The Cutie Pie Company in These Foolish Things
- March 28, 2023, 9:28 p.m.
- |
- Public
A little bit about my new job at The Cutie Pie Company.
It’s stressful.
My boss is the founder and CEO. She’s young and super smart and continually manic. Her brain is moving 10,000 miles a minute and she’s impossible to keep up with.
It’s not that I’m slow! I mean, it’s one thing that I’m new and the assumption already is that I’ve been there six months rather than six weeks, but it’s literally assumed that I know exactly what I’m doing and my team should reflect that.
It should be exciting, but I’m chained to my desk every minute for fear that I’m going to miss one of the thousands of slacks that hit every second of the day. I feel much more like a…what are those things? A switchboard operator? Figuring out which project goes to which designer and then I have to check their work and give feedback and make sure every little “i” is dotted and every color looks like a sparkly little confection here at Cutie Pie.
And to top that off, I am not only the Design Director, in charge of ALL of the design work we crank out here, but because I have a product development background and the PD team is short-staffed, I’ve also been assigned PD projets. So, just layer another half a job on top of the wayyy over full time job and that’s how that is going.
But I’m not giving up, no sir and no ma’am.
I do feel like I’m going to have to somehow morph some things that are ridiculous right now and utterly unsustainable and focus on my strengths, which are mainly strategically bringing new concepts, ideas and stories to the table. And that way, we can build product around those stories.
I have to do the concepting stuff in my free time because there’s no time to do that in the office, but I think if I can play my cards right, I can figure this out and work it to everyone’s advantage.
Because I don’t know how long I can hang on being a task scheduler. It seems I’ve already fallen behind and gotten on my boss’s bad side today. The good news is, I’m not the only one. I mean, at least I’m not alone in my feelings. Literally NO ONE can outpace this person.
But honestly, when you’re a cancer survivor, you really don’t want to feel like this. You don’t have the luxury of years to waste feeling TENSE ALL THE TIME.
So things must morph.
I’m working on it.
GS
Satine ⋅ March 28, 2023
<3
bobbi01 ⋅ March 28, 2023
You've got this. Her pace isn't sustainable, even for her.
Jinn ⋅ March 29, 2023
Tense or anxious is not a good state for a cancer survivor.
Mr. Mofo Jinn ⋅ March 29, 2023
I think dude Lebowski would say it is not a good state for anyone.
Jinn Mr. Mofo ⋅ March 29, 2023
I think you are right !!!
Mr. Mofo ⋅ March 29, 2023
I bet your boss goes home, plugs into her recharge station and goes catatonic while her battaries are rejuiced.
Complicated Disaster ⋅ March 29, 2023
I feel it's always a bit like this when starting a new job. Hopefully it won't be long until you come up with managing strategies! <3 xx
Florentine ⋅ March 29, 2023
Hustle culture is real, and I hate it. 😆 I have a boss like this. She has 34 projects going at once and her expectation is that they are executed perfectly to her vision the first time by the team. I have done this for 2.5 years and it's totally unsustainable (for me, at least). I have had to dial waaay the eff back and put up some boundaries.
I've been working on retraining her and other colleagues that I am not accessible on Slack 24/7 and that, when something new is piled on top of my already too full plate, I acknowledge it, but remind, too: "Good morning! Right now I've been working on X. Would you prefer that I switch and tackle Y today? Happy to push X back and prioritize this!" It shows that you're looking at the big picture and is a subtle reminder that human productivity is linear; you can't actually do all the things simultaneously!
And for yourself, remember, if you find you're regularly slipping at meeting deadlines, or working off hours to meet them, then the problem isn't YOU, the problem is the workflow structure. Too much work, not enough staff.
Deleted user Florentine ⋅ March 29, 2023
AMEN.
ninakir88 ⋅ March 29, 2023
I hate companies that feel like they need to get their monies worth from their employees though, take it easy, we only get one life
Deleted user ⋅ March 29, 2023 (edited March 29, 2023)
Edited
Well, you know about Miranda, so it will probably come as no surprise to you that I suggest you consider putting feelers out. Usually things only get more hectic, not less, with people like that. Totally wouldn't be surprised if at your 90-day review she says "So, now that you've settled in, I have some more projects for you." And if everyone is feeling stress, well, that's the future looking right at you.
sudare ⋅ March 30, 2023
I like super smart and quick (and odd) person. But I wouldn’t like her to be my boss.
Serin ⋅ April 10, 2023
I hope you can find a groove that works for you soon.