Complexity

I came across this family tree of US Telecommunications companies:
http://www.neatorama.com/neat/family-tree-telecommunication.htm

This quote caught my eye:
"Since the very first telephone companies were founded, it seems that telecommunication companies never do business as just one entity when ten would do. Whatever the reason - be it compliance with local regulations, taking advantages of tax loopholes, obfuscation or simply fondness of complexity - subsidiaries and complex corporate structures are the raison d'être for these companies."

It seems complexity is a family trait for Terry that he just can't shake off.

Unwarranted Optimism

Terry hates change; change is bad because it might result in his formal 'job description' changing. Heavens that would be dreadful.   What often happens is that some Terries may identify this and hire in some non-Terries from elsewhere. They might come in with unbridled optimism and try to 'fix things'.  Unfortunately as the narrative above explains, this most often results in unwarranted optimism because Terry and  his Immune System (see below) often comes to the rescue and kills any such optimism before it can flourish.  

Effort

A few weeks ago I was working on a project whereby I needed to get some slides to review. It was getting late on Friday and I was to take a flight home, so I asked Terry to give me the slides so I could read them on my flight home. Terry refused because his union rules only allowed him to work 32 hours a week. Despite my not being in the union, he told me that he was not allowed to encourage others to work more than him. He sent me the slides the following Monday.

Terry & Process

Terry loves process. Processes are necessary in order to build & deliver consistent services but process for process' sake is bad.

It always amazes me how many processes are required to get anything done with Terry. This process bloat seriously hampers the time taken to get a service to market. I've lost count of the number of projects where there appears to be more delivery (aka process) managers than there are people actually delivering the product or service.

Every now and again I hear that the bloat will be stripped away (along with the associated middle management) but it always creeps (often runs) back in and we're back to process bloat in no time.

Maybe it's because Terry is very comfortable when he has a process to follow - it's like a comfort blanket for him, he doesn't need to think for himself he's just following the process or maybe it's a symptom of a large company where people have to find someway to appear useful & important in order to perpetuate their justification for being employed?

Dilbert & Terry (2)

Allen is Terry!

Meetings

Terry loves meetings. A day full of meetings is a very predictable
way of spending another day in the office, or even a day at home when they are held via teleconference.

However, meetings can be deceptive just like e-mail. They can give the false satisfaction of a good days work when little has really been achieved.

It always surprises me when I attend a meeting that is full of lots of people yet only a small number of the attendees ever speak. The organiser often seems to have invited everyone under the sun and I am never sure whether this is because they want to avoid offending anyone by not inviting them, or just that they've invited everyone they know to justify having a meeting.

I am always amazed that people also seem to have the time to attend meetings where they don't contribute, maybe they just like attending meetings even if they're not relevant to their work or maybe they're in the wrong place but too embarrassed to 'fess up. The other day I was sat in a meeting and just as it was about to start someone rushed in and sat down. We did some introductions and it was clear that he was in the wrong room as his job was completely different to everyone else's. As the meeting was just a meet & greet I didn't say anything and neither did anyone else. It was almost an hour before he realised he was in the wrong place. Incredible!

Terry Cloth

Terry’s dress code is one of conformance. He must not stray from the standard issue outfit comprised of a sensibly nice grey (or other monochromatic color scheme) suit from M&S and a matching tie. Once every ten or fifteen years Terry makes a periodic trip to his local M&S, buying two pairs of trousers and one jacket to ensure it will last until his next trip. He prefers mixed wool/polyester as it tends to outlast pure wool, or sometimes 100% polyester as it is cheaper. Terry wears sensible black leather shoes with this outfit – just like the ones his mum bought him when he was a schoolboy.

Changing any of these things (or any other kind) would be very upsetting to Terry. He will not deviate from this Plan of Record. Deviation from this standard outfit upsets Terry as it might result in discord and discontent. Terry is Change Averse. Terry likes to wrap himself in his warm and safe Terry Cloth.