We had a Zoom meeting at work earlier today.
It was mainly about how we are going to get lots of new sales when the UK gets back to work.
The Sales Director presented this whizzy new spreadsheet that did some really cool analysis work on figures, saying it would speed up the process loads.
He claimed in front of 50 or so people that he put the spreadsheet together.
I sat there quietly and texted the person controlling the presentation and asked them to go to File --> Info. They did.
Author: Zippy Created: 2017!
It was a tool I put together for sales admin department in 2017 when I was sat next to them and noticed they were doing a task that took all day (and they hated doing). I was in a hotel, it was winter and raining so didn't go out and knocked it up over a couple of nights. In fact the spreadsheet does very little. The VBA code behind it does all of the number crunching.
Waiting for the fall out now. Boss has already asked about when I did it because he didn't know anything about it.
|
>> Waiting for the fall out now. Boss has already asked about when I did it
>> because he didn't know anything about it.
Presumably one of his minions did......
|
That was my boss asking about how it came about.
I never told anyone I did it. It was something of a challenge that I enjoyed doing.
The sales ops dept have been quietly using it to make their lives easier.
I was just sitting quietly fuming that the Sales Director was taking full credit for it when he doesn't even know how to enter a formula on a spreadsheet!
I know he has made no changes to the spreadsheet either as the code and cells are password protected against change and I have never told anyone the password.
|
>>Was I Wrong?
Yes.
Or at least, not how I'd have handled it. What was your goal?
|
>>What was your goal?
To show that he was lying.
I was just fuming that he spent about 10 minutes explaining how great it was and how it was all his own work.
He had no right to claim it was his work.
He didn't commission it, he didn't put it together.
He didn't even know it existed until he asked the ops team how they managed to process some data so quickly.
|
>to show he was lying
How do you see that working to your advantage? Did you think he would be fired and you would get his job? Or do you think that you'd be rewarded somehow?
Seems to me that you may well have done yourself a whole bunch of no good taking this approach.
I mean no offence since I neither know you nor your situation,, but I think there were far better ways of dealing with it.
No place for egos.
|
>> >to show he was lying
>>
>> How do you see that working to your advantage? Did you think he would be
>> fired and you would get his job? Or do you think that you'd be rewarded
>> somehow?
>>
Not expecting anything tbh. Just people can't and shouldn't get away with lying and claiming credit for something that they had no creative ability to do.
Just a "red mist" moment. If you were in a discussion and someone claimed something of yours was theirs how would you deal with it?
|
> >to show he was lying
>>
>> How do you see that working to your advantage? Did you think he would be
>> fired and you would get his job?
The Sales Director - Once a salesman, always a salesman.
Have come across several - if only they put the effort they use in selling themselves into selling the product..........
|
I attended a course where we were handed a 'new' document that contained the exact words of a procedure I'd suggested. I followed it up back in the office and subsequently received a small cash reward. I don't know what happened to whoever claimed responsibility.
Another guy and myself found ourselves working on the same objective. We were able to combine our efforts and correct a previously flawed analytical program. I wrote instructions and presented it in SE England. I subsequently found out someone who I'd presented the program to had received an award for using it (I'd received nothing). Threw my rattle out of the pram and refused to have anything more to do with it, suggesting the award winner obviously knew more about it than I. He didn't and without my support it floundered.
|
>>Not expecting anything tbh
Then honestly you should have done nothing.
>> Just people can't and shouldn't get away with lying and claiming credit for something that they had no creative ability to do.
Oh come on. Of course they shouldn't, but they can and do. Just factor it into your assessment of a person.
>>Just a "red mist" moment
I quite understand. I am prone to "red mist" moments and succumb more often that I should. But never, not ever, at work or in business.
>> If you were in a discussion and someone claimed something of yours was theirs how would you deal with it?
I make the assumption that this person is senior to you.
You suffered no material loss. Nobody thought less of you. You were just upset you didn't get some praise.
You found out the Sales Director was comfortable with the idea of taking someone else's credit, though I suspect that he didn't know it was you.
Did he say that *he* coded it or configured the spreadsheet? i suspect not and that what he took credit for was the idea.
