Completely buried at work, sucess stories?

[lendaddy]

I've moved up very quickly at my current company based on the success of programs I've ran. Some of these were "no chance" programs that through dumb luck, great team members and my ability to motivate the team(s) involved turned out borderline flawless.

Based on the above I was asked four months ago to take over managing program launches at another of our facilities. This was a "we need an answer by tomorrow EOB type request. I of course took it on and though outwardly I've done very well, the internal stress is insane.

The bottom line is that it turned out to be 15 poorly launched programs and I am completely buried and spread so thin you can use me to wrap a tin of brownies. These are program launches that were originally managed by cowards and yes-men that lead upper management to believe we were in good shape...we were/are not. Now it's a chitstorm of meeting deliveries with equipment and processes that are miles from capable.

I'm looking fir real world stories of guys that lived this and how it turned out. How does this movie end?

[TheMentat]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

Some of these were "no chance" programs that through dumb luck, great team members and my ability to motivate the team(s) involved turned out borderline flawless.

or..... maybe you just started spending less time around here!

[Evans, Marv]

Consider going to those who pressured you into it & basically tell them what you say in your third paragraph. Maybe tell them to prioritize the programs. I'd also prioritize them in order of which ones have the best chance of being accomplished & start working from there. I'm sure this advice isn't new to you. It's also good to try to get some kind of buy in from those who were poorly served by the cowards & yes-men.

[stealthn]

Worked on many (technical) projects and programs that were destined to fail for many reasons; culture, cost, slackers, etc. You mentioned the two key ingredients in success; rock star people and inspiration/motivation. If you can get these going for you it may fail but it was outside your control.

I always think outside work for inspiration because somewhere right now someone someone loves is going to die and there's nothing they can do about it; perspective shows you other things are more important in life than work.

[DanielDudley]

You want to hear about the successes, or about how I blew my first marriage and had a nervous breakdown ? !00% effort is the amout you can do consistently, 5 or six days a week. Over 100% effort is when you put out an effort that you cannot maintain for long without suffering physical or mental deterioration.

To a company, you are toilet paper. They will use you as long as you can absorb the crap, and then you get dumped and flushed. Pace Yourself.

[Staubsauger!]

if you start psychosis... not worth it

[reachme]

I've lived it and adrenaline junkies like it in some strange way-I suspect you like it too.
But you always need successes to point to. Make sure the higher ups prioritize which launches are the most important and make sure they are. Provide statuses to show how hosed everything is and your plan to fix it.
When/if the lower priorities fail you will still have succeeded where the business needed it most. Remember you got in this place partially because higher ups failed to pick the right people, motivate them and ensure it was all on track. That hasn't gone away-and also expect one or two saboteurs who are not happy you are there. That project status can help you praise or bang heads when needed.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

8 months in I have a 2 month backlog, starting doing Ferrari work and am working on hiring someone as soon as possible.

[Neilk]

After reading you your post, I thought about this story I heard on NPR yesterday

How Being Busy Affects Our Motivation