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Just pulled off a "wally reflector"...

nublikescake

nublikescake

Senior member
So I'm in a meeting along with everyone who's working on project xyz. This other guy in the office who's working on another deliverable (for the same project that we're working on) wants input from our team for his deliverable. It's not something that's very hard but it does require quite a bit of time because of the scale of the project. He tries to verbally describe what he wants from us and we nod our heads. The Project Manager is about to close the issue, i.e. about to agree that we'll try to provide him with the input in a format that he likes and one that is practical for him .... but no.....my corporate survival instinct kicks in and I use the "wally reflector" just in time to save our asses! 😎

Behold the wally reflector!

I ask him very nicely to provide us with a template that illustrates how this input should be so we could follow it and make it easy for him to implement the great amount of input that we will generate for his deliverable. The boss likes the idea and postpones the issue until this guy is able to provide us with this template. And I should mention for completeness that this guy is super busy. 😉

/Flame suit on! :evil:


Edit: Oh! I'm humbled by the accolades! It seems that I've struck a chord with ATOTers who realize the value of maintaining their sanity in today's dog-eat-dog reality of the corporate world. Please feel free to impart with other useful Corporate Survival Skills that you have honed over the years. In due time, we may have an invaluable library of such "skills" which any Tom, Dick or Harry can benefit from. I'm sure there's enough corporate sleaziness in ATOT to make this happen!
 
Good work. Keep it up! It's an amazing tactic that works very well. It's all one big game anyway and the better you play it the more fun it is and less work to boot.

I also like the bullet proof shield. When a missile is coming your way simply deflect it to somebody else.
 
I love it. By the time he completes the template he will realize he doesn't need your help, but you come off looking like you are still a team-player. Well done!
 
Originally posted by: hungfarover
I didn't know there was a name for this, but I do it all the time. 🙂
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ya, me too. recently i used it on a customer to get a few weeks to finish another project. worked well.
 
Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Seems like a dick move to me. Guess I just don't know.
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Yeah it is a dick move. Watch the guy build a template and provide it to you by tomorrow and then suggest for the input you provide to be detailed and documented a certain way.
 
Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Seems like a dick move to me. Guess I just don't know.
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Maybe, but it makes the other person think through their request and figure out exactly what they need.

With a vague request for "stuff" you could waste time gathering information they don't need, while leaving out what they do.

 
Originally posted by: Legendary
I do this all the time. The comic is right on point for me since I do database reporting. 😀
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Scene: A coworker is passing you in the hall and says, hey Legendary, can you generate a report on blah, blah, blah for this database. Sure buddy, I have a TPS form you can fill out with the detailed specifications. Get it back to me and I'll add it to my todo list. Have a nice day.
😀

 
Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Seems like a dick move to me. Guess I just don't know.
Click to expand...

You will learn that the importance of a task is often times inversely proportional to the amount of effort required by the one originating the task. In other words, it is far more important that the task be accomplished if all he has to do is delegate. If it requires actual work on his part, it becomes less urgent to complete.
 
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