Hmmm, Indeed
Hmmm. This blog saddens me. You all but say “I don’t get comped on that.”
That is because I do get comped on it. However, I’m not sure if I will live long enough to see this deal come in. They were a phlegmatic group, these guys.
I understand that you believe engineers are sell outs possibly a hair better than sales folks. I deal with both types of contributors every day. In my experience I’ve rarely known a tech/engineer with the “what’s in it for me” attitude about doing the job expressed in this post. I’d have to estimate that over 90% of Sales people (SEs included) I’ve known have this kind of world view.
So, are engineers lacking a “what’s in it for me” attitude because (a) they see the company as one big system, or (b) they are not aware of what goes on much beyond their cubicles, or (c) they are somehow purer people, like little Chauncey Gardners from Being There. I don’t know.
I do agree that they are mighty helpful, though. I’ve been relying on them heavily to try to gain a technical understand of the products I’m selling now.
Even if this rep were imposing on your schedule, it seems like it was open. So why not help and take pride in the teamwork and effort and maybe help the company?
My schedule was free of appointments, but I had planned to use the time to follow up on items from previous appointments and prepare for upcoming ones.
I could counterargue that it would teamwork to let her think it was okay to plan important meetings at the last minute without bothering to check if anyone she needs is available. You will find that successful teams hold each other to high standards.
The Cosmodemonic Internet Concern was filled with team players. There was the team that lined up to play all of the video games, especially San Francisco Rush 2049. Then there was the team that played in all of those ping pong tournaments at the SF office. And don’t forget the team that stopped bothering to show up at work. The CIC had no shortage of team players.
Maybe I didn’t explain this very well, but my stress was coming from annoyance at my territory doubled without my knowledge and fear from being asked to run a sales call I wasn’t sure I was ready to handle yet. And I was trying to manage my stress in real time so that I wouldn’t come off as the type of person that you describe.
I imagine they give you a base salary there… If you help to build a supportive team oriented environment in your new sales org instead of the hyper-competitive self-centered sales org you find in most companies maybe you will get to W2 another goddamn 383K one day.
Well, I probably have a few years left in me before I keel over.
They do give sales a base salary. It’s not that high, so that we are incented to go out and sell. That is another difference between here and the CIC.
If not, you may end up hoping some recruiter types spring for the latte when this company is g-o-n-e too. You’re absolutely right about one thing though – with that kind of attitude, you’re not a resource.
Now that I have been given sign-off power on all SE hires, I seriously doubt that is anyone’s perception of me here.
All I was trying to do was explain my thought processes as I was fighting through the stress of an obnoxious — and frankly terrifying — request so that I could do the right thing for the company.
At The Beloved Cosmodemonic Internet Concern, I would have internalized the stress until I found a handy sales and marketing person and then blast them. Now that I’m starting over at a new job, I’m trying to avoid the same mistakes.
My heart bleeds for your stress.
Well, that might be going a little far. But I really do appreciate you keeping me honest.
That reminds me… I had lunch with someone who visited The Cosmodemonic Internet Concern And Market Cap Incinerator for the first time. He was astounded at the exercise room, multiple video games on each floor, computer lab on each floor, the decorations on the second floor, the complete lack of asset tags on any hardware, and all of the empty window offices. He works for a company that is actually profitable and expects to be around in a year. That’s why he said he felt like he stepped in to an alternate business universe.
And yes, “let go of my ears…” is a reference to oral sex.
And they were wooden chopsticks.
November 22nd, 2002 at 6:53 pm
The engineers don’t face the black and white (red and green) issues that sales people face every day. So they find value in other aspects of their work. Which in a way is what’s in it for them. Some of them actually enjoy what they do for the creative or problem solving aspects even if they’re sell outs and not really research scientists. Which may make them purer people after all – but that’s up to individual interpretaion.
I think a lot of them are tuned into things going on beyond their cubes. I’m certain not as much as the average sales resource – they have less social time and generally less social “skill”. They don’t have quarterly kick-offs and clubs and all the boondoggles. And the engineering VP’s don’t generally spend much time trying to micro-manage every aspect of what the front-line engineers are doing. They don’t have to – the engineers generally have their heads down working a greater percentage of their time. That doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of what’s going on.
I wouldn’t argue that the CIC model was anything to strive for – all the teams you mentioned existed. But then again, so did teams that worked 10-12 hours every day and would drop everything to help some Rep or SE who called at 4:30 or even 7:30 to ask for a last minute “favor” well beyond their job description. And ask is putting it nicely for a lot of them – far too many act as if everyone in the company is at their bidding. You know sales is a world full of self-important Prima-fucking-donnas. My point is that as an SE, dealing with that is a fair portion of the job description so why get stressed about it? You chose the dark side, don’t whine about it to us! You don’t have to defend what you were trying to say. It didn’t come off as self-centered as my initial comments indicate. But when you’re putting it out there for the world to see, we will be watching.
Unfortunately for CIC the ease of early success and the excesses of senior management became contagious. A lot of people actually started to believe that things were supposed to be that way and they were entitled to millions for a small amount of work due to their sheer brilliance. There were a lot of clueless screwjobs wandering around believing their own hype. We were victims of our own success – doomed to failure because the greedheads at the top came to expect the money falling from the sky and when it stopped could only flail about aimlessly hoping to stumble across the next BIG THING. They didn’t know what to do so they gambled and bought other companies hoping maybe they were IT. Pity those acquired by the CIC, no matter how arrogant. THEY NEVER HAD A CHANCE.
I’m familiar with the technique of lashing out at a handy sales or marketing person. It gets me through many dark days while waiting for the end.
Good writing is rewriting. I like that your page changed on me during my composition. The same 10th grade english teacher that made me appreciate two spaces between sentences made me appreciate rewriting. Oddly enough the online Strunk & White says nothing about two spaces. And the browser strips them out in presentation. Maybe we made it up?
December 28th, 2002 at 4:11 pm
The online Strunk & White is only Strunk.