| My first entry into the notes file. I'm one of your missing
Honeywellers - Lorraine Morse at MURPHY::MORSE. I'm just completing
my first year in Marketing, and "hit the wall" at 3 months, 6 months,
9 months with final acceptance coming after 10 months - this can
be a frustrating company to work in. Survival is learning how to
manage the frustration. When I finally accepted that frustration
was normal, I felt that I had "arrived". It's often difficult in
marketing to feel that I've made a difference. I stuck it out at
Honeywell for as long as I did (8 years), because with each new
assignment, I felt that I could make a difference. Being a slow
learner, it took me a long time to accept that the political system
was impossible to overcome. After the image product that I was
working on was killed, I gave up. Trying to get image products
in Digital has been as frustrating as it was in Honeywell, so after
one year in my present job, I'm looking to make a change. The good
news is that there are all kinds of exciting opportunities, and
although I was a "little fish in a big pond", I apparently didn't
go unnoticed as I have several possibilities. The most important
piece of advice that I can share is that follow through is very
important here at Digital. Building and maintaining credibility
is extremely important. In marketing, our jobs can only get done
by working with many others inside and outside of our group, so
having a good reputation goes a long way.
Just some thoughts from another part of the organization - Lorraine
Morse
|
| Although I had strong feelings on this subject when I first read
the basenote, I waited before replying, to have a little more
experience at DEC (I've only been here 2 months).
Before I left Honeywell, I gave a great deal of thought to giving
up my "medium fish" position there. And although I technically
made a lateral move (project leader there, project leader here),
there is alot to be said for the reputation one leaves behind.
It takes a long time to build a good reputation (not as long to
build a bad one :-) )
The problem here at DEC (in my organization at least) is that it
seems almost impossible to build any sort of a reputation at all!
The senior people here do not appear to be very willing to share
their knowledge and experiences. In my experience, the people with
the knowledge & experience at Honeywell were much more open and
helpful. Here, getting information is like pulling teeth! I am
taking over as project leader in a month for someone who is leaving
the company to go to business school. For a very long time, I was
constantly left out of (not told about) meetings, left off distribution
lists, etc. Things have started to improve, but slowly, and due
in great part to my own efforts. This seems terribly
counter-productive to me. When I was at Honeywell, the group(s)
I worked for did everything they could to get the new "kids" up
to speed. When I left, I did everything possible to help the new
project leader know what was going on, who was who for which purpose,
etc. That type of support system does not appear to exist here.
Why? Are people too afraid of "competition" from their co-workers?
I know 2 months in a job is not a long time. And don't misunderstand
- I do not regret the move, and would certainly never go back.
But these feelings are not mine alone. Our group has doubled in
size (from 6 to 12) in the last 3 months. All but one of the new
people are senior people, with 4 or more years experience. And
the feeling of being regarded as a tadpole (not even a little fish)
is very prevalent.
One final observation: The technical people that have been here
for a while are held in SUCH high regard - length of service is
everything! I have heard conversations between engineers, all with
significant lengths of service, and the one with the LONGest length
of service will pipe up and say "Well *I* think it should be this
way.* And it is! Period. No discussion. This too as been very
difficult for me to accept. Everyone's opinion has some worth,
and everyone is capable of shedding some light, I think. But not
around here. It's too bad. And maybe it'sjust that way in this
organization.
If this note sounds like I am unhappy here, I'm not. But I think
it's going to be a long time before I am thought of as a
significant-size fish!
Lynne
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