but sometimes you can't tell which one it is.


Just start making the executive decisions and if you meet resistance ask them to quickly summarize why they oppose.

Best of luck

Cheers~
 
Posts: 904 | Location: Valley Oregon | Registered: May 23, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
The customer (BellSouth) when AT&T (SBC) bought them years ago, after attending merger meetings:

AT&T rep: Hello folks, good to see you again after so many years. We bought you, everything will be done our way. No questions asked.

BellSouth SME: Since the break-up, we've advanced & improved our processes markedly, you're still following the old inefficient strategies!!

AT&T: Meeting adjourned, thanks for attending.



<><
America, Land of the Free - because of the Brave
 
Posts: 1925 | Location: Goodbye, so. Fla. | Registered: January 26, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Ah, corporate horse shit. I too experienced the joy of stupid interference. I ran a 2 million a year contract that produced a 35 percent profit. I ran every aspect of it, all corporate had to do was write payroll checks. They screwed with me for 12 years. I retired in Jan 18. On July 1, the corporation lost the contract. By September they had managed to lose 7 more.

If you can win, fight. If you can't, move along. Life is too short.
 
Posts: 17121 | Location: Lexington, KY | Registered: October 15, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Good for you Fredward.. Enjoy a nice iced tea on the deck/patio & giggle a little, you earned it.

Let's just say I empathize, but my impact is not as grand. Does make ya smile though, doesn't it?
 
Posts: 16 | Registered: March 30, 2019Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ignored facts
still exist
posted Hide Post
Have you guys had these meetings yet as part of the merger?



Link to original video: https://youtu.be/fcIMIyQnOso


----------------------
Let's Go Brandon!
 
Posts: 10860 | Location: 45 miles from the Pacific Ocean | Registered: February 28, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted Hide Post
I work for a large defense contractor. About three years ago our business unit was swallowed up by another business unit, and our awesome, easy to use time recording system went away and they forced some SAP-based bullshit from 1981 on to us that literally I had to look up the instructions to use each time I used it. Frown

They JUST got around to replacing it with something like we had before.


 
Posts: 33601 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drug Dealer
Picture of Jim Shugart
posted Hide Post
“People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.”
― Thomas Sowell, Ever Wonder Why? and Other Controversial Essays



When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. - George Bernard Shaw
 
Posts: 15471 | Location: Virginia | Registered: July 03, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Thank you all for reminding me of the joys of self employment. Even after several decades of no meetings, I remember how much I hated them.
 
Posts: 17175 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of HighZonie
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Jimbo54:
Ahhh....reminds me of my days before retirement. I was tasked with being the devils advocate in meetings like that. I never came out and said things like "shut the fuck up. That's a stupid idea or are you on drugs?" but I sure wanted to many times. I miss the job at times but never the endless and mindless meetings.

Jim


^^^^^ This!




***********************
* Diligentia Vis Celeritis *
***********************
"Thus those skilled in war subdue the enemy's army without battle .... They conquer by strategy."
- Sun Tsu - The Art of War

"Fast is Fine, but Accuracy is Everything" - Wyatt Earp

 
Posts: 2900 | Location: Arizona Highlands - Pine Tree Country | Registered: March 25, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
So let it be written,
so let it be done...
Picture of Dzozer
posted Hide Post
$sudo su - vpofcommonsense
password:********
Sorry, user is not allowed to execute '/usr/bin/su - vpofcommonsense'
$shell will timeout in 60 seconds due to arugment with no objective or outcome
$ -ksh: timed out waiting for vpofcommonsense



'Live long and prosper'
 
Posts: 3909 | Location: The Prairie | Registered: April 28, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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