THE CONTROL PLAYBOOK: HOW TO SILENCE 1,300+ PEOPLE IN FOUR MOVES (2/3)
🔥 UPDATE (Feb 08 2026, 11:30): 8,942 views | 260+ forms | Fill the form →
🔥 NEW POST: The Post They Hoped I Wouldn't WriteAnyway, first day back. Walking down the corridor. Who do I pass?
One of Sultan's Stormtroopers.
Heart stopped. Did they know? Could they tell? Was I walking weird?
Stormtrooper just nodded. Kept walking.
I kept walking. Tried not to run.
Found a quiet spot. Stayed there for sometime.
Then I heard it.
Coffee machine: "Have you seen the latest blog post?"
Lunch room: "The blog's spreading to other VPUs."
Elevator: "Did you fill the form?"
Everyone discussing the blog. Except me. The only person who couldn't talk about it because I know what's coming next.
That's when I realized: This thing's become a lifeline.
So here's what you documented.
Before you transform an organization, you need legitimacy.
God-Mother brought in consulting firms. Expensive ones. To "assess our structure."
They recommended Job Architecture. SAFe Agile. New frameworks.
Did they talk to the people actually doing the work? The teams running services? The clients we support? The veterans who've been here 20/30/40 years?
Someone wrote: "Dead sure people who actually works were never consulted."
Dead sure.
Consultants talked to leadership. Made recommendations. Got paid.
Now you have external validation. Professional expertise. Best practices.
The workers weren't asked. But the decision was validated.
Then comes the conference circuit.
God-Mother goes to conferences. Multiple ones. Industry events. Transformation summits. SAFe gatherings.
Hears buzzwords. Sees frameworks. Watches presentations.
Comes back with more ideas. Skills Assessment. Consent Forms. Mandatory certifications.
Then goes back to conferences. As a speaker now.
Presents "success stories" about transformation at Westeros.
And keeps the LinkedIn profile updated. Each conference appearance. Each speaking engagement. Building the transformation credentials.
While back on the ground, someone wrote: "At ground level, we are spending 2-3 times more effort in just meetings and creating reports to say we are compliant with SAFe."
Conference presentations say success. LinkedIn shows credentials. Ground reality says different.
But here's the genius: Consultants validate. Conferences amplify. LinkedIn documents. Buzzwords legitimize.
Nobody can question it. The experts approved it. The conferences promote it. The credentials are public. The framework is industry standard.
External validation without internal consultation.
Make all directors and managers "acting."
Not temporarily during a 30-day transition.
Just acting. Indefinitely.
Someone wrote: "1st decision after joining? Make all the Directors and Managers acting, baam! now no one can question her, no one can give her negative feedback about her decisions."
Directors can't push back. They're acting.
Managers can't question. They're acting.
18 months later? Still acting. Some at 24 months now.
Can't give negative feedback when you're auditioning for your own job.
Here's what's interesting: Where were the gatekeepers?
Someone in the comments called them Hodor. You know, the character from GoT. The one who can only say one word. "Hold the door."
Because that's what they did. Held the door open for God-Mother's decisions. Said yes to management. Never checked with staff.
They send communications about Psychological Safety. Beautiful messages. Lovely phrases. "We're here for you." "Speak up."
But when everyone under God-Mother became acting—when the entire leadership structure lost permanence—where was the policy check?
How can anyone speak up when they're all acting their jobs?
That's the gatekeeper's job, right? Policy compliance. Checking if processes follow rules. Noticing patterns.
Pattern: Everyone made acting. Nobody can question. System designed to prevent feedback.
Hodor noticed? Held the door.
And the SA? Let's call them the Silent Sentinels for now. Because they were silent on this. All along.
The blog is doing what they should have done from the beginning. Giving people a voice. Creating space to speak. Documenting what's happening.
But the Silent Sentinels stayed silent. While people filled anonymous forms at 2am because they had nowhere else to go.
SAFe Agile becomes mandatory. Full adoption required.
Someone points out that SAFe doesn't fit most of ITS work. Points out that industry is moving toward hybrid approaches. Presents data.
