Build A Skyscraper Out Of Duplo

[arfink]

The subject line of this post is probably a bit confusing. I am in want of a little advice, concerning the expectations of employers and the tools they provide to do the job they want done.

I won't get into specifics, because it's not a smart thing to do, but what can you do when your boss asks you to build a skyscraper out of Duplo blocks? (This is a metaphor for what's happening at work right now.) When he asks you to do something that requires far more time or resources or tools than you or anyone else in the company have?

Part of me wants to jump right in and start stacking the blocks because it's what I love to do. I aim to please and want to be amenable to the needs of my employer. But another part of me knows it's futile, that it will never work, and that unless my boss wants to invest in some metaphorical steel and concrete, invest in some training and tools and time, we'll never actually build a skyscraper.

How would you approach your boss if this was happening to you?

[Nihil Obstat]

I guess that depends... what are the stakes?

[arfink]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1347573580' post='2482118']
I guess that depends... what are the stakes?
[/quote]

The stakes? That will require a few specifics then, I guess. Well, my department is graphics and production. Right now I'm doing the jobs of graphic design, page layout design, copy editor, and document revision control. Our business revolves around being able to make instructional materials, and they need to look professional or our clients will hate us, but they do not want to invest in good software or good people to get the work done. We have lots and lots of teachers and consultants and writers and only one graphics guy. (me) All our software is outdated, and I'd like to switch to some nice modern stuff, even open source stuff, but my boss said no. We lose so much time every week because of hassles with software stuff, because they refuse to upgrade to stuff that works.

I can't do page layout and graphics in Word. And nobody else in the company can do it either.

Edited September 13, 2012 by arfink

[Nihil Obstat]

So I guess you are being monitored for stuff like if you were to download an open source program and just start using it? That kind of initiative is going to be penalized?

[arfink]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1347574332' post='2482123']
So I guess you are being monitored for stuff like if you were to download an open source program and just start using it? That kind of initiative is going to be penalized?
[/quote]

No, that's not what I mean. I do try to use OSS whenever I can, but the way everybody is used to working with Word makes it a mess. They basically want me to style an empty shell of a Word document that they can then paste their various chunks of coursework of contract bids or whatever into. They want to be able to do this autonomously so they don't have to run every little thing through me, which is great, but they won't be able to accomplish that goal if they want to use Word as a graphics application. They are apparently not aware that this is next to impossible to do in Word reliably for an experienced user, and a recipe for disaster for inexperienced users. I get daily emails about how "I pasted my thing in, and all the graphics got messed up!" Yeah, I know. It can't be fixed for good, because this is MS Word we're talking about.

I'm not being a diva about this, it's actually not possible to make stable templates that do exactly what they want in Word.

Now imagine the whole company has been doing this for years.

[xTrishaxLynnx]