Fighting The “Seth” Out!

1.They have the brilliant idea!
Invariably these people have brilliant ideas to make money but have neither the skills nor the capability to do anything themselves. So they hire a techie or a team of techies to work for them. This is good so far as they remain at that position. But since this is their brilliant idea, they assume that this is being done for the first time. Your experience does not count. Always praise the idea but this is the point where you set your role, of the doer and of the experienced doer. Do not emotionally tie yourself to the idea. There are many external factors that can lead to collapse of this idea, not in your control.

2.They even know people who can advice in the ‘network’
So whatever you do, there is a friend who would verify, support or reject your work. I fail to understand this but hey, good, let some one take the responsibility of bad decisions.

3.Yet they want you to work:
They are always in a hurry, so they always want you to decide (maybe because the friend is out of town). Continue to work as long as you are paid.

4.And they want to jump in:
Nervous as they are to make money, the will jump all up and down, without any professional considerations. So you can walk in one morning and see your junior most employee talking or disclosing the project status to the Seth. Well then you can surely spend the whole day explaining the situation to the Seth. This is particularly a bad day at work. Mark it as a bad day and move on.

5.They can’t find their role in development so:
They will spoil the game by contacting the outsourced partners at any time. Picking up points from your status email and asking them questions that are qualitative and subjective. This is to annoy the hell out of you. The best solution is to take a look outside the window or smoke a cigarette.

6.The friends tell them scary stories:
Now you have to argue and win every scenario that has been built by their friends, from earthquake to terrorist attack to hacker attack. I use this point in projects to get more money for the project. I have been successful more times than not

7.They decide to change the requirement:
The brilliant idea is modified in his head and this is the point to change the system. It is never too late for them, they insist. Use this point to ask for more time and more money.

8.They call you after office hours:
Try to calm yourself down first, don’t get swayed by someone else’s emotions. It is their psychological problem, nervous to the core, they have either over heard or have called someone in their office after you have left. Always tell them that you would talk about it tomorrow and only for their comfort tell them that you know why this is happening!

9.They come late the next morning:
When you have prepared in head all the answers and reach the office 5 minutes before your usual arrival time, you will see the Seth walking in two hours later. The reason? He is losing faith in the project and now wants you to be in charge.

10.They come early on the launch day:
Accept it, it was their brilliant idea.

And you thought you were the project manager, CTO, CIO or anything important? The only way you’ll really make headway with the Seth is if you can get him to admit those three letters in a scrambled sort of way. So if one day you have an hour long discussion to explain why your decision is the right one, getting him to say “O I C” might be the first step in making your designation enter the mainstream!•