Response: "God mother doesn't believe in hybrid."
Let me say that again.
She doesn't *believe* in hybrid.
Belief. Not data. Not evidence. Not team input. Belief.
Try questioning that when:
- You're acting your job (Move 2)
- Consultants validated it (Move 1)
- She presents success stories at conferences (Move 1)
- LinkedIn shows her credentials (Move 1)
What can you possibly say?
OVS meetings. DVS meetings.
What's OVS stand for? What's DVS? Actually, no one knows.
There's something the SAFe consultants used to say: "It's not the nail we need to hit..." or something. Nobody remembers the rest. But everyone attends the meetings.
Value streams. Operational value streams. Developmental value streams. PI planning. Sprint ceremonies. Backlog refinement. Ceremonies to plan the ceremonies.
Then comes the Skills Assessment Test. Two attempts. Career-ending if you fail. What's covered? Nobody's entirely sure.
And the Consent Form. Sign it or... well, you saw what happened when people refused.
Meanwhile, you have actual work. Major projects with real deadlines. Real clients needing real services.
Someone wrote: "Staff have worked weekends, holidays, etc. along with long hours during the week. When are we supposed to join the Transformation cafes? When are we supposed to study for an assessment?"
No additional time in the day. But additional requirements. And additional fear.
Can't question the framework when you're drowning in compliance. Can't organize resistance when you're scared for your job.
Consultants validate it. Conferences amplify it. LinkedIn documents it. You're acting. Framework is mandatory. You're drowning and scared.
Someone wrote: "To top it off we cant say anything because in a way we are all acting our jobs."
Can't say anything.
That's the system working.
Keep commenting. Keep sharing. Keep discussing.
The system was designed to silence you. To make you afraid. To isolate you.
But look what happened. Our house refused to stay silent. Comments poured in. People talked at coffee machines. The blog spread across VPUs. Thousands and Thousands of view
You're not alone. You never were.
Every form filled. Every comment shared. Every conversation at lunch. Every time you refuse to pretend everything is fine that's how the silence breaks.
They tried to control 1,300+ people with four moves.
You're breaking the system one voice at a time.
Monday, people with authority see everything. Not because I did something. Because all of you did.
Let's get to 200+.
P.S.S. — To Sultan's Stormtrooper I passed in the corridor: That nod nearly gave me a heart attack.
P.S.S.S. — To whoever came up with "Hodor" in the comments: You're giving me serious competition in the naming department. But you're absolutely right. They held the door open and said yes to everything. Perfect. SA?
P.S.S.S.S. — "God mother doesn't believe in hybrid." Monday, someone with authority hears about belief-based transformation.
P.P.S.S.S.S. — To those who documented recruiting relationships, vendor preferences, and conflicts of interest: Those go to investigative authorities Monday.
P.P.P.S.S.S.S. — If you figure out who I am at the coffee machine, please pretend you don't.
P.P.P.P.S.S.S.S. — FILL THE FORM (Anonymous, untraceable): https://forms.gle/kV64rBBokWhhp2NA7
Wow I am still stuck at this point - "I'm providing them to people with investigative authority on Monday" please be safe and don't reveal your identity.. we cannot afford to lose our one and only lone warrior.. one more thing I am worried about is anonymous forms do not build credibility - please be careful about that when you share..
ReplyDeletePlease be safe!
DeleteHappy New year Braveheart!! I think i saw you at the coffee machine. But rather i prefer to be silent…you know why, thats how its been for so long be scared and silent. But this silence right now is peaceful. Thanks for being the voice and starting this blog.
ReplyDeleteCan you also help decode what is going on with this reopening of positions non stop ??
ReplyDeleteWhat positions?
DeleteManagers. Just came out now
DeleteNot sure what circus is going on with the position. Everytime some or the other mistakes keeps happening. Why dont they scrap these positions and keep the existing managers.(khaleesis and bannerman should be back)
DeleteITS staff association has a meeting next week. Should we do anything? Do we still believe they can do anything useful?
ReplyDeleteStaff Association is useless. Ajay and Amy both need to leave WBG.
DeleteThe ITS Staff Association must take its duties seriously and act immediately, or else resign.
