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Seattle (for city council, mayor elections, school board hires) seems to have a history of bringing in "outsiders" who are used to throwing stones at the proces

Seattle (for city council, mayor elections, school board hires) seems to have a history of bringing in "outsiders" who are used to throwing stones at the process, who then (surprise surprise!) fail when trying to work within the process. (Edit: This is indicative of the people themselves, but also of that horribly over-inclusive beast dubbed the "Seattle Process").

neoCrimeLabs 11y ago
This was my thought as well. Lets hire someone who has been antagonizing the SPD (and arguably visa versa) for a long time, and make them work together! What cold possibly go wrong? I'm actually not trying to be a smart-ass. There is a very public history of tension between Tim and the SPD. Two parties with such a history mixed with an organization that is already mired in politics created a situation that was all but guarenteed to fail from the start. Shame though, I personally would have love to seen the fruits of a better relationship between these two parties.
- martin1975 11y ago
  Seems to me they gave him ample chance to play ball, after hiring him because of his dogged persistence - something most cops can relate to. Once he was in the door, it was on him to prove he can work within their framework. He failed and escorted himself out of there. Unless he accepts responsibility for his shortcomings -first-, blaming a powerful institution like a police department isn't going to do him any good.
martin1975 11y ago
Because employers love hiring people for the purposes of berating them until they blow up, then firing them when they realize they screwed up and try to play ball. That is a very perverse theory that can be disproved by another techie who has lasted there longer than 6 months. It appears the programmer failed to realize how srructured and protocol driven the SPD is, #1, and #2, his tact was atrocious, which is probably what got him fired. It's happened to me and to the best of us, failure to gauge the pulse of the environment... He seems very talented, however just a really poor fit for SPD. He will be much happier elsewhere. edit for Azkar: then that's what I call a poor fit, without blaming myself or the employer.
- Azkar 11y ago
  This really isn't a problem that's unique to the SPD. I've worked for several corporations that are resistant to change for whatever reason and it is extremely frustrating. The engineers end up being told to do X, instead of being asked to solve problems.
- timclemans206 11y ago
  I was not fired and they asked me to say. But I was too unhappy and going crazy.
  - martin1975 11y ago
    I believe you. I've had it both ways - where I resigned...and when I was fired.
HillRat 11y ago
I suppose it's slightly better than the usual alternative of ignoring, or suing, the outsiders, but yeah, this was pretty predictable. He's obviously a gifted programmer, but developing new software for a division without evidently consulting (let alone including) the stakeholders was obviously going to cause some kind of reaction. It sounds like he didn't have a manager to handle the politics (which is odd; most large public safety departments I've seen have their own IT staff separate from the rest of the city), and is tactless if not outright on the spectrum, so kind of an inevitable parting of the ways. Nice that SPD was so gracious on his leaving, though.

neoCrimeLabs 11y ago

This was my thought as well. Lets hire someone who has been antagonizing the SPD (and arguably visa versa) for a long time, and make them work together! What cold possibly go wrong? I'm actually not trying to be a smart-ass. There is a very public history of tension between Tim and the SPD. Two parties with such a history mixed with an organization that is already mired in politics created a situation that was all but guarenteed to fail from the start. Shame though, I personally would have love to seen the fruits of a better relationship between these two parties.

martin1975 11y ago
Seems to me they gave him ample chance to play ball, after hiring him because of his dogged persistence - something most cops can relate to. Once he was in the door, it was on him to prove he can work within their framework. He failed and escorted himself out of there. Unless he accepts responsibility for his shortcomings -first-, blaming a powerful institution like a police department isn't going to do him any good.

martin1975 11y ago

Because employers love hiring people for the purposes of berating them until they blow up, then firing them when they realize they screwed up and try to play ball. That is a very perverse theory that can be disproved by another techie who has lasted there longer than 6 months. It appears the programmer failed to realize how srructured and protocol driven the SPD is, #1, and #2, his tact was atrocious, which is probably what got him fired. It's happened to me and to the best of us, failure to gauge the pulse of the environment... He seems very talented, however just a really poor fit for SPD. He will be much happier elsewhere. edit for Azkar: then that's what I call a poor fit, without blaming myself or the employer.

Azkar 11y ago
This really isn't a problem that's unique to the SPD. I've worked for several corporations that are resistant to change for whatever reason and it is extremely frustrating. The engineers end up being told to do X, instead of being asked to solve problems.
timclemans206 11y ago
I was not fired and they asked me to say. But I was too unhappy and going crazy.
- martin1975 11y ago
  I believe you. I've had it both ways - where I resigned...and when I was fired.

HillRat 11y ago

I suppose it's slightly better than the usual alternative of ignoring, or suing, the outsiders, but yeah, this was pretty predictable. He's obviously a gifted programmer, but developing new software for a division without evidently consulting (let alone including) the stakeholders was obviously going to cause some kind of reaction. It sounds like he didn't have a manager to handle the politics (which is odd; most large public safety departments I've seen have their own IT staff separate from the rest of the city), and is tactless if not outright on the spectrum, so kind of an inevitable parting of the ways. Nice that SPD was so gracious on his leaving, though.