I'm too clever for my job - and my manager says so

Smodlet

Why does no-one ask to read my "lyric"?

z1a

Is OP Sheldon Cooper?

RichardD1970

z1a wrote: »

Is OP Sheldon Cooper?

Doubt it, he really is more intelligent than most people.

Ja7188

Probably cleverer than them, and that's not even a joke. I routinely help my own managers. This isn't limited to software use, knowledge of tasks, or general help where needed, but direction, such as solving difficult problems and finding alternative solutions to issues. This has earned me some very good praise, so I'm left with this question:

Is the problem that I am particularly clever? Or:
Are the people around me just particularly stupid?

Based on the evidence thus far, I'd say that any "intelligence gap" that may exist is likely to be others being stupid, not you being clever.

Here's an example. Today I helped a senior manager in a very big way just by completing some routine tasks. They are supposed to be carried out by their own team, but they keep ignoring it because there's a slight amount of calculation involved and they don't feel like doing that. This annoys me. So I just went ahead and did it. It took barely 30 minutes. The manager calls me and praises me non-stop for five minutes and promises to take me out for a beer on the next gathering. Then they send an E-mail of thanks which includes the regional director. It's crazy, because all the team had to do was fill in some mostly pre-filled calculations on excel, but they just couldn't be bothered because it was a Friday.

It's good to muck in - but this example shows a example of good attitude and does not evidence that you are any better than others in terms of actual capability.

Newsflash: there are plenty of people who are well-educated, hard working, ambitious, and want to fulfill their potential. For every 1 of these threads, there are a hundred of people complaining they can't get ahead. So I don't know where you're coming from.

I don't doubt that you work hard and want to fulfil your potential, which is admirable. However, the manner in which you're going about trying to progress yourself is highly questionable based on the evidence thus far. Now do you see where I'm coming from?

I'm not sure education is worth bothering with anymore. It's just not value for money. The first time I tried it, the course collapsed because the lecturers stopped turning up, then the university slapped the whole 3 years on my SL. The second time, the lecturers didn't even know what they were talking about and our coursework came out of magazines. It's interesting how we treat people now - we treat kids as adults and adults as kids.

If you're as clever as you claim, how come you didn't get a place at a better university? This sounds like the sort of thing that would happen at a low-end struggling former polytechnic.

Sounds like bad work colleagues are a repeating problem for you... I wonder who the real issue is here... someone like that must have lots of problems...maybe in reality it's... you?

Not very nice when people talk to you like that for no reason, is it? Here's your lesson: don't do it to other people.

There have been a few, probably 4 or 5 over the years which I'd put in the same category as yourself based on the evidence thus far - but in each and every case, I've thought about what I might be doing wrong in their eyes and in most cases, this has helped. You, on the other hand, seem unable or unwilling (or both) to consider that ANY part of the issue may be yourself, despite your inconsistent work history (and I'm sure we'd all still love to hear why this history exists). In what way are you unhappy in how I've addressed you? All I've done is suggested that you take a look at how you conduct yourself and deal with other people - and I don't think that's bad advice.

Ja7188

Why does no-one ask to read my "lyric"?

I think we'd love to - are you sure it's not quotable...? ;-)

Tabbytabitha

blueandwhiterose wrote: »

Please stop concentrating on slam-down responses where you "win the game" and please just read what I have written and absorb it. This is a real problem for me where there is no simple fix. I'm here to reach out to people who want to listen, not to those who don't want to listen. That is the point of a forum. Please read what I have written in my OP.

The point if posting questions on a forum is that the poster listens to the answers, not that the readers listen to him.

Smodlet

Ja7188 wrote: »

I think we'd love to - are you sure it's not quotable...? ;-)

It's on its way, thanks, Ja7188.

Manxman_in_exile

Ja7188 wrote: »

If you're as clever as you claim, how come you didn't get a place at a better university? This sounds like the sort of thing that would happen at a low-end struggling former polytechnic.

Absolutely! Oh hang on - I got my first degree at a poly 40 years ago. But then I got my masters from the LSE. Does that mean I'm still ok?

Ja7188

Absolutely! Oh hang on - I got my first degree at a poly 40 years ago. But then I got my masters from the LSE. Does that mean I'm still ok?

Given that any degree whatsoever was quite an achievement 40 years ago and that LSE is a top-level institution, I'd say you're OK... I suspect the OP is probably quite a bit younger than you though! :-)

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to start a discussion about the merits or otherwise of certain universities and only made comment because I'd like to understand how someone who claims to be as clever as the OP appears to have gone to a sub-par university. Or perhaps they went to LSE themselves and are just cleverer than all the lecturers...

Smodlet

I think your last comment is probably spot on, Ja since the OP is clearly far more clever than anyone s/he has ever met, including uni lecturers.

Why are we not hanging on his/her every word and listening as we should be? There might be questions later, all of the answers to which will be ignored because we are not clever enough to be worthy of notice, apparently.