The Story of the Prematurely Delivered Project
A stealth operation to retrieve my error-riddled project, fix all mistakes and redeliver it unnoticed, began to seem unlikely. My boss seemed in no hurry to leave his office and there is only so many times one can walk by the same office door without arousing suspicion, or at least unwanted curiosity.
I switched tactics.
"Did you get that report I left on your desk last week?" I marched boldly into his office, catching him off guard.
"Errrmmm…" He began to rummage.
"And we have a phone conference at three tomorrow."
"Mmmmm…" The pace of his rummaging quickened as he added "planner" to the list of things to find.
"And I'm going to take back that project I left here just to go over something." I ever-so-casually lifted said project from the desk as I spoke.
"Aha. Mmmmhmmmm. I can’t seem to find—" he muttered as he scribbled something down in his organizer.
"I'll print out another copy of the report and come back." I sashayed out of his office.
I honestly believe all he will remember from this incident is a vague impression of a pale blue sweater coming at him, speaking too fast and demanding things.
Objectively speaking, this is probably only marginally better than admitting a mistake, but I am infinitely more comfortable with it.
22 comments:
lol, try to get him to sign a raise or a leave while he is in this status :P
I'm curious where you work
because
(advice from stranger you have never and likely WILL never meet)
...you should try free-lancing with a magazine or getting a job with "the voice" or something where you can grow and continue to develop your style.
maybe that's what you're already doing, but from the sound of it probably not.
You strike me as being far too talented a writer to be slumming as an assistant somewhere vague.
i, on the other hand, have a completely different relationship than you with the corporate world.
and, for better or worse, just wrote all about it on my blog.
filed under "rants"
-best of luck
pale blue -- a good nondescript option. Corporate Camo could be the new chic.
FTFO!! good tactic. It worked!
Brilliant.
Nothing better than a little office schemin'... I'm temping a lot right now, as I am an actress (and that's always a great conversation by the copier) and I totally feel your office pain. One time, I tried to figure out (for twenty minutes) how to salvage some papers I had incorrectly bound and were of "limited supply." Needless to say, it didn't work... so I'm glad sashaying did.
I randomly discovered your blog yesterday and I love it.
I knew you could do it, Girl!!
...but have to say...scary boss sounds like an idiot.
Use that to your advantage!!
Do you like your job? Want to be good at it? Want to get recognition for your efforts? Or are you just biding your time until a window opens? I can't tell. At the risk of incurring the wrath of your supporters I think you should have just asked for it and fixed the problem yesterday. Speaking as a project manager I respect and remember those team members who are willing to speak up, even if it is to admit a mistake (especially if it is to admit a mistake), a lot more than those who try to sneak things by me. But then, your boss seems totally out of his game so, as you noted, he probably won't even remember. But the next one might.
Please don't quit your company adventure! It would be a great shame for your readers.
quit
become a writer, you are clearly quite talented
Nice work. It's always nice to pull the wool over the boss' eyes and get away with it. Of course, it's also scary that fools like your boss are the ones who are in charge of setting the strategic direction for most companies.
Stumbled across your blog and I'm glad that I did. You can tell a good story. Nice work...
I think that life is simply more interesting when you take chances, or don't take chances. I, too, stubled upon your blog the other day -- loving it.
I see you took my advice and retrieved, or attempted to retrieve the report to make "enhancements." These improvements only make me look better. Good thing you had your own copy to work on. If everyone was a little more productive, my desk wouldn't get piled so high and things lost. By the way, you forgot the coffee.
Nice!! no wonder people love your blog
I bow down before thee, Oh Great Wiley One.
You change your name from companygbitch
to sneakybitch
LOL
Good tactic, good things always happen when you assume control. If you're looking to be enetertained check out my blog: xxxstaticxxx.blogspot.com
I suggest being honest with your boss. As a Professionnal, I find there is nothing more gratifying than realising that the secretary makes mistakes too.
Nothing is scarrier than thinking that the secratary could do your job, perhaps enven better.
Most professionnals work in a competitive environment (for promotions and for layoffs). Having someone they can trust in the workplace is priceless.
I'm wondering what kind of mind numbing "Project" requires 7 hours of highting...? Antedote must be about 7 martinis...
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Lucky us the since the slots are online there is no such thing as a queue and you can play when you want. You don’t even have to get dressed.
Not that this has any relevance to who plays slots and who don’t. There is clearly according to the latest polls more women playing slots then men. Men seem to drift towards the poker and table games. But here is something us men have to watch out for, they are coming. And they are also coming in swarms.
And since we men can not do more then one thing at a time (at least that is what the women say) we are in trouble. Take Blackjack, they should be better at handling two and three hands then us. Texas Hold’em is up for grabs because of the pace and many factors in the game. So when you are playing against a women you might want to hold on to your chips (and maybe your hart as well) she could end up owning both of them. Women know we are simple beings, and do have this factor over us when playing face to face. All men are suckers to a nice smile, so in all fairness any poker game that has both men and women in it should be played online.
At least you will not be distracted by that nice perfume drifting in from the women next to you. It is so faint but a man has certain instincts and will try to get a good sniff. So leaning in (ever so careful) I still get booted from a game for trying to look at other peoples cards. And I had a straight lined up. Even the big smile I got from the women next to me did not really soften the blow of getting booted. At least the dealer understood me and just told me to take a break for a while. That is my 2 cents worth on the topic of women and gambling.
Signing off for now and heading towards the slots, someone told me there is a good chance of meeting women there. At least that is what they tell me on http://www.streetslots.com
Au contrair! I think this was much better than admitting a mistake. This was stealthy. This was enigmatic. This was poetry.
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