Difficult People Are Part of Human Evolution Too
Like the dinosaurs, they’re a necessary step on the path
I sat down at my desk, having just brought a calzone back for lunch. I was going to catch up on NBA draft night rumors during my lunch hour, but I caught a glimpse of an email from my manager.
“UREGNT — NEED WEBSITE PROGRESS UPDATE ASAP,” read the subject (her emphasis, not mine). As if she hadn’t communicated it enough already, she set Microsoft Outlook’s “Sent with High Importance” flag on the message.
So much for enjoying my lunch. I double-clicked the email to open it.
“Paul, I don’t know what is going on with the new website that you’re building. Previously I communicated to you, quite explicitly, that I am expected to show it to senior management next week. Just now I pulled up the site and found that large parts of it have no text on the various pages. Only the site design is complete.”
She continued, “I want to know why you think it is okay to embarrass me in front of management like this. Do you secretly want me to lose my job? Please reply ASAP telling me why you have left this new website in such a dreadful state, and also explain to me what your plan is to have the site complete by the end of the day Friday.”
I sighed and hit Reply.
“You did indeed communicate to me that you want to show the new website to senior management early next week. I understood that loud and clear. I told you I would have the website complete and ready to be shown by Friday afternoon of this week. I asked you if that would be acceptable, and you said yes.”
“But,” I continued, “Today is not Friday. Today is Tuesday.”
“Tweaking the site design is 95% of the work,” I explained in my reply. “I have all the text for the website in a Word document you gave me. Once the design is up to my standards, all I have to do is CTRL-C. CTRL-V a number of times and it will all be there, exactly as you requested. Your Friday afternoon deadline is in no danger.”
“OK I understand,” my manager replied about an hour later. “But do let me know if anything changes.”
