On tough boss...

Last night I watched the The Devil Wears Prada DVD. It sets me thinking, of my boss at work.

My boss' attitude is improving, and he's not as bad as the boss in the movie. Some of my colleagues describe him as ADHD, some said he's obsessive-compulsive, or worst. I do think there's some truth in each characterization. His attention on things probably lasts for 5 minutes, max. He loves the "idea" of processes, but he ignores them. He works better without them. He loves documentation, but he never reads them. So, he would ask for project plan everyday, and you could work your ass off entertaining his needs. And then he would never read any, and would still need you to sit and tell him what's going on for hours on ends, assuming you would use your own hours after sun down to do the real work. And he would go around your back (the managers), and sample every single developers to see what they're doing, and he would come back and challenge the managers on the discrepancies (on who is doing what, when, and how). He would raise hell for all of his direct reports, and yells. And I mean, reeeally yell. He thinks he can sell and he thinks he knows everything, but our customers hate him. His outsized ego would lead him to compete with his own sales guys, if not just to show that he can close deals or find leads better than they do. Oh, did I mention to you that he's the CEO?

Having said all those, one good thing about him is that, he values technology. So, we get to work on the fun leading edge stuffs. Naturally, there's a catch. He wants to do and have the cool things all working...like, next week. And he expects prototypes to be "production ready." That drives me up the wall.

Anyone who's done development would appreciate a boss from hell like this. But really, I don't want to turn into a boss basher. He has his merits, plus loads of defects. I'm not sure how long I can stand him though. I'd say, when I find the fun stuffs not that much fun to do anymore, that would be time for me to walk. For now, I'll let him yap.