The Outing

There are no bad soldiers, only bad officers.

— Army saying

Tuesday, June 11

To: Developers
From: Director, Software Development
Subject: Outing

We are planning a outing to D&B¹ on Friday 21 at 2 pm. I need to know who will be able to attend as we have to make the required arrangements.

Please RSVP to me by tomorrow morning.

¹Dave and Buster’s, a restaurant featuring multiple bars and a huge video arcade.

Monday, June 24

To: Developers
From: Director, Software Development
Subject: Outing

In future if you RSVP to a planned outing please have the decency to show up. Since [the CEO] paid for this out of his own funds it shows a total lack of respect for him and the company. I would not be expecting any type of recognition from the company for commitment and work effort in the future since it was thrown back in his face. I am embraced¹ to be part of the development team, other teams wanted to know why does development get this outing and not them, and then for most people not to show up after you all RSVP that you will be coming. When [the COO] and I try stand up for the department and this is the reward it makes it hard to justify anything in the future.

For those that did show up thanks. It is appreciated and I know who the people are that made the effort.

¹He must have meant “embarrassed.”

Somewhere there’s a software manager who would have recognized this incident as the red flag that it is — that developer morale is abysmal — and would have set about pondering ways in which it might be improved, rather than exacerbating the situation by sending out an email insulting everyone.

The final paragraph is really the capper. I can tell you that the manager who sent these emails would much rather drink and play video games than spend the afternoon working, and rest assured that like-minded individuals will be taken under his inebriated wing.

Thus spoke The Programmer.