DeleteWhat you've done here is remarkable. Watching 190+ people find their voice when the system tried to silence them—that's something powerful.
ReplyDeleteI've been following since the beginning. Every post. Every comment. The way you've connected the dots, given people hope, shown them they're not alone. That takes courage.
I have something that might help what you're building here. Something about a recent hiring position that I can't share in comments or through the form. Too specific. Too traceable. But it's important. The kind of detail that could make Monday's post even stronger.
I know this is difficult. Trust is earned, not given. And asking to meet someone anonymous is asking a lot.
But if you've been around long enough, you'll know who I am when we meet. And you'll know I'm trustworthy.
Peete's Coffe. Friday. 4PM.
If you trust this, come. I have something to show you.
If you don't, I understand. But the offer stands.
You could have just sent tjos request as a form and not put this in public. Personally, I wouldn’t trust you and the author shouldn’t too. You’ve just invited management to Peet’s on Friday to find the authors identity. Please don’t make such suggestions.
DeleteTrue. Please don’t suggest posting a location and time publicly. Anyone could use that information to identify or track the author.
DeleteWhat you can do is provide the location and time through a submission form, where only the author can see it. The author can then decide whether to go or not.
Thank You!!. Submitted the form with change in location, date and time
DeleteIts not safe to meet for anything until the battle is over - even with the change of place and time in a form - all details to be shared only through the form
DeleteChronicler is smarter than that to meet in person at this point. If you have any information on a position, submit it through form or report it directly to the ethics office.
DeleteTo the form submitter with the meeting suggestion:
DeleteGood call moving it to the form. The community's security instincts are exactly right.
About Sultan's hiring mess you mentioned—yeah, I'm aware. Hard to miss when everyone got the "we're reposting everything from scratch" email today. Classic Sultan move.
You mentioned MasterCard-level escalation on these jobs. That's gold. Share your email in the form, I'll reply. Attach docs or don't—your choice. Use a pseudonym if it helps.
Sultan's getting his own post. I have enough material on his empire to write a trilogy. This'll be fun.
To everyone else: Keep filling the form. 190 to 200+. Monday's post is taking forever because there's SO much to document. Worth the wait, I promise.
And yes, everything stays in the form. No public meetups. Safety first, always.
— Your Friendly Neighborhood Chronicler (Currently Drowning in Sultan's Greatest Hits)
I am near “I” bldg. “Catch me if you can”
DeleteFollowing are a select couple of #1 best-selling books, as per the ever-reliable Westeros Times and Westeros Post, strongly recommended reading for all Khaleesis and Bannermen and to be generously shared with relevant teams (whether they asked for it or not).
ReplyDeleteBook 1:
“4 Steps to Nirvana” – #1 selling Authored by GM with invaluable help from HoodooR
“The author has clearly articulated a practical and battle-tested approach to dismantling an existing establishment in four simple steps — Validations, Strip Permanence, Frameworks, and Drown. In layman’s terms: conferences, LinkedIn updates, making frameworks mandatory, and scaring the hell out of everyone. A must-read for aspiring disruptors.” — Westeros Times
Book 2:
“30:70” – #1 selling Authored by GM
“The author has clearly explained how to maintain a delicate yet ruthless balance between destroying the current establishment and quietly building a portfolio for the next plum assignment. The 30:70 ratio appears to be the sweet spot — any deviation may inconveniently delay one objective or the other.” — Westeros Post
If you are exceptionally lucky (and the stars align), you may be able to avail a copy of one of these masterpieces at the next Small Council Meeting.
Another book currently that I am contemplating is titled: “HoodooR – Hold the Door Where There Isn’t a Door” (A practical guide to be clueless and let it happen.)
Thanks for doing your part.Now, I am doming mine. I have a line on Susie Wiles, and reached out to her to remind Trump about replacing Ajay. Let's be honest, if it wasn't for unqualified Ajaym we wouldn't have anything like Amy. Ajay and his decency quotient can go back to Mastercard or his daughter's NYC apartment.
ReplyDeleteSorry about spellings. The page on my VPN client submitted while I was still drafting, but most of you got the gist.
