The Chop

I was once contacted by my manager to review a particular code change, but with the instructions to actually select the Reject option if there was anything wrong with it.

Things seemed a little odd, so I was suspicious about the request. Usually you would only use the Reject option if it was completely the wrong approach, not just if one thing could be improved.

The change was an SQL data fix, but seemed for a bug that would rarely occur, so my instinct is that it should be run manually on the afflicted sites rather than sent out as part of the normal patching process. 

The normal process would mean the script would be run on all servers, and be subject to the usual slow “roll out” process; therefore delay its application to the affected site.

Looking at the comment from Support, it sounded like it was possibly just on one site.

There were 3 cases linked to it; 2 from the same site, 1 with a title of a completely different error number. Then the workaround is stated as “Re-add the Default Location to the Template” so they probably fixed it already. So maybe we didn’t even need to do anything.

Looking at the dates that it was logged, it seemed like it was classed as a minor bug so had a long time period to fix as per the Service Level agreement so I was sceptical it was still an issue after 2 years.

So my initial instinct says it should be applied as a manual patch, then reading the details from Support, it sounds like it was just on one site and they had already manually fixed it, presumably via the UI.

So I asked my manager if the site has been contacted to see if it is still a problem? Then we can just close it.

And that’s when my manager said

“His skills are currently being assessed so he’s been left to figure it out and told to ask for help if/when he needs it.”

Manager

So it seems like they have given him a bug to investigate then fix/close. Since he has struggled to resolve items before and been reluctant to ask for help, they have chosen this one to test if he is collaborating with the correct people. He didn’t, so they sacked him.

I haven’t encountered many sackings; everyone seems to imply it’s a lot of hassle, but certain managers are more willing to do it. Another approach is to declare that a “new opportunity” has come up and they will be placed in a new team to see if that causes an improvement.