Cynicism, Negativity or Experience?

22 Jul 2010

Picture the scene. IT announces the new company-wide software is going live over the weekend, and will be up and running on Monday. You respond with "Yeah, right, I'll not rush in early just to try it. Friday maybe."
You are scorned and accused of variously being 'the office cynic' or 'always the negative one'. Is it wrong? Well it was a real situation, and the software went in - but it didn't work and had been on/off all day and finally taken down in the afternoon for fixing.
So was I psychic? No, it just wasn't the first new software implimentation and the company in question hadn't managed to get a large new software in on time AND working in the 18 years I had been there. Not their fault maybe - big implimenttations into dispparate networks is rarely slick.
But the question is : is it wrong to make such comments since saying negative things is inherently bad? Is cynicism a reasonable response in this case? Should comments based on almost 2 decades of experience be seen as valid?
Or is the interpretation based on the mood (or pay grade) of the listener?

22 Jul 2010

said exactly the same thing about the new chatroom newsletter....
and we hang on till the bitter end before we update our internet explorer n windows n everything....rather let someone else be the guinea pigs and have a bug free version... wink

22 Jul 2010

reverse the comments..
'what guarantee will you give us of continuous service / transparancy of switchover.'
let them dig their own graves lol

That's not a negative statement, it's one probing for a quality of service. It would certainly make them think. It would also highlight the potential issues to the other users.

22 Jul 2010

When it has come from previous experience and is constructive, sometimes it can be useful, but only if not done the 'raincloud of impending doom' tone from a regular naysayer. :lol: You know the sort... deputy dawg drawl! Or the ones who cheerfully exclaim in a smug 'know it all' tone that it's not going to work. It just puts peoples back up.
I've a friend who works with a couple of naysayers and they drag the rest of the team down over and over again with their rampant negativity, to the point where he thinks... what is the point? The two actively encourage bad practice; such as not completing adequate required paperwork and then take great gloating glee to point out others faults to the boss when the hardworkers do make the effort, but maybe there is a small mistake. :rolleyes:
It's sugaring the pill that counts sometimes, along with choosing the time, place and person very carefully to make the needed comment/question.
Sometimes, no matter what you say, it will be the wrong time, place or person! :lol:

23 Jul 2010

To be honest, you just give up. The same crap every time there is new software, or even an update. The question is, why should I put up with it without saying anything? At work it's always "don't make a fuss, it won't change anything" well it bloody should! Or maybe even, let's get really radical here, the people RESPONSIBLE could actually make it work - just once - maybe - please - once?
We're forced to make plans on dates we know they will fail to meet. We then have to explain to OUR customers that they won't get the course they have booked on and paid for. It's never the numpties that (we knew in advance would) fail that have to do that - it's us. Guess who gets the bad reviews, on which our job prospects rest?
Constructive input - impliment a system that does what we agreed it would do, it didn't work, fix it. Apart from telling them over and over again how to do their job, how much more constructive do I need to be?