DeleteYou may want to hold on to it to see if there's any action taken on this current situation. Not sure if you saw this "https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-withdraws-the-united-states-from-international-organizations-that-are-contrary-to-the-interests-of-the-united-states/". Hope nothing of this sort or impact on other colleagues in G status..
Delete“The devil you know is better than one you don’t”- please don’t put us on Trump’s radar unless he will bring Malpass back.
DeleteAh, now we want Malpass back. I still think we treated him bad when he first came on board. Thanks to Autopen President, now we have to deal with this "decency quotient" champion who apparently has no decency. Good times.
DeleteI started as temp, then as STC and ETC for 8 years before I became staff. Working my ass off as staff and getting SRI of 3.5 and above. Now, I am asked to pass some pre-determined software or else get fired? I don't even care for this organization anymore. Shit flows downhill and it started from Ajay, and his hiring of Wencai and Amy.I will keep pushing my contacts in WH to remind them to replace Ajay. Let's be honest, Malpass trusted everyone in Bank, including Denis and Naser, via Shaolin. I saw the writing on the wall when Sholin was fired by Ajay, so screw him and his minions.
DeleteThank you, blogger — you’re doing a great service to all of Westeros.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the shout-out for coining “HoodooR”. I’m not competing with you on the names — just trying to contribute where I can. For SA, I still haven’t found a good fit from Game of Thrones. But for the SA Chair, I landed on a perfect one from The Lord of the Rings: Denethor II.
And after seeing that meeting invite — where the SA Chair is being brought in to address concerns — I’m now fully convinced: it really is “Denethor II.”
For our author - Please don’t meet anyone anywhere - please stay anonymous- all details can be shared through a form.
ReplyDeleteDo not carry your office device if you are going to Peet’s Cafe. They can track the location.
DeleteGrandmas Linked in Bio is a Joke!
ReplyDelete“ I connect deeply with my staff where | instill confidence through employee empowerment while advocating for enterprise-wide collaboration. I have an expansive view of diversity and seek to build teams that include members with diversity of thought and diversity of experience.”
How long before godmother spins this and makes herself as a victim of coordinated attack?
DeleteAnyone with access to travel data? How many conferences, missions, events, and trips has grandma taken since she joined? How much did she spend in total since she joined? Request to Pension dept: Can these funds be deducted from her SRP balance when she leaves WBG?
ReplyDeleteIsn't all travel data open to everyone?
DeleteThey removed the UPI based search of trips when people started checking on AB personal trips paid by WBG
DeleteDon’t even attempt to use travel to see any stuff for others everything every activity is tracked
DeleteWe should wear MAGA hats and Tees to the next town hall.
ReplyDeleteM.A.G.A - Make Amy Go Away!
How’s that for creativity?
ROFL!!..As a special token of appreciation, you’ll receive two bestselling books personally signed by GM — yes, the handwriting is real, not AI 😄
DeleteTo add to the excitement, there will be a chair with your name secretly taped underneath on a piece of white paper. Whoever discovers it will dramatically shout your name like they just found the Iron Throne — and you get to walk up and claim your treasures. 🎉📚
I shall accept the book handwritten by GM, will save me some toilet paper expense
DeleteIt will at the least, increase trumps funding for the Bank :P
DeleteSAFe is a joke! ITVMS data shows hundreds of contractors hired for agile coach and scrum master positions. Thousands of dollars spent for these contractors who do nothing to contribute to the project but only provide us with theory based knowledge. Team coaches and Product Owners hiring staff aug contractors with SAFe certifications and including them in their team only to please management. No real value for an enormous amount of money spent. Worst of all, many work orders charging to capital projects! Do the business sponsors know that their money is wasted to make the IT vendors rich instead of hiring genuine developers and data engineers to deliver high quality products?
ReplyDeleteAnd due to this producibility of people who really do job significantly reduced and on top of this scared what will happen to them.
DeleteThis is gold. Please submit this evidence.
DeleteTo the form submitter with the meeting suggestion:
ReplyDeleteGood call moving it to the form. The community's security instincts are exactly right.
