Why don't you just do those on a second, personal, laptop?
Does your workplace restrict you from bringing it in?
Does your workplace restrict you from bringing it in?
I’m fine with it because I know there’s no management software on this laptop, but yeah it’s a totally different story if I had to use a newer one with SSO and management software
At least that's how it works in the vast majority of companies.
It’s really easy to say ‘don’t use your personal stuff at work’, but when work is some locked-down behemoth whose view of productivity software is ‘just use Office’, and you’re really trying to be better at your job, using your own tools can be the only solution.
And in my situation, yeah, they didn’t want you bringing things in. I worked in a secure area.
Finding solutions to work around the systems, on your own time and dime, only hurts in the long run.
They think everything is fine. Nothing will ever get fixed. Voice these concerns.
You might feel a sense of social obligation or solidarity with the company. I usually do. But if I was placed in a dehumanizing situation like that – forced to work inefficiently due to overly rigid policies that assume everyone’s needs are the same – well, whether I worked around it or not, my empathy for the company would be at a nadir whenever I thought about it.
The tools are the tools. There’s nothing me or my boss or theirs can do about it.
They just don’t care. But I care, because if nothing else it’s my reputation.
(HP used purely for size comparison. I’ve never worked there.)
Just because the org that hires you is a shambles doesn’t mean you give up and quit. Thank fuck we don’t all think like that.
And, again, reputation. I have a stellar reputation because I stick it out, and I care. I’ve worked with people who quit because ‘it’s shit here’. Nobody will ever work with them again.
So why raise the point in the first place if it's a minor quibble relative to your top priority(s)?
Tools enable success. Better tools make the job easier. They make the result better.
But having bad tools isn’t a reason to give up. It’s frustrating. But you just have to get on with it.