Stanislav Kelman - Essay #3
Question: Describe a situation when you questioned your values and/or beliefs.
A company that I used to work for outsourced most of their Information Technology functions to an outside consultant, who also provided them with "custom-built" computers.
Before ordering a machine for me, my manager gave me a detailed $4,000 estimate. Not only did it include a number of specialized components that were absolutely not necessary for my job, but this supposedly "low-cost" desktop was actually considerably more expensive than comparable ones from major brand suppliers.
I told my boss that if he lets me pick a computer for myself, I could get one that would be more than adequate for about $2,500. A week later, I had a brand new Gateway on my desk and, for over a year, I couldn't be happier with my choice.
But one day, the CD-ROM drive failed. I called Gateway's warranty support and asked for a replacement. They politely informed me that their records indicated that my machine didn't come with one. Their database also showed a number of other significant discrepancies. However, they admitted that this was perhaps a mistake and promised to remedy the situation as soon as I provided them with a copy of the original invoice.
Unfortunately, the invoice in question seemed to have mysteriously vanished. But when a representative of the consulting company found out about my misfortunes, he immediately stopped by and installed a new drive for me, free of charge. Such sudden eagerness to please was totally unexpected and suspicious.
It took me some time, but eventually I realized what really happened. Evidently, the consulting company ordered a "bare bones" PC, installed some generic parts, resealed the box, and sold it to us as a genuine Gateway. Their only problem was that the components that they used were so cheap that they were bound to fail, exposing the scam.
Outraged, I went back to my manager and told him the whole story. However, he advised me not to publicly raise the issue as it could cost me my job. Apparently, the president of the consulting company had personal connections in our upper management. Nevertheless, my boss and I decided to stop using outside consultants for our departmental IT needs.
Four months later, I switched jobs and was happy to no longer work in a corrupt environment. But to this day, I wonder if I should have had more courage to speak up.
Stanislav Kelman - Essay #4
Question: What do you find most challenging about working with a group?
Due to the fact that all of my recent jobs were in mature industries, most people that I work with are senior to me and generally set in the ways they think. With such individuals, I find it particularly difficult to challenge the Status Quo.
For instance, when I started working for the Slant/Fin Corporation, I was surprised to learn that some of their practices for handling sensitive documents were severely outdated. Inadequate security measures and lack of proper directory structure often lead to much confusion and even occasional data loss.
Having worked in environments that were far more efficient, I knew that a series of relatively simple administrative measures could remedy the situation. Among other things, I developed guidelines for document storage and implemented appropriate file system permissions.
For a while, introducing these and other changes put me at odds with some people who, in the many years with the company, got accustomed to doing things the "old way." But eventually, they realized that the new IT infrastructure actually allowed them to work faster and more efficiently.
However, it is not always that I can be successful in introducing new ideas. This is particularly problematic when working on projects involving military contracts. Because any proposed changes to a product design need to be approved by various governmental agencies and rigorously tested, it takes a lot of effort to implement even the most straight forward improvements.
Having a background in computer-aided optimization, I am amazed by how rarely I am asked to perform analysis that could potentially lead to increased performance and cost savings. At one time, after spending almost half a year refining a particular modeling tool, I was suddenly told to stop my work and even precluded from writing a report on my findings. Apparently, some people were simply unwilling to face the fact that our existing design was less than optimal.
However, I don't often give up this easily. In particular, ever since I was transferred to Vermont, I've been advocating the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software as a way to reduce our dependence on expensive wind tunnel testing. I have written various proposals and even organized an in-house presentation by a leading CFD vendor.
So far, I've had only limited success getting my point across. Nevertheless, if there is one thing I've learned about working in teams, it is that patience is a virtue.