About Sultan's hiring mess you mentioned—yeah, I'm aware. Hard to miss when everyone got the "we're reposting everything from scratch" email today. Classic Sultan move.
You mentioned MasterCard-level escalation on these jobs. That's gold. Share your email in the form, I'll reply. Attach docs or don't—your choice. Use a pseudonym if it helps.
Sultan's getting his own post. I have enough material on his empire to write a trilogy. This'll be fun.
To everyone else: Keep filling the form. 190 to 200+. Monday's post is taking forever because there's SO much to document. Worth the wait, I promise.
And yes, everything stays in the form. No public meetups. Safety first, always.
— Your Friendly Neighborhood Chronicler (Currently Drowning in Sultan's Greatest Hits)
It’s both ironic and sad that the Bank’s focus and messenging for the last year is on creating jobs and here we are, witnessing and experiencing the worst way to eliminate jobs. Wait til word of this gets to the press.
ReplyDeleteDoes it surprise anyone here that the positions keep getting reposted? In this economy where thousands of govt and other IT workers are looking for work, there should be no shortage of talent. But no one except us are required to have the 7 certifications that GM is requiring. If they don’t exist externally, why are we expected to go above and beyond? It’s clearly a weeding tool; they want documentation in case they are sued for letting people go. We are just the guinea pigs. Meanwhile, whatever happened to “the largest budget envelope” that GM proudly announced after arriving. Did it all go to EY?
ReplyDeleteThis reads less like a blog and more like a draft chapter.If clarity had a writing style, it would look like this. Book when? (:
ReplyDeleteUnless there is a deliberate decision to document individualized accountability for *each* Director, attention should remain focused on the **Godmother** issues. Expanding coverage to include **Sultan** at this stage introduces unnecessary distraction, particularly given that substantially more information is already known about Sultan than about others.
ReplyDeleteTo maintain credibility and impact, it is important to **keep focus on the central issue** rather than diluting it across secondary actors. The priority should remain on the Godmother’s role, actions, and influence.
In short: we should stay focused, avoid scope creep, and keep eyes on the primary concern (GM).
I agree. The focus should be on the issues related to transformation, unnecessary budget spent on certifications, unclear assessments, establishing a safe environment for staff no matter visa status or location, not taking staff feedback on acting managers and their disrespectful behaviour.
DeleteWe need to choose our battles wisely. Shifting focus to the Sultan's past mistakes it’s not going to help us. Focusing on how and why most new directors were hired and their continuous lack of direction won’t help either. Let’s change the things that matter most.
I completely agree. We need senior management to remove the godmother, put a stop to all her spending on SAFe BS, and conduct a thorough audit of everything that has happened. Additionally, they should inquire about where all the capital increase went—after two years, we have nothing to show for it.
ReplyDeleteGodmother's ties with Agile Savant needs to be looked at.
DeleteOver the years, these renaming and restructuring of departments/work/reporting structure have become a pattern every time a new leader comes into action. These changes create high technical and administrative debt and bring in zero value. Who cares if the VPU is called ISG, IMT, ITS.
ReplyDeleteAlong with this comes the most draining phase of ‘getting to know the new team/management’ ‘building trust and proving our work to our reporting manager’. Once the water has settled, another bomb will drop and disrupt this whole flow. Where is the WB that felt safe to have a job? It’s disheartening to see the institution that had ‘zero tolerance to discrimination of any kind’ become more permissive of favouritism, implicit bias and dismissing merit!
People at Citadel, please speak up!
Silence and people pleasing only enable bad leadership.
It’s sad and unexpected that people at the Citadel are silent. Many mentioned not once or twice that they are treated badly but don’t have a place to safely share the ethical misconduct they regularly experience. It’s discouraging that COSA and RWA are not saying a word and have not raised any issues, in spite of knowing enough to write a short novel.
DeleteWho’s COSA AND RWA?
