Denouement

On December 19th, just a month ago, upper management sent out an email detailing a number of changes to our organization, among them was that Il Duce and the Business Intelligence Team were moving to another part of the company, effective January 1, singling me out the the head of my team now unencumbered by fools and tyrants.

I immediately got a couple of congratulatory calls from a few people:

Prodigal said it was about time.

I spoke with Judy a few days later, and she asked me if I was happy. I said, of course.

Judas eventually asked me if I was going to make any changes now that I'm back in charge. Reading between the lines, I know he was wondering if I was going to remove him from his management position considering everything that happened. I said there were no changes that would affect him, and I meant it.

Bob's Your Uncle never spoke about it.

I have a bit of work ahead of me. Several people in the team remain loyal to Il Duce. I need to find out what their intentions are and either get them to convert or encourage them to move on.

I have asked my new manager, Tiberius, to let me hire a new staff member to replace at least one of the three that I lost last year. He said that Il Duce told him that we didn't need anybody else in my team, that he should spend any available money on the Business Intelligence Team. After I explained how much we were hurting, he rather quickly agreed to let me hire someone new. Hopefully that will alleviate some of the pressure.

I have dealt with Bob's Your Uncle... for now. In the two weeks since his demotion he has been stirring up quiet trouble in the background while keeping a professional face on the surface. It remains to be seen what he really has in mind, but muck racking in the white noise department is about all he can do.

I am still doing twice the job that I was doing two and a half years ago, before Il Duce took over, for the same title and pay (minor annual increases aside). I've asked for a promotion, and I think I deserve one. A friend of mine suggested that if I were to leave, the company would have to bring someone in a the next level above me to do the job I'm doing now (at least) and I should point that out to them. I would hope I wouldn't have to.

I have my review coming up, written by Il Duce, of course. His opinion of me means about as much as the crust of dog turd stuck in the treads of my sneakers, but he has the ability to affect my raise. Plus a bad review might preclude any promotion that I am due. I have talked to Tiberius about this, who has agreed that I should be promoted (without promising anything), and has said he can intervene on my behalf and force Il Duce's hand during this review cycle. So now it's a waiting game to see if Tiberius will fight for me or not.

If so, I'm happy to stay. I have been tasked with making changes and fixing things, no small feat. Two and a half years ago, my North American team was strong, effective, efficient, and (best of all) happy. That's my goal for this larger group. It will take months, if not years, to get there.

However, if not, if they fuck me (is there a better way of putting it?), I don't see any reason compelling enough to stay.

Will there be more to the "Infinite Work Shit" saga? I hope not.

But I assume so.