Dan 5: New Bosses-Weird Responses

Dan the Hyper-Active Boss Man has hit a roadblock of sorts. The new executive management that came in - a Board and new President where once there were only a pair of brother-partners - these new bosses give weird responses to everything that Dan does or says or proposes.

"Weird responses" - What would that be?

That's... That is... why... it's weird. It's hard to make out.

It's easy to dislike Dan. He's very in-your-face with his enthusiasms and aggressions, his good humour and his funks, with his ideas and his opinions. Dan is, if nothing else, transparent and unsubtle. "Honest" as a bottom-line word that might not be heard a lot around the business world, but there you have it: that's what Dan is - honest about what he says, does, is.

One would think, if one were above Dan on the corporate food chain, that Dan would be easy to manage. He's certainly eager to please. You can tell him straight off Yes or No and, though he might disagree (and offer a better alternative), he will obey. He will strive to do his best - and make his department do its best. He may strive too hard sometimes and Dan could benefit from some "parental" guidance in these matters more than he gets. "Be a little softer, Dan" or "Try approaching this less head-on" or "Remember, Dan, your staff have lives outside of this place." But those things are never said, probably because Dan's doing what they want done - and taking the heat for their directives. Or they're tired and don't care that much any more: they are "Legacy" Veeps, after all. Or maybe they care even less about those under them than Dan does: he's a hard-driving boss, but a softie inside who's never fired anyone and protects his people like a mother hen. Dunno.

But that was before, anyway. Now the Legacy Veeps are mainly silent, wondering where they'll fit in the new regime, and pronunciamentos come from a level higher.

The new President has already brought in a number of consultants to help him "get up to speed and speed up the process" - folks who sometimes look as if their temporary offices are being outfitted for permanency. The Official Statements come from this new cabal, a far more coherent group than the turf-fighting Legacy Veeps. (A very beneficial side effect of the current situation is the apparent truce amongst the warring factions. They may be backstabbing one another in private conversations with the new regime, but the open warfare that caught so many of us minions in the crossfire has been replaced by a tentative peace.)

Back to Dan, the Hyper-Active Boss Man: because Dan is so straightforward and honest, it is easy to react to him, positively or negatively.

But the new regime doesn't respond to Dan either way.

Dan says "Hello" - they nod with that distant, "I don't know you but I'm polite" expression typical of the Queen of England on public display.

Dan provides a year-end progress report that doubles the previous year's output - there is a curious review of the numbers, but no questions.

Before the new President was installed, Dan prepared a 5-Year business plan outlining a bold new approach for the company to take. Part show-off, part honest proposal, the plan was detailed; offered some very perceptive analyses of the company, the marketplace, and the company's place in the marketplace; was, no matter what else, an impressive piece of work.

There has been silence about it ever since the first, one-phrase reviews from the Board a month ago.

There was a big meeting of the executives, directors and managers last week. Several directors and managers came back midway to pick up their messages and commented that Dan was singled out for particularly hard questioning - but the kind of questioning that seemed to come from left field and did not address any of the issues that were supposedly being discussed that day.

By the same token, before the big meeting day was ended, Dan was assured that his accomplishments of the previous year insured his position this year. Everyone, in fact, was offered reassurances - but Dan was singled out.

Still, they are having a meeting next week on planning and Dan's department is not part of it.

Still, they have approved an expansion of his department, to begin in the next quarter.

Still... There's such a left-hand, right-hand dichotomy that Dan is starting to feel confused and unsure - of himself. This is a man incredibly eager to please and do what the company wants, and they send very weird messages.