DeleteCOSA - COUNTY OFFICE STAFF ASSOCIATION - RWA - Respectful Work Area something
DeleteI am only staff for 9 years, and even I know SA and RWA means nothing. They never did anything for us. Whatever happened to SA pushing for purge of Term appointments to Open ended? Last time it happened, it was about 10 years ago and SA has nothing to do with it then. What makes you think SA can interfere and get us any results in a situation like this? SA is only good for taking your money and giving you lousy mouse pads.
DeleteTotally agree that SA is not doing the job; I’m even wondering why they still exist!
DeleteOne way for meaningful change is to bring back the 360 review. All managers to have annual 360 review. Staff comments to be transparent after results are analysed. Not all swept under the rug.
ReplyDeleteWe need leaders or I should say exceptional leadership like this : https://www.antoinebuteau.com/lessons-from-david-duffield/
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there's none in the top
True. The best leaders inspire. They have strong people management skills. Every article and book on leadership has mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteWe live in another world. In ITS these factors are not taken into account during director and manager selection.
Fuel50 is the vendor Amy selected to test our skills. Maybe we should forward this blog to CIO.,com, to make a case study of what goes wrong when you hire third option.
ReplyDeleteOne of the new directors LinkedIn profile says that he went to Stanford university, Wharton and MIT when all he did is most likely take one or two courses.
ReplyDeleteOK, heard back from Susie. Trump has Ajay's replacement in mind and is a very well known figure. President is busy with other things happening, but will get around it. She said to look out for around April/May time frame and we will know the name of new President of WBG.
ReplyDeleteWell done and thank you! Amy is a symptom and Ajay is the cancer.
DeleteI take your comment with grain of salt, but if history is any indicator, this makes sense. We usually always had a change in WBG Presidency just before Spring or Annual meetings.
DeleteA new president may mean more changes and instability.
DeleteI am glad to see some bannerman getting to managerial positions based on ysdays email. Hope the same happens to our Khaleesis and bannerman from other units/departments who have given their lifetime to this organisation. Wish they are placed to their respective units back.
ReplyDeleteGood for some. Not good for all. The aftermath is that evidently it's enough to say the buzzwords and have a handful of deliverables to be selected. No communication and interpersonal-skills required. Passive aggressive management style is an advantage. You may even have low psychological safety in the team. Who cares.
DeleteI am confident all our khaleesis and bannerman who have served as best people managers will be back soon. Directors and VP’s need to undo whatever incorrect decisions taken in past couple of years.
DeleteWow!!. I just came back from a month long holidays and someone shared this blog and I am glued to it. Read all of them including the comments.Thank you blogger for all your efforts. It’s amazingly written and by connecting dots perfectly. I am convinced that this is written by someone really good in English, knows internal workings and able to connect the dots. I doubt it to be AI, as you will spend more time tuning the prompt to make this masterpiece, instead one can write it if he/she has full command and access to relevant information.
ReplyDeleteWHAT IF!!
If this whole blog series is written by Sultan himself!! My speculations
DISCLAIMER!! - I don’t work for him anymore but had worked with him long time ago.
Why?
- His English and communication over mail is excellent.
- He will be knowing all internal things mentioned. For ex..I don’t think a regular staff was aware of Consent Form. I came to know only after GM’s mail that there was something of that sort being pondered.
- The extent of humiliation faced at the hands of GM. A blued eyed boy and next to heir as per the Canadian King with the throne/crown in arms length reach taken away upon entry of GM.
- GM not only took away the throne, but took away the role of managing the current deparment that he was performing very well and even got MOC award for one key initiative. Instead picked him as third choice for his new role after the two external ones rejected.
- Bullying him since then. I have heard from some of his new team members, that GM doesn’t treat him well in comparison to others and keeps full control on him. This is becoming evident as well - “Why only job postings under his new department is getting reposted or has issues?. Did the rest do so perfectly that we see confirmations one after the other?
As some of you posted, we want to be focussed on core issues and I know we don’t want to talk about individual directors and dilute the situation. But, I couldn’t stop writing this and give you all something to ponder. If he indeed did this, it is an exceptional sacrifice and efforts he has put for a very noble cause and to help get rid of GM and stop the madness.
