Can't Even Pretend to Care Anymore

I was assigned a project nearly four months ago. The project seemed random to me, but the CEO wanted it done ASAP. It's not a bad thing to do, just not urgent.

After being told to rush this to completion, the project suddenly had to go through a formal approval process. I was asked to develop a business case for doing the project in order for the CEO to approve it... but it was his idea, not mine!

On top of that, management keeps changing their mind about the scope of work they want done. I'm starting to find it very embarrassing to deal with the contractors and vendors. I am told that I need to have these people give me quotes within a day or two, but then when I get the quotes, I am told to ask for requotes based on scope change. I let a snide comment slip yesterday and am finding it very difficult to even pretend like I care about the outcome anymore.

I hear you, hvert. That's about where I am with my job. Beyond the point of caring. Well beyond.

Seesaw

Sounds like they might be trying to get a solution to a problem when they don't know what the problem is to start with.

Yeah, it's kind of this. They want to build out a solution before deciding what they need... so the solution we are building now has to take all of these variables into consideration. Kind of like buying a car for a trip but you haven't decided between Antarctica or Texas... and also like you have a dept of mechanics and a fleet of cars already but the CEO without a license wants to replace them.

This morning I was told that I need to have all revised quotes now so we can meet in an hour and schedule. I just can't take the combination of urgency and indecision.

The GM at the job I quit was like that. He had no clear idea of what he wanted the business to be. He was constantly asking people to prepare proposals that were then discarded in favor of something else. Those sorts of situations are so chaotic it's hard to focus or know what is expected of you.

I definitely lost my motivation. The last few times he asked me to research things, I spent half an hour looking for a few related websites in case he asked. By that point, he never even asked me about those topics again.

And of course, he was one to shoot the messenger. Once he asked a woman for a quote on some work. She said she had some past experience with companies that did that type of work, and what he wanted was going to cost 10 million pesos at an absolute minimum. He said okay. At the next meeting, she said it would cost about 12 million pesos. He exploded, mad at her, because he thought it was expensive.

Too often poor leaders dream up tasks that are 'urgent' instead of letting business goals determine what is urgent.

So, they could end up with a car that takes them no where and is only good for making lemonade.