So, what the hell happened at Yahoo?

This seems to be the question I get a lot lately, especially since the idea of quitting Yahoo seems to have caught a lot of people off-guard. Rather than try to break it down individually, I will just put it up here for all to read, because I don’t want to have to relive it. šŸ˜‰

I started on a contract with Yahoo in March of this year. About a month or two ago, things were great. I was having a lot of fun in the NOC and I was enjoying the job and my co-workers. Changes were being made at a prodigious rate toward consolidating the two teams within the NOC. I was part of the Tier II group, which was run by Jeff Stone (who was actually a decent manager, relatively speaking). When Jeff pulled me aside and told me the news, I had to admit that I was very hesitant. The Tier I manager, Deo, was not the type of manager I work well under; he required his direct reports to consistently agree with him in spite of his constant requests to ‘think outside the box,’ or my personal favorite, ‘think for yourself.’

The problem was never that I could not think outside the box. For those of you who know me, you know that outside the box is where I exist. Anytime I would propose an idea outside the box, I would get chastised for it. And when I would follow orders, he would return with, “I need people who can think for themselves.” At this point, I was convinced that there was no pleasing him. I was expecting to be converted by that point; I had over 120 days (30 days beyond the probationary period) and Jeff had told me that it was pretty much a done deal. Deo sat me down and corrected me; Oh, no… it was nowhere near being close to a done deal because I had to prove myself to him. So, I was basically re-interviewing for a job I already had. So, I told him that I would be looking outside of Yahoo and he didn’t really seem to care, though he told me, “I’m rooting for you,” in that patronizing manner that screams, “I don’t want you here.”

If you were really rooting for me, then why wasn’t there an offer letter at the table? That kind of bullshit just pisses me off.

So I interviewed for other positions. One in Abuse. One in NetOps. I know I didn’t get the Abuse spot. But the NetOps things dragged on for 3 weeks. Then the week before I quit, I found out (from his lips as he was discussing this with coworkers in the NOC, within earshot) that he sunk everyone in the NOC going for the NetOps position by telling the NetOps manager that hiring anyone from the NOC would “bring down the overall quality” of his department. That pretty much set me off and whatever shred of respect I had for him zero’d out pretty quickly.

From that point on, it was pretty much a ticking time bomb. I didn’t care if I had a job to go to or not, by October 15th, I was going to be quitting. On October 1st, however, I came in 15 minutes late. While working for Tier II, Jeff said on several occasions that he would respect a 15-20 minute window and anything beyond then required a phone call, so I had become used to that cushion of time. Deo was having none of that, and pulled me into a conference room and told me that he hated people being late and that I was being given a warning. Also, if I come in late again, don’t bother coming in at all. Oh, and he was taking away my overtime hours (which means I would be making less).

I saw red.

I contacted my agency and the on-site contract people and let them know I was ending my contract immediately. I dropped off my corporate assets and I was done. Yes, I let Deo know. Yes, I shook his hand (though he treated my handshake like it was diseased). Yes, I smiled and I did not explode (although Julia wanted me to… actually, a lot of people wanted me to). Is it really worth it to get that upset toward someone who’s not going to matter to me anymore? Not really.

That’s pretty much what happened at Yahoo. I could care less who reads this, because I’m done with them. I’ve never worked for a company with such bad management before, and the thing is, I’m shocked Deo’s not shot himself in the foot enough times to lose his job. And if Deo doesn’t understand one thing about leadership and if he’s honestly shocked that I’m not the only one who worked for him that is constantly frustrated by his ineptitude, then he needs to know that attitude reflects leadership. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, but probably the only one who has the ability to speak up and tell it like it is.

What sucks is… I really miss my coworkers. They were awesome. It was a good team ruined by a poor manager and horrible decisions. And I would have stayed on had I continued to report to Jeff or anyone else over there.

Instead, I got hired by Teneros for way better pay and good hours. So, it worked out in the end, right?

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6 comments

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    • mslauren2930 on October 12, 2007 at 12:12

    It was a good team ruined by a poor manager and horrible decisions.

    you’re describing TO A TEE the VP of the department I work in. it’s everywhere and it sucks and I’m glad you’re out of there. people like that never get canned. they seem to be able to find people to suck up to so that they can do their shitty management jobs and get away with driving away all the good people. you’re better off out of there. šŸ™‚

    • sweetmegumi on October 12, 2007 at 12:56

    It was a good team ruined by a poor manager and horrible decisions.

    Why the hell that always happen I will never know (in jobs, organizations,etc). Kudos on moving on to something better though Mike! Hopefully you’ll have more free time to hang ^_~

    • bardicwench on October 12, 2007 at 14:44

    It was a good team ruined by a poor manager and horrible decisions.

    That’s why I left the company that I worked at for 7 1/2 years… I loved my depeartment and the team I worked with. Until they hired someone who didn’t know the job and made everything miserable. Suddenly, the department that had the lowest turnover of any was losing EVERYONE. Over 1/2 of the employees in that department have quit since she was hired a little over a year ago.

    It’s hard to leave a team you like working with, but a bad manager just makes you dread going into work, and it’s not worth it.

    *huggles* for the better pay and good hours.

    • anonymous on October 12, 2007 at 16:20

    Thats shitty, sorry to hear that.
    Good luck with your new job!
    Jenn

    • flashfire on October 12, 2007 at 18:41

    Fuck that guy, seriously. Good thing you got something else so fast.

    • backroomdealer on October 14, 2007 at 19:55

    I’m glad everything worked out ok. You had a perfectly valid reason for leaving.

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