Just how mission critical are you?

[Disoblige]

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I am replaceable. I've always built my teams so that everyone on my team, including myself, is fully replaceable and that things will move on without any one of us. Everything (as much as possible) needs to be documented so that others can carry on.

I used to have a self importance complex. The company can't go on without me. Everything is in my head. It's very detrimental to personal life. I used to be the guy that can't be away from a laptop and internet at the drop of a hat. Shit goes down, nothing will get fixed without me. It's not worth it.

We're employed because we do what we do efficiently and effectively.

YES!

Too many people in companies purposely hide info or act like they are the only one to do it. If you are of true value, you set up the architecture for long term success.

I also agree that it is not worth the stress just for a perceived increase in job security. In fact, a lot of people I see end up getting laid off/fired as companies eventually figure out you are replaceable as you aren't being efficient by doing shit like this.

[sabad66]

My role is critical to our company's operations, especially when things go wrong and you need someone who knows all the pieces and how they fit with each other.

That said, notice how i specifically said "my role is critical" and not "I am critical". I am under no illusion that i am the only one in the world who can do my job, but the job/role itself is critical to our business area indeed. If it wasn't me it would be someone else and life/business would go on.

[The Cosworth]

I used to think I was critical in every position I was in. Young, dumb, and ..... you know the rest. Now I realize that there are positions I've been in that might be more of a disruption than others, but power won't stop if anyone at our company is gone that day or the afternoon. As long as the position is replaced / trained up eventually we can catch up.

In a sense though it is freeing, I'm off right now from my surgery and it is a little worrisome being at home but also not too worried about it at the same time. I could find something if I needed to or would survive.

[ExtraSlow]

I'm trying like hell to prevent my role from morphing into a "mission critical" operations role. I am working to push that to another guy and separate myself from it. I should know by Christmas if I've been successful.

[flipstah]

Life is easier if you realize that you're just a cog in the machine and it's better to have spare cogs to take over for when you become a bigger cog

[spikerS]

My role is mission-critical. My role is also one that will never generate income for the company and will always be a hole where money disappears. However, the company knows that my role can and has saved the company millions of dollars on the regular, so even when there is belt-tightening, our team is never touched unless it is a voluntary layoff.

Am [i]I[/b] mission-critical? No. We are a team of 14 people who all do precisely the same job. Any one of us could be replaced in a heartbeat and train a new person inside 3 months, and we are all money-hungry whores and we all love overtime.

[Tik-Tok]

My current job, very replaceable, and I'm enjoying every minute of that.

My old job, well, two of us left at the same time, and over the next 6 months they replaced us with 6 people, and I'm still getting texts asking about stuff a year later.

So while replaceable, we were both important cogs, even though we didn't have important titles, or positions.

[rage2]

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Too many people in companies purposely hide info or act like they are the only one to do it. If you are of true value, you set up the architecture for long term success.

This drives me nuts. I had to deal with those kind of staff before and it takes way too much energy to simply get things documented. It's great once things are done. A year ago, I walked away from heading the Cloud Operations team and passed the torch to my next in charge, We had maybe 2 weeks of transition. Shit still running smoothly, although he had a bit of a rough ride for a couple quarters with the amount of stress. But the job function completely moved on without me.

I hope in a year or two time the new team that I'm heading can do the same and I can walk away. Because I'm sick of working with @kenny .

[speedog]

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Life is easier if you realize that you're just a cog in the machine and it's better to have spare cogs to take over for when you become a bigger cog

Hah, my very first gmail account and the one I still use all these years later is exactly related to being a cog in the machine.

[Disoblige]

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My role is mission-critical. My role is also one that will never generate income for the company and will always be a hole where money disappears. However, the company knows that my role can and has saved the company millions of dollars on the regular, so even when there is belt-tightening, our team is never touched unless it is a voluntary layoff.

"Value" for the company can come in operating efficiencies, cost-savings, etc. There are many ways one can contribute value. A company would be tremendously short sighted if they only saw value on income generation.

[Xtrema]

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YES!

Too many people in companies purposely hide info or act like they are the only one to do it. If you are of true value, you set up the architecture for long term success.

I also agree that it is not worth the stress just for a perceived increase in job security. In fact, a lot of people I see end up getting laid off/fired as companies eventually figure out you are replaceable as you aren't being efficient by doing shit like this.

Those are the one going to be replaced 1st. Because hiding info will eventually lead to bigger incidents that trace back to you.

Everyone is replaceable. But sometimes, there are value plays that give you bangs on the $ that makes it harder.

I am replaceable. I always make sure my guys knows whats up so I can disappear whenever. This goes double during pandemic.

[The_Rural_Juror]

100% replaceable but so is my employer. Always demand to scrub toilets.

[rx7boi]

I'm replaceable but not expendable.

I oversee data management/governance and database builds for my organization so the role comes with a steep learning curve.

We have plans for business continuity when I'm away but some days I wish that I had a counterpart who also worked full-time.

[Skrilla]

"Everyone is replaceable, including me."

-Michael Schumacher

Reminds me of another thread about people flexing or something like that

[killramos]

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"Everyone is replaceable, including me."

-Michael Schumacher

But his team would sure be pissed if he didn’t show up for an individual race.

[The Cosworth]

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But his team would sure be pissed if he didn’t show up for an individual race.

Yeah exactly, I think the comments about a position being critical and not the person is important. Can you run a race car without a driver? No. However can you get a different driver to fill that position? Sure.

[max_boost]

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I am replaceable. I've always built my teams so that everyone on my team, including myself, is fully replaceable and that things will move on without any one of us. Everything (as much as possible) needs to be documented so that others can carry on.

I used to have a self importance complex. The company can't go on without me. Everything is in my head. It's very detrimental to personal life. I used to be the guy that can't be away from a laptop and internet at the drop of a hat. Shit goes down, nothing will get fixed without me. It's not worth it.

We're employed because we do what we do efficiently and effectively.

Well said boss!

Everyone's situation is different but I am definitely mission critical.

"You will never be criticized by someone who is doing more than you. You will only be criticized by someone doing less"
Work smart, not hard but you have to work hard to figure out how to work smart. You are paid based on your value to the company. I'm important here but a nobody out there so I better govern myself accordingly.

Anyway, my issue has always been balancing the right amount of work with personal relationships. It's a struggle.

[Skrilla]

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But his team would sure be pissed if he didn’t show up for an individual race.

I’m sure they would lol. Just reminded me of that, was posted somewhere before.

[SKR]

I hope to not be mission critical. Needing a certain person to be available at all times is a sign of a shitty operation. For every role there should be a pool of people who can rotate in and out seamlessly.

[lasimmon]

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I hope to not be mission critical. Needing a certain person to be available at all times is a sign of a shitty operation. For every role there should be a pool of people who can rotate in and out seamlessly.

I think most places can survive without someone for X amount of time. But that doesn't generally mean things will be done well or how they should be.

Having a pool of people that can rotate in seems like waste to me. But I guess that depends on what your company does.