Strictly Brawlroom

Why is it that work is such a huge part of my life? I wish I had the capacity to just punch in/punch out and look at it objectively. Unfortunately I have too many loose wires inside to tone it down, play the game and roll with it. I am waist (waste) deep in a battle to do my job, but I keep getting tangled in bullshit, process, lameness and turmoil. What happened to letting people who specialize in marketing create the marketing stuff?



Case in point: Our new "policy" on creating partnerships within the agency makes perfect sense. In a perfect world, we would get objective feedback, insight, ideas and move forward. Now when I ask for feedback and input, certain folks rise to the occasion to revisit any wrong they have ever felt, bitch about their duties/job/boss/workload, or be deliberately difficult. WTF? Dude, if you hate your job, quit. If only I could practice what I preach.

"Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss." The Who.
I didn't get the drift of Roger Daltry's lyrics until just recently. Funny how a 37 year old song can be so apt in my life today. I was told yesterday that the submissions I was asked to write for two awards applications were being pulled. I'm being punished for raising a dissenting opinion to our new esteemed director. Such tactics only sell the agency short. I'm sure someone will win a prize for innovative digital media in the future, but it won't be me this year, that has been made clear. This new culture of micromanaging and "collaboration" is such a farce. I'm disheartened to say the least.

The exciting thing is that we're introducing a new media project to the masses. I think it will help make a glut of information digestible to new potential riders of public transportation. New turf. New method. People should be hyped, for sure.

Yet my partner in the project and I are already being told that "We'll talk at the de-brief meeting about how it should have went..." and bullshit like that. Can we finish the fucking project before you start telling us what we did wrong? What the fuck, dude? In this so called "team" environment I have had my spirit dented, reeled in, severed and then trampled on.

"The director is above reproach. You must respect the hierachy." Ok, I'll be happy too. How about if he respects our hard work, our long days to make the shoot happen, our efforts to find foreign language translators and get the project off the ground. Correct me if I am wrong, sir, but didn't we start this project before you worked here? It seems the only person not totally stoked on what we came up with is you. Again I ask, what the fuck?

Cut bait and screw? I don't want to, but I'm frustrated beyond belief. My "boss" won't go to bat for me because she respects the hierachy. Lame. I remember the first big meeting with the new boss who said he "wouldn't be one to mircro manage" and he would "let his good people do what they do best." I wish I had a tape recorder, but alas, I took him at his word.

The worst part of this whole deal is that my partner in crime (KJ) and I have risen to the challenge, plowed new terrain and learned an awful lot in the process. Nothing is worse than being shot at by your own team. The absurdity of it all is pleasantly ironic. In the future my director wants to become more digital, but he alienated the two people who actually took the bull by the horns and launched a digital project. That is irony of the tallest order.

This place is started to really gnaw at my innards. I hate my job this week, and I hate myself for allowing that to happen. Help me Obi Jan, you're my only hope...