So the, yet to be named, replacement for the The(NowThankfullyDeparted)Professor commenced at SML two weeks ago.
Really very corporate, honestly not a great fit, somewhat (okay, extremely) pompous. But, hey, while he is doing the job I really wanted, he is also doing the job I would not touch for, well, many things. And maybe he can shake up the peeps who need a strong management hand.
Being there a whole two weeks, of course he knows everything and we are all idiots &etc. I’ve already been lectured a couple of times on how SML processes work (which of course is not how they work at all), but nonetheless I was willing to not condemn him utterly.
That was until we were both in a meeting with Hecate yesterday …
He (let’s call him Knut) was sitting across from me, I was madly scribbling notes (and I mean scribbling – a total mess) to write up later and, in the middle of a discaussion, leaned across the desk, pointed to an (incomprehensible) word and said “you’ve spelled that wrong“.
How is he even still alive?
I’m very much looking forward to our future interactions, I’m sure they will be just as delightful!
I have experienced something similar in my work with someone who has been in post for two weeks. There should be a rule that new people aren’t allowed to talk for at least a month.
I’ve overwhelmingly found that the newbies who spend time quietly sussing out the lie of the land are those who end up being the most pleasant to work with. As I’m not a massive tool, I really don’t understand the need for dick-swinging.
Apparently Knut was quite combative in his second interview with h’Aggie (our very high achieving go-getter consultant, who is here for a process review) – so a great choice all round.