Monday, January 7, 2008

Frustration!

I am feeling really frustrated right now. I don't usually blog about my personal moods, but this one makes me mad!

I've had a problem lately. I spend too much time on the internet. I've pared down much of the time I spend at home on the internet, but I have a tendency to get on at work for way too long. So today I've been doing better. I limited my time in the morning, and started attacking real work. I spent at least an hour typing out and composing an informational email to be used internally. It was about a topic I know very well, and I really enjoyed it and was proud of it. However, I felt it important to run it by my boss for a second opinion. You never know what the higher-ups do and do not want to tell the lower-downs...

So I gave it to my boss and asked him to look it over for me and suggest any revisions. Well, he did. Basically he recommended taking out about 50% of the useful content. I really didn't want to do that, so I talked with him about it for 5-10 minutes. He finally allowed me to at least keep the content in the email (even if he didn't see my point), but he wanted me to basically take this informational email and make it a sales pitch. I wrote the article as an informative piece to people who are fairly intelligent. I think my boss basically wants me to dumb it down and advertise to the audience instead.

It FRUSTRATES ME SO MUCH!!!! Ahh. now that I got that out of my system.

The problem really comes in when I first seek the kingdom of heaven. The Bible tells us to submit to all authority, and as I write this, I have referenced the verses that really bring that home. Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. It is kind of amazing how I get so worked up about this, and 3 minutes in the word can bring such peace over me. It's not about my boss and me. It's about God. My whole life has to be about God. There is too much at stake, to be wrong.

The part I really struggle with is that I doubt the competence of my boss. He is new to the company, and he hasn't shown himself to be the most knowledgeable source on...well, many things. Nonetheless, I view him as an authority. And shouldn't Christians be The Best workers, because we are working for Christ? Part of that would be listening to your boss.

Well, I certainly feel convicted about this, and I need to talk this over with my boss again. I usually find that when I calm down and communicate with people, things go more smoothly. Chances are, he just didn't understand my motivation behind this, and my overall goal of better communication. And I'm sure that I overreacted because this project was my kid, and he called my kid ugly. Maybe I should detach a little, huh? In any case, I will update when I have a bit more to update.


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4 comments:

Erin said...

That sure does sound frustratring!!!! I would be so upset, and I can totally see why you were!

That happened to me the other day with my article writing. I spent the longest time I have ever spent writing 20 articles for this woman's website. I was so proud of them because she was a bit hard too please and I felt sure that I did an absolutley fantastic job.

Then she writes back and told me she can only use about 6 out of the 20 and that they were very sub-par. I coulnd't believe it!!!

Thats when I realized that the only person you can please is yoruself, and it's her loss :)

Great post!!

Maggie said...

Great evaluation, Matt. It isn't about you or your boss - it's about glorifying the Lord. :) And ultimately, through recognizing where you flubbed it - and then going back to your boss and submitting to his authority (regardless of whether he is inept or totally on track) - you are called as a believer and follower of Christ to do your work as if you're doing it directly for the Lord...(ultimately, you ARE) - and, by doing so - you can bring great glory (not Greg Laurie) to the Lord in the process!

WOW - first of all - that was one LONG run-on sentence - hopefully it made sense...and the "Greg Laurie" comment is kinda an inside joke to Calvary Chapelites. :p :)

Anywho - the actual reason I wanted to comment here was to say Praise the Lord, bro! I LOVE seeing you & your bride grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!! I'm so excited to see His work in and through your lives as you draw nearer to Him. ((Hmmm - speaking of which - ask your daughter what this month's memory verse is)) :) :) :)

Matt said...

@ec - Good point you have there, and there is some satisfaction in a job well done. In a way, it points out the importance of communication and clearly defined goals, especially in the freelancing industry! No one likes spending time on something that won't pay back! Hang in there though, and I'll do the same. Eventually they will come around.

Matt said...

Maggie -
Thanks for the comments. It is all about the Lord. Matthew 6:33 says "...seek ye first the kingdom of God..." and really, I would do well to remember that more often.