Re: Should I Be Worried?

[David <david () hayes-family org>]

On Wednesday 26 April 2006 02:27 pm, CrYpTiC MauleR wrote:
> Forgot to say that the VP of Software Dev who is in charge of the site 
said he would do an emergency fix in 6 hours to fix the problem. As I 
expected the problem is still there. Either he is a moron and didn't 
understand me or they just tried to give the impression they were 
fixing it. 

I usually believe in full disclosure, but you're jumping here when it's 
not necessary.  You got a "yes" answer.  Why are you in such a hurry to 
hear it as a "no"?  Take the man at his word until he proves himself 
untrustworthy.  For now, believe that he is interested and does want to 
fix it.  

Possibility A:  He misunderstood

        Go meet with him again, and explain the problem.  Make yourself
        some drawings or notes to explain what the problem is.  If you 
        think you might want to offer to demonstrate the problem, be sure
        you bring someone with you to act as a witness.  If the school
        gets upset, you may need to prove you acted with the VP's consent.
        Keep copies of whatever drawing or notes you give as part of
        your explanation of the problem.

Possibility B:  It's more complicated than a 6-hour fix

        He's already had the staff take a swipe at fixing it, but it couldn't
        be done for some reason.  A fix takes more than just coding the fix.
        Meet with the VP, and also with whatever IT engineer he assigned to
        handle the issue.  Try to understand what roadblocks they ran into.

Either way, go back and meet with the VP.  He's your ally right now.  
You both have the same interest, fixing the problem.  Work with him 
until he demonstrates that he's not interested in a fix.

--
David Hayes

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