Sultan be like: “A Lannister always pays his debts… and sends his regards” to GM 🤣
DeleteLots of people have seen a copy of the consent form, not only directors. No one should be trying to identify the blogger, but it definitely isn’t Sultan. I worked with him for many years before he moved into this role. He has always put his own interests and politics first and has never shown any concern for others. Even though he is an English major, he doesn't have any creativity or forward thinking. Roles in his department keep being reposted because of poor decisions, favoritism, and the candidates he calls to apply. A quick look at the department says it all. There’s no leadership, no direction, and no clear communication - complete chaos. He shows no care for the staff or for the organization.
DeleteThat’s exactly why I feel this speculation is more compelling. Not everyone knew about the CF. As GM mentioned in her email, only a few were aware of it—perhaps the Khaleesis and Bannermen with some sharing with close few —and the information slowly trickled down. There was never any official communication about it to the wider Westeros staff.
DeleteWhen someone has lost everything and knows that life will never be the same again, when the mind becomes consumed with vengeance and revenge, one can be driven to extreme lengths—“If I am going down, then I will take the queen/king and the whole establishment with me.”
It doesn’t look like you know the Sultan well if you are saying he is not creative and forward thinking. I was in his team for 6 years and for the record I am not one of his Stormtroopers.
DeleteThe directors combined are not as creative as he is. Have you seen the restructuring of ITSCO. And if anything, he was able to make the boring corporate department so attractive and forward-looking. I doubt somebody else could. The stories I heard and what I saw was a compassionate and caring director. He stood up for his people. Many of them 10+ and 15+ years at the Bank would have been fired for not delivering anything solid if it wasn’t for him.
When did he become the main problem of ITS? He has been bullied in the past 2 years. He got mucked up more than anybody else. After Knight of the night and Prince of Persia. Drawing attention towards the Sultan rather than the important problems–that would solve everything?
Eyes on the prize people.
You may well be one of the ‘staff’ referred to in the last few comments below 👇. Creativity? Oh yes—millions in funding, spent as if it were ancestral wealth; a separate empire, a separate cloud team instead of collaborating with cloud team that already existed. As someone rightly pointed out earlier, instead of doing the right thing, he chose the easy thing: building a personal kingdom.
DeleteThe Canadian king, of course, turned a blind eye to all this ‘creativity.’ And protecting those with 10+ or 15+ years? That’s not protection—that’s a failure in Westeros management of not having proper performance management process. This entire saga of complaints about managers, directors, and team coaches across Westeros stems from exactly that. Once all projects and fundings in his prior stint are audited including his need to build an empire, you will know if he became a problem or not.
And let’s not forget the compassionate soul personally encouraging those 10+/15+ veterans to apply for roles in his new department, while existing managers who have been managing so long, developed rapport with business and developed good working relationships were ignored and not even shortlisted. That’s restructuring to accommodate who?!!
My calendar shows "Ask me Anything" series Cancelled :))
ReplyDeletePlot twist: it’s actually the GM who created the blog and is now collecting the “anonymous” feedback—patiently waiting to unleash a wildfire-style revenge on those who humiliated her.
ReplyDeleteAnother plot twist: El Presidente kicks out the Mastercard President and installs Mr. Tesla, a.k.a. El Presidente of Mars, in his place. I’ll let you place your bets on who will be elected as the next CIO.
⸻
All jokes aside, the communication, change management, and overall approach to this transformation are scandalous, as many have already pointed out. I’ve been through numerous transformations in my career, and this is by far the most butchered one I’ve seen.
Having said that, remain the decent people that you are and show some class. Stop attacking any current or former director or manager, knowing you don’t have the cojones to say the same to their face. As most of you know or have at least heard, they are facing even more BS then all of us. Imagine joining the organization as a new director and immediately facing a chaotic, toxic environment where no peer dares to share an opinion for fear of being sacked or sent into exile; where priorities change by the hour and everything is urgent but forgotten briefly once delivered… where people get publicly praised for escalating others. Where there is no clear end game. Or imagine being someone who has dedicated decades to the organization, only to be stripped of your honors and asked to beg for them back (sounds familiar?).
