Just Make It Work
One of my consistent frustrations with many other IT people (read: computer nerds) is there is a direct relationship between their personal knowledge base and expertise and their sense of self-worth. Ergo, to question the decisions or actions of many IT people is akin to questioning their identity as a human.
This leads to the type of behavior lampooned by Jimmy Fallon in the Saturday Night Live sketch “Nick Burns: Your Company Computer Guy,” where a lisping nerd know-it-all comes and treats his internal clients with condescension while he solves what to him are trivial problems.
At least Nick Burns can figure out how the problems with which he’s presented. I’m willing to accommodate a certain amount of boorish, annoying, or arrogant behavior if someone is good at what they do. I call it the “House Principle,” a la the booring, annoying, and arrogant Dr. House on TV. But the most difficult situation is when someone has behaves in that manner yet doesn’t have a clue what in the hell they are talking about.
This is where the real problems arise, because challenging this person’s statements or decision results in them taking personal affront to your skepticism because their sense of self-worth is completely ingrained with their knowledge. It becomes not an issue of (for example), “Why is our outgoing email being sent from the IP 123.456.789.0 rather than 123.456.789.1″ but an issue of them hearing your question as a statement proclaiming, “You’re an incompetent idiot, and a moron.” The result is a hyper-defensive over-reaction. There are three letter acronyms thrown about (some of which may be made up on the spot), software vendors are cursed, and excuses are made.
The situation boils down to someone refusing to accept responsibility for either making a mistake or not having had the necessary knowledge…or both. Thing is, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t make mistakes and I don’t know anyone who knows everything, so I’m not in the least shocked when such a situation comes up.
I haven’t yet figured out how to communicate to this type of individual without investing an inordinate amount of time into ego stroking. You see, I just want it to work. Whatever it is, just make it work. I don’t care if you made a mistake or didn’t know something at the time of configuration, I don’t care about why there’s no way you could have known this, I don’t care hearing about the incompetencies of Microsoft, I DON’T CARE. JUST. MAKE. IT. WORK.
