We are all given challenges, and this is one of mine.
In educational environments like universities there are lots of politics. I was asked to set up several hundred new iMacs with software. Unfortunately, another department demanded additional software after I had started imaging them. I was told to add that software and start over. Then my boss and I had this conversation.
“So when will this be done? We are going to be late because of these changes.”, my boss said. I did some math about how long each one has taken and the number of computers I had and I said two weeks. “Can you do it in a week?”, my boss asked. “We have to meet the deadline.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible but I will do my best.”, I said. Now normally this might be possible if we had imaging software and a network where I could uni-cast the image. Unfortunately this school only gave me a hard drive and some USB drives and I had to manually do everything. I even had to unbox the computers, set them up, image them, box them and then put them back into a waiting area so I could continue working in my small area.
I came in early, ate lunch at my desk, and stayed late but I got it done barely in a week. I had to borrow some additional hard drives to speed up the process. I met the deadline, my boss was happy, school could open with the computers ready and everything turned out great.
Sometimes challenges are hard, but with some creative thought you can find a way to meet them.
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