Recognition for a Loser
I was called in to the CIO's office yesterday.
Yes, I freaked out.
Not long after I got here the CIO's admin sent me an email to see if I'd have a few minutes around 12:45. Seems the big man wanted to "touch base" with me on something. *gulp* Of course I said yes because 1) I didn't have any meetings then and 2) I can't see saying no to the man. She did tell me it was a good thing but that didn't stop the nerves.
So at 12:42 I get to his office on the ninth floor...and I'm met by the head of IT Security. WTF? At this point I'm not only nervous I'm frantically trying to think of what sites I've been surfing on work time lately! We go into the The Man's office where we all shake hands and they start talking about what a great job I've been doing on The Project From Hell and it was a really tough decision and even though I lost they wanted to recognize me for my contributions, etc.
I finally asked what they meant by a tough decision and what exactly did I lose? Seems one of my co-workers on TPFH nominated me for a Platinum Rock IT award. We do these things called Rock IT where we nominate each other for a gold CD when someone goes above and beyond to help us out. The gold ones are monthly. The Platinum Rock IT basically means you moved heaven and earth to fix something, help out a project, solve the problem of world peace, whatever and are done quarterly.
I was nominated for the fourth quarter of 2011. And lost.
I didn't know I was even nominated until yesterday so I'd had no idea I was a loser. Anyway they told me that the decision had been super hard and the committee had gone back and forth between me and the gal who won. They talked to our team mates, our bosses, our project teams, pretty much everyone they could get a hold of to try to make the decision. The deciding factor was that her project is done and in production while mine doesn't have the signature on the contract yet. Totally understand - why reward me for something that may never be used if we don't sign off, right?
But The Man and the committee felt that it was so close that they needed to recognize me for my work anyway. Thus the meeting with the CIO and the head of IT Security (who is also the chair of the committee, which explains his presence). I got a nice thank you card, a $50 Visa gift card and got to talk face to face with the CIO for ten minutes. For losing.
Sometimes it pays to be a loser.
Yes, I freaked out.
Not long after I got here the CIO's admin sent me an email to see if I'd have a few minutes around 12:45. Seems the big man wanted to "touch base" with me on something. *gulp* Of course I said yes because 1) I didn't have any meetings then and 2) I can't see saying no to the man. She did tell me it was a good thing but that didn't stop the nerves.
So at 12:42 I get to his office on the ninth floor...and I'm met by the head of IT Security. WTF? At this point I'm not only nervous I'm frantically trying to think of what sites I've been surfing on work time lately! We go into the The Man's office where we all shake hands and they start talking about what a great job I've been doing on The Project From Hell and it was a really tough decision and even though I lost they wanted to recognize me for my contributions, etc.
I finally asked what they meant by a tough decision and what exactly did I lose? Seems one of my co-workers on TPFH nominated me for a Platinum Rock IT award. We do these things called Rock IT where we nominate each other for a gold CD when someone goes above and beyond to help us out. The gold ones are monthly. The Platinum Rock IT basically means you moved heaven and earth to fix something, help out a project, solve the problem of world peace, whatever and are done quarterly.
I was nominated for the fourth quarter of 2011. And lost.
I didn't know I was even nominated until yesterday so I'd had no idea I was a loser. Anyway they told me that the decision had been super hard and the committee had gone back and forth between me and the gal who won. They talked to our team mates, our bosses, our project teams, pretty much everyone they could get a hold of to try to make the decision. The deciding factor was that her project is done and in production while mine doesn't have the signature on the contract yet. Totally understand - why reward me for something that may never be used if we don't sign off, right?
But The Man and the committee felt that it was so close that they needed to recognize me for my work anyway. Thus the meeting with the CIO and the head of IT Security (who is also the chair of the committee, which explains his presence). I got a nice thank you card, a $50 Visa gift card and got to talk face to face with the CIO for ten minutes. For losing.
Sometimes it pays to be a loser.