4.19.2011

We all make hypocritical mistakes

I just made a huge mistake. I sent a document to someone that wasn't supposed to see it. We all know email recall doesn't really work, especially outside your own organization. So I had to make some crap up and tell them not to pass it on. Theoretically they are principled and it will be fine.
 
The funny part is, the document is not incorrect or misleading in any way. In fact its just the direct result of what these people have been involved with for a long time. But apparently we're not supposed to send them the truth, the whole truth, without shining it up for them first. Despite the fact they are equal partners in this we can't send them even draft information in an effort to help ease communication. And when this happens to us, and people won't send us the direct information or the "raw" data before polishing it for us first, we get angry. We get angry they dare slow things down and hold stuff back from us. We're adults, we can handle "draft" forms of stuff that we know might change, we're not going to forward it to our planning people and let them freak out over it.
 
But this apparently crossed the line. It's okay for us to be adults and see some raw data that might change, but apparently we don't extend the same benefit of the doubt to the other end of the line. We're afraid they'll really see how the sausages are made around here.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous19:40

    Whatever you do, don't tell them it's a weener! It's an encapsulated piece of heaven, FFS. It's a helluva lot easier to shoot the messenger than the weener.

    I was once rollerskating and eating a hotdog at the same time. I tripped, fell flat on my ass, but for some unknown reason, I held the hotdog straight up in the air. It was safe!
    jc

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  2. We do this all this time. All communications must go through a designated person, so it can be scrubbed and massaged before being communicated. These folks are PowerPoint gurus.

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  3. Oops. Yeah, I've gotten in trouble for being "too honest" on a few occasions. I can understand how the repercussions can be confusion and resentment followed by scrambling to explain and loss of trust, so, I know why these rules exist. But yeah it's still frustrating anytime you can't have open communication with people who are supposedly partners in a team effort.

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