Have you ever had an amazing project that would have enhanced the company killed by office politics? And then your work just kicked to the wayside and you are asked to bury it? That happened to me once. Not the most pleasant experience. The thing is though...what they couldn't take away from me was the success of the project and that it made an impact when it was in place.
What happened was this...I was tasked to create a householding methodology for the entire organization (a small bank I used to work for). I was given leeway to create a project team, lead that team, and give them an end product that would benefit the specific group we were doing the project for (in this case it was Asset and Liability Management).
Everything went well. I was able to bring in a good team, given everyone manageable projects that would help with the end product, and we delivered the householding methodology (which the Asset and Liability team saw as miraculous) within a reasonable amount of time.
What happened though is that once the methodology was in place, was working well, and the client using it was happy with it....someone in the organization decided to take an ego trip (for lack of a better word) and decided that householding would be better served by having a third party do it (which by the way...that third party was notorious for not being the best to work with). So basically, the organization spurned the advance I did...one that was done internally, that could be easily done and controlled...to a solution that was done by a third party that was less efficient with less ability to control it. I think too the person that killed it felt embarrassed that someone like me would come in and do such a grand thing. Again...why I call it an ego trip. What's more...my manager felt inclined (because of office politics) to support the person taking the ego trip, so my project was basically doomed. I was also never asked to provide project notes, coding, anything to anyone that showed that I had done the project. In effect, it was buried.
Was I upset? Of course I was. Especially when I was given all the resources to do the project and it was meaningful to me because it helped the entire organization. Further, the team I had was great and it was a very positive experience for me to work with them to create such a useful end product.
What I have determined though is this...while my project was killed ...it did do the following:
- Lit a fire under someone who put through a householding methodology for the group asking for it (even if it wasn't the best solution)
- Gave me experience managing a project team on an important project that effected the entire organization
- Gave me experience creating a householding methodology that was innovative for the company I was creating it for
So, instead of getting angry and upset because of office politics killing my project, I have decided to make it a positive. I have included this project on my resume and its something I enjoy talking about when I speak with potential employers. I have in effect claimed success when the project itself was killed.
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