"Yay!" or "Grrrr ... "

This is a venting post.

Our department has been on "retreat" the past few days. Which means team members from our Columbus office have been here in Seattle and we've been in intensive workflow meetings here in our Seattle office (cost effective) and trying to address big-ticket issues. And a lot of team-building goals have been met - effectively, I think. Some fun things, some aggressively intense meetings. We've gotten a LOT of work done, and some incredible gigantic steps/processes nailed or at least implemented. I'm proud of my team and the things we accomplished and are about to move forward with.

"Yay!!!!"

And also, I've tried to deal with a complex, honestly stupid issue in between our full-day meetings. I thought that I was addressing it correctly and professionally (it's with an outside vendor in an overall f****d up arrangement of which I am not in control and only have an "after-the-fact" responsibility for), and that I was fully capable of handling it. Well, it came around and bit me hard on the ass. While I THOUGHT I was handling the situation, it then went over my head (without my knowledge) and other management individuals "bailed me out" - without me knowing that I needed bailing out. It went WAY over my head, to the extent that our Finance Director was contacted, and someone else took care of something that I THOUGHT I was fully capable of handling. And now I'm pissed off, knowing that I'm going to get my ass chewed out - MAJORLY - for something that I shouldn't even have been involved in.

"Grrrr ... "

I know I'm being vague and that this doesn't make any sense. I just hate the fact that I was hired to do a job, and am COMPLETELY capable of doing it, yet I'm not allowed to handle the difficult issues that come up. If "they" feel that they need to handle all of these kinds of issues - fine. Then handle ALL of them and don't waste my time and yours, and your money, to have me come in and be a monkey sitting at a desk in your world. Knock yourselves out. Do my job on top of yours. Don't throw the crap that you don't want to deal with on my plate, and then play the savior card and pretend that the world can't live without you, but can live without me. Because that's the world you'll live with - the one without me.

Sorry. I'm done now.