And now imagine this being the foundation of a new modern IT organization, where we are also not playing ball. Let’s be honest, the people who retired are not coming back. We need to hold the leaders to higher standards, and do this loud and clear. We don’t have to sacrifice our decency in the process.
I’m not a manager, not a director, not a supervisor or a stormtrooper, not even close. Just a regular pawn in a chessboard full of pawns.
Your friendly brother of the night’s watch.
Heard that AARP, from where our GM was posted, faced a remarkably similar situation—and that the almighty, in all generosity, answered their prayers by granting her a plum assignment in Westeros.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone with reliable contacts verify this? If true, it would certainly help the blogger draw a clearer, fact-based picture of the pattern of incompetence and to whom ever he/she plans to take it up with.
Update for everyone:
ReplyDeleteA whistleblower came forward through the form with concrete evidence.
Job posting irregularities under Sultan's realm. Hodor acknowledged them. Documented.
This is exactly why the form matters. This is exactly what Monday's escalation needs.
Thank you to the person who came forward. What you shared will be part of Monday's escalation to leadership. Your courage matters.
Everyone else: If you have documentation, share it. Forms filled at 2am matter. Evidence matters.
— Chronicler
The role of the vendors, the one favored by Sultan needs more scrutiny(C*g*iz@nt). For many years now, resources from this vendor were hired as staff and such staff are currently hand in glove with vendor manager and provide information sensitive for contracts. This is open secret where information is shared across single malts and smoking rooms. The vendor manager possibly the most corrupt one leach information about staff and use it as leverage when talking to managers and directors. In turn for information, resources less qualified are hired and sometime even close family members and friends are placed. All resources who are charged >120 PH needs scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteThey should extend the review to other units and departments as well—EA and Data teams, for instance. All SAFe OVS definitions across units were done by EA, and interestingly, the partner has always been the same. The same pattern appears in every assessment led by EA. Are other vendors truly that incapable? If so, why are they even operating in Westeros?
DeleteCP and Sourcing should consider putting a cap on the number of resources and contracts that can be awarded to a single vendor to ensure fairness and healthy competition. Any exception, if there are genuinely compelling reasons, should require approval at the VP/MD level and be subject to independent audit.
We need to make one clear demand: the staff has lost confidence in the godmother. Senior management and the board must address our concerns. Let's keep emphasizing this issue, as all the surrounding noise dilutes our message.
ReplyDeleteVery entertaining read. Having dealt with the “sultan” a number of years back, and predecessors of his ilk, I’m surprised he has managed to sleaze his way this far in life; climbing on the shoulders of those who did the real work while he flitted about, spewing poison like it was some profound knowledge. I would’ve liked to witness the “transformations” our fearless IT “leaders” have come up with since my departure, but the paycheck finally became no longer worth the bullshit they shoveled our way. Good riddance to bad rubbish! May they all get the toxic rewards they all richly deserve… especially you Rahyab…
ReplyDeleteUPDATE: Volunteers Needed
ReplyDeleteNeed 1-2 volunteers to help deliver the ITS Crisis Report to
leadership (MDs, CRO, EDs).
The Report: 240+ form submissions and 500+ comments compiled
into a detailed executive report documenting staff concerns about
the transformation.
Your Task:
- Receive the report (secure link)
- Print it out
- Deliver or mail to front offices of MDs, CRO, and EDs
How to Volunteer:
Fill the existing form: https://forms.gle/kV64rBBokWhhp2NA7
In the form, share your personal email address. I'll contact you
privately with the report and delivery instructions.
Timeline: Need volunteers this week.
Please share this message across the house. Leadership needs to
hear what 240+ staff documented.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this possible.
— The Chronicler
Grateful to all who came forward. CO colleagues - we see your courage, but the miles between us make delivery impossible from your end. King's Landing volunteers - you hold the key. A few more from HQ and we're ready. Link and instructions sent. The rest of you know what to do.
ReplyDelete— The Chronicler
I'm a multiple WB award winner - operations and HQ - and left the place even before i got my last award. I could not agree more with most of this content. keep it up and be safe - multiple attempts to wipe me out for transparency while i was there by STAFF...sad but here we are
ReplyDelete