Re: I have been asked to leave the company for having spotted serious security breaches

From: Patrick J. LoPresti (patl_at_users.sourceforge.net)
Date: 02/04/05 

Date: 04 Feb 2005 17:20:40 -0500

"William Stacey [MVP]" <staceywREMOVE@mvps.org> writes:

> At the surface, George is absolutely right to do what he did. In
> fact, it was his job to do it (if he is an admin/security person).

Well, yes and no. Once he brought the issue to his boss's attention
and she made up her mind to ignore it, the responsibility for any
resulting problem was hers, not his. Every organization recognizes
this, which is one reason companies love memos.

Where final decisions are concerned, your boss is always right by
definition. If you find that your boss is often wrong (or rather,
that YOU are often wrong, because your boss cannot be), then it is
time to get a new boss. Raising issues with your boss's boss is one
way to do that; no matter who wins in such an escalation, you are
unlikely to keep the same reporting structure for long. This appears
to be what happened to George.

> However, sometimes it may be the way we say things that gets us into
> trouble, not what we say. Not saying that is case here, but maybe
> what the issue was. If it was based strickly on technical merits,
> please send them here to discuss why you (George) is correct.

Certainly. In my experience, many technical people confuse
"technically correct" with "correct because the boss has made up his
mind". And an awful lot of technical types have trouble with the
concept of "not your decision to make".

Any organization with more than a handful of people works like this.
That is why it is so important to find a job where the management
generally sees things your way.

 - Pat

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