I’ve had this experience many times — people will
internalise their limitations and assume that their
best is the best possible. Etc..
Man, yeah. I've never found a way to really do this well.The closest I've come to a winning formula here is to 1. Build a relationship where you have given praise and positive feedback to the individual's other efforts, privately and publicly. To be 100% clear here I'm talking legitimate praise here, not butt-kissing. 2. Find a way for the "victim" to share in your achievement somehow. Help him save face. "Bob and I were looking at ways to optimize the batch job etc etc, and we found a way... etc etc." People who know you and "Bob" will understand who really did the work. That said, I would say my success at this sort of thing has been pretty low (although I am on a positive winning streak of one positive outcome in a row...) He’d accepted the impact on his personal life, after
many arguments about his work hours with his wife, etc…
Oh jeez. The... the pathos here is overwhelming. |
> Oh jeez. The... the pathos here is overwhelming.
A landmine I've stepped on multiple times is that this type of scenario is sometimes not tragic, but actually a form of soft corruption: after hours work gets overtime pay! "Fixing" these issues can cut into people's salaries very significantly, perhaps reducing their pay to less than half. They're obviously going to fight you every step of the way, without ever saying the real reason for why they're really opposed to your helpful suggestions.