Year 2, Day 22: 10/3/12 - "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"

"Where is my John Wayne
Where is my prairie song
Where is my happy ending
Where have all the cowboys gone..."

-"Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" by Paula Cole

TBTHMT: I was congratulated (praised?) by my supervisor for how I handled myself in a meeting today.  It was good to hear!

Be Careful What You Ask For: Today I managed to actually make someone angry in a meeting and didn't worry about how that might impact me (please note: at my previous position, I tended to anger someone without trying, so the fact that I angered someone here, and in many ways I was trying to, is a bit on the novel side).  Now, I don't usually set out to make anyone mad (not my style), but this was something I had to do.  I was dealing with a situation where a small group of people had set out to make major changes for the organization, without following the proper protocols, and expecting those who would be negatively impacted to just nod their heads and agree.  It was clear even to me (a virtual outsider), that their was an agenda behind their suggestions, and it was all full of vindictiveness towards someone else.  But during the discussion they also brought up a question that could easily back fire for all of them.  The question had to do with how someone becomes a department head and who is qualified to be one.  It is obvious that they already have something in mind for their standards but if they open up the can of worms, they have no guarantee that the University won't look at it and make their own suggestions.  Which could mean that some of them wouldn't qualify!  It goes deeper than this, but this was the gist of what we discussed today.