“He was very short-tempered and would often yell at his employees.” Boris worked with the IT director for several years, but he never felt comfortable around him. He describes the behavior as “unprofessional” and “unacceptable.” Boris eventually left the job to pursue other opportunities.

The Toxic Workplace Culture

A Culture of Fear and Intimidation

Boris’s experience with the IT director is not an isolated incident. Many employees have reported similar experiences with their managers, describing a culture of fear and intimidation that pervades the workplace.

“He was known and feared as someone who ate systems support people for breakfast.” Boris was therefore far from thrilled when he was called in to address a problem his colleagues had been unable to address. “The planning application would sometimes suddenly hang at random points without any obvious reason,” Boris told On Call. “This was very upsetting as delays in the availability of manufacturing schedules interfered with plant operations, which cost serious money.” Hardware experts were put on trans-Atlantic flights so they could pore over the mainframe’s innards. Software engineers who had hand-coded the machine’s OS were sent to find faults.

Investigation yields no conclusive results, leaving IT director frustrated and Boris with a mystery to solve.

The IT director was furious and demanded that Boris investigate the problem immediately. Boris was given a deadline of 24 hours to resolve the issue.

The Investigation Begins

Boris was given a list of tasks to complete during his investigation. He was asked to:

Boris started by reviewing the system logs. He spent hours pouring over the logs, looking for any clues that might explain the hangs. He found a few instances of errors, but nothing that seemed particularly significant.

The Interviews

Boris then turned his attention to the developers and engineers who worked on the system. He asked them a series of questions, including:

The System Configuration

Next, Boris analyzed the system’s configuration and settings. He spent hours reviewing the code and configuration files, looking for any clues that might explain the hangs. He found a few potential issues, but nothing that seemed particularly significant.

The Reproduction Test

Finally, Boris conducted a reproduction test to see if he could get the system to hang again.

The Problem with the Code

Boris was working on a Fortran program that was supposed to read data from a series of tapes. The program was designed to read the data from the tapes in a specific order, but it had a flaw. The code assumed that all the tapes were at their start point, which meant that the program would not work correctly if any of the tapes were not at the start point. The problem was not immediately apparent, as the code had been tested and run multiple times without any issues. However, when Boris tried to run the program with a tape that was not at the start point, it would crash with an error message.

“He would often call me late at night, and I would have to explain things to him in a way that he could understand.”

The IT Director’s Unlikely Friendship

Boris’s newfound status as the IT director’s trusted advisor was not without its challenges. The IT director, who shall remain nameless, had a reputation for being, shall we say, “difficult” to work with. His abrasive personality and tendency to belittle others made it a challenge for Boris to navigate their working relationship. Boris had to develop a thick skin to deal with the IT director’s constant criticism and condescending tone. He learned to anticipate and prepare for the IT director’s outbursts, often taking a step back to collect his thoughts before responding. Despite the challenges, Boris found that the IT director’s tough exterior hid a deep-seated insecurity and a desire for validation.

The Power of Empathy and Understanding

Boris’s ability to understand and empathize with the IT director’s needs and concerns was key to their unlikely friendship. By putting himself in the IT director’s shoes and seeing things from his perspective, Boris was able to provide advice that was tailored to the IT director’s specific needs.

His fear was not unfounded. The IT director, Mr. Johnson, was notorious for his brutal treatment of employees who failed to meet his expectations. Boris had heard horror stories from his colleagues about Mr. Johnson’s behavior, and he knew that he had to tread carefully to avoid becoming his next victim.

The IT Director’s Reign of Terror

Mr. Johnson was a man who reveled in the fear and intimidation of those around him.