What would I have done? Who knows, it depends, but one of the following I expect;
1) Quiet word with Sales Director along the lines of "I actually wrote that spreadsheet/VB you discussed earlier and it's complicated and password protected. If you need to make any changes to it, need any help, or want one of your guys trained on it then please let me know. I will be happy to help".
- Some satisfaction, some recognition, a Director who knows that you're not a blabbermouth, a Director who knows that you're smart and useful and can be trusted. A director who is likely to give you credit at some point in order to cover his own a***. And some visibility, which is what you want I think.
2) Totally forget it other than including it in my personal assessment of the Director.
- Nothing to be gained other than a flounce, so why bother.
I would not stamp my feet.
- p***ed off Director, no personal or professional gain, people realise that you are not discrete and are emotional. If you do favours you will insist on public recognition.
And surely you don't think you will teach the Director the error of his ways, or some macho "don't mess with me" lesson?
Presumably you know the adage about not insulting a waiter because he will be alone with your food before it gets to you?
Well Directors see all sorts of things that affect you before they get to you. A brief sucking in of air through the teeth at the appropriate moment can trash a career.
As I say, I don't know the situation but IMO in the workplace there is no room for knee-jerk reactions or egos. You only ever ultimately disadvantage yourself.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 27 May 20 at 19:10
|
|
Certainly not skilled at climbing the corporate pole or turning things to your advantage, are we Zipster.
|
>> Certainly not skilled at climbing the corporate pole or turning things to your advantage, are
>> we Zipster.
>>
True. My boss claims I must be a secret Yorkshire-man for speaking my mind, though usually at the wrong time and place.
He does know he will get an honest answer and no b******* though.
|
>>My boss claims I must be a secret Yorkshire-man for speaking my mind, though usually at the wrong time and place.
Well you should work on that and try to change it because you are almost certainly holding yourself back.
>>He does know he will get an honest answer and no b******* though.
Perhaps. But that is not really a valued skill in the workplace. Often quite the opposite.
|
>My boss claims I must be a secret Yorkshire-man for speaking my mind, though usually at the wrong time and place.
Your boss doesn't know any real Yorkshiremen. A real Yorkshireman sticks to the Yorkshire proverb until he's worked out everyone's motives.
"Ear all, see all, say nowt."
|
>>"Ear all, see all, say nowt."
Excellent words to live by.
|
.....
Eat all, sup all, pay nowt,
And if ever tha does owt for nowt, mek sure it's for thi'sen...
|
>>You were just upset you didn't get some praise.
Actually and honestly, no. I was upset he claimed it was his work in its entirety. I hadn't expected praise for 3 years since I made it. It was "fun" to do but it was complicated.
>> Did he say that *he* coded it or configured the spreadsheet? i suspect not and
>> that what he took credit for was the idea.
He started with us in late 2018, some 11 months after the workbook was created in the first place!
Not only did he claim it was his idea but that he designed and built it!
His exact words were "this is a spreadsheet that I designed and created over the last few weeks"
>>
>> 1) Quiet word with Sales Director along the lines of "I actually wrote that spreadsheet/VB
>> you discussed earlier and it's complicated and password protected. If you need to make any
>> changes to it, need any help, or want one of your guys trained on it
>> then please let me know. I will be happy to help".
>>
Unfortunately the guy is known for crapping on everyone and anyone he can.
He has taken other sales managers leads at 99% completion and then claimed them as his own by just getting the docs signed - don't misunderstand - the signatures were just a formality the deal had been agreed and the signing was just supposed to be a PR event. Pricing and offer are agreed well before and there was no further agreement or persuasion needed.
We lost several of our best preforming sales managers because he did this to them - losing them £ thousands in commission.
>>Opinions on personality.
Well at the moment he doesn't know I texted the presenter.
It looks like it was a error going through the workbook sheets.
|
>>Opinions on personality.
I hope you don't think I was commenting on your personality, because I certainly didn't intend to. Sorry if it came across like that.
>>Actually and honestly, no. I was upset he claimed it was his work in its
>> entirety.
Why? I mean really, why? Who cares?
>> Unfortunately the guy is known for crapping on everyone and anyone he can.
Well you just put yourself firmly in his sights then. And if you;re right bout him, then he won't hesitate to do it.
>> We lost several of our best preforming sales managers because he did this to them
>> - losing them £ thousands in commission.
Karma in work is 100% certain. It's just not always very quick or very visible.
>> Well at the moment he doesn't know I texted the presenter.
He will.
>> It looks like it was a error going through the workbook sheets.
I don't quite understand this point.
|
>> I am prone to "red mist" moments
Really?
I can't recall that sort of behaviour on here from you ;)
|
>>Waiting for the fall out now. Boss has already asked about when I did it because he didn't know anything about it.
Oh, and that fall out? I guess if it gets heavy, which it probably won't, the Sales Director will sacrifice someone in his own group and say "Oh, but little Johnny told me that he did it. I am so sorry. I will have a word with little Johnny immediately".
Thrown rocks often [usually] hit the wrong target.
|
Coincidentally my daughter was just relating a tale from work today. They have to disseminate some quite important info across a wide group, and are late doing it. She contacted her manager (who also has a reputation of taking the credit when it's not her work) who said let me draft something for you to look over.
Shortly afterwards she sent my daughter the exact communication which my daughter had sent her last week, but said she'd just written it!
She let it pass, but I suggested she should at least remind her. There is a bit of a problem as daughter thinks they may be downsizing, and the one who everyone thinks should go if there is one, is this manager, but as she upwardly takes the credit for everything good it is more likely to be one of her small team)
|
Always focus your time on managing the person above you.
>>She let it pass, but I suggested she should at least remind her.
Your daughter is correct. What could possibly be gained by reminding her [manager]?
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 27 May 20 at 21:02
|
Slip of the mouse.
As long as the presenter does not take your legs out to further themselves.
|
>> Slip of the mouse.
>>
>> As long as the presenter does not take your legs out to further themselves.
or take your legs out when they leave, a few career endings were hastened when I departed.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 28 May 20 at 10:57
|
When I was at work I was "screwed on 2 occasions by senior Managers on 2 suggestions I put into the "suggestion-scheme", both had the possibility of incurring large pay-outs to me. |The first suggestion was to change the way we sealed bulk Anti- biotic containers, the system we were using failed FDA inspections and the Co were forced to carry out a major recall and reseal them. I put in a suggestion and within a week, a supply of the new sealing devices were sourced, delivered, and put into immediate use. When I queried why I hadn't heard anything, I was told the Idea had been forwarded from H.Q (London) implemented globally, and that no record of my suggestion had ever been recorded, even tho I had a copy of the original dated the day after the inspection
The 2nd inst was: one morning I was working on a process and we were having major problems with the "Batch" emulsifying which prevented us carrying out the separation of two liquids, this had been a problem for years, but it was almost impossible in cold weather. I found that simply holding a sample under a running hot tap completely resolved the problem almost instantly. I showed the Sect-Head who was in the building at the time, and that very afternoon the engineers were installing a heat-exchanger into the system! - I asked my Supervisor for a suggestion form and was told I couldn't put it in because it was the sect-heads idea!
|
|
Actually I've recalled a third time! - but I won't bore you with that one! - I probably could have retired 10 yrs earlier tho! ;-)
|
|
I've qualms in admitting that I "bubbled" a senior manager at a post-career job. Everything changed (in a good way) - some of the others (mainly young post-grads) spoke to me after about how things had changed and how they wished they had had the balls to do something. Hopefully they'll benefit from that experience in their future careers. It wasn't easy for me, the option was to walk away, but I can't stand bullying.
|
Re nicking ideas. My daughter, a trained journalist/media editor, went for a job interview with a hipster website a couple of years ago. As part of the process they set her a half day task to put together a treatment on less popular holiday destinations. She didn’t get the job.
But guess what? She later spotted their using the work she had done! She complained without response so she billed them for her time. Again no result. Not even an apology.
Maybe it was a rogue interviewer or was it a deliberate ploy by the website to get free input from good interviewees? I suspect however that there was no job at all.
|
>> Maybe it was a rogue interviewer or was it a deliberate ploy by the website
>> to get free input from good interviewees? I suspect however that there was no job
>> at all.
Very good mates daughter has a masters in industrial product design - forget the exact name of the masters but she worked b***** hard for it.
She went for an interview and there were several other candidates there. It was a day long affair. They were given a prototype product to look at and come up with design ideas. It was all in a group with the employers staff taking notes.
Something didn't sit right and most of the candidates went to lunch together and didn't return for the afternoon session.
She has since seen the same company advertise for the same positions time and time again.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 30 May 20 at 20:02
|
Seems like a common theme beginning..
Maybe we should beware of 'brain storming' or 'problem solving' meetings.
Reminds me of something that happened to me many years ago in the NHS.
In the late eighties I created a basic handbook for our theatre trainees (all on a floppy disc and printed using a dot matrix printer), I would gives these to all of our new starters.
Many years later when I had moved up the bandings and had less contact with the new trainees I just happened to meet up with one as they came to their final year before qualifying, flicking through their course work I was struck by some thing that seemed very familiar!
There in front of me was my handbook that had been reproduced word for word in a colourful document by the University who now ran the qualification.
Nothing I could do I guess but it just goes to show you..
|
>>printed using a dot matrix printer
Oh how I miss those.
Trying to get a printer driver working or even finding one for your brand of computer (CPM, DOS, Atari, Amiga etc.)
But the way they printed code - neat and clear on wide pages with and the time they took, I am convinced that thinking time made debugging easier!
|
>>>Oh how I miss those.
Trying to get a printer driver working or even finding one for your brand of computer (CPM, DOS, Atari, Amiga etc.)<<<<<
Brings back memories, Canon Dot Matrix - had to hack the printer drivers because it used some non standard codes. Running it on my home built UK101 (6502 based clone) and subsequently a BBC B.
If only running non standard hardware was as easy nowadays!
|
|
My kids., when they were kids, had loads of drawing paper in the form of that used continuous green and white computer stationery from those massive line printers which churned out reams of the stuff. I suppose looking back some of the content (of the used paper, not my kids drawings!!) would be considered confidential.
|
>
>> There in front of me was my handbook that had been reproduced word for word
>> in a colourful document by the University who now ran the qualification.
>>
>> Nothing I could do I guess but it just goes to show you..
Its an excepted principal, and written into most contracts of employment,that any IP you create belongs to the company that employs you.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 30 May 20 at 17:50
|
|
Maybe so but in this instant the Trust I work for had nothing to do with where it ended up, it must have passed through many hands before it got there.
|
>> Its an excepted principal, and written into most contracts of employment,that any IP you create belongs to the company that employs you.
Not a book but an aide memoire about major industries and issues for banks. Wrote it in bank 1. I went to work for bank 2, we poached an entire team from bank 3 staff joined and presented us with my aide memoire!
(About 5 pages long with things like motor industry issues: tooling, yearly price down, Kanban, rented stillages etc - everything I could think of to prevent a company being paid.)
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 30 May 20 at 20:03
|
The Sales Director has gone.
It turns out he was sending the Excel workbook out to customers to complete to get customers signed up more quickly.
The Excel workbook unfortunately described our internal processes and that is considered "secret" business information and can give customers a way of making them selves look better from a credit perspective and let rivals know how we rate businesses!!!
|
|
Whoops! Do you think that was deliberate on his part?
|
|
...I blame the person that developed the spreadsheet for him.....
|
>> ...I blame the person that developed the spreadsheet for him.....
>>
To think that far ahead would take concentration- a skill that I sadly lack (posting here for example when I abound be depriving a business of much needed cash)!
|
>> Whoops! Do you think that was deliberate on his part?
>>
Could have been, but I suspect it’s gross misconduct so minimal payout if any.
|
I would be very surprised if it was gross misconduct. Compromised out I should think.
Probably as well you didn't advertise it was your spreadsheet too widely.
|
|
What a simpleton. Apart from the secrecy aspect, give somebody a tool like that and they will massage the information they enter to get the right answer.
|
>> What a simpleton. Apart from the secrecy aspect, give somebody a tool like that and
>> they will massage the information they enter to get the right answer.
If he couldn't see who wrote the spreadsheet, he was hardly qualified to see he had dispatched the formula unprotected as well.
|
Was I Wrong? - Bromptonaut
