Mastro and FBI

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Posted By: Joann

It took me awhile, but I thought of an analogy.

Our regular hours at work are 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. with an hour for lunch. I don't remember the last time I got to work earlier than 8:15. It's usually somewhere between 8:15 and 8:30, but it's not that uncommon for me to get there a little after 8:30 even.

So suppose someone at work had a negative bias towards me (believe me, they exist!). They could easily start a buzz about Joann never gets to work at 8. Joann is late every single day. Joann didn't get here until 8:40 yesterday. And it would all be true. Suppose they start saying it to people that work 500 miles away at corporate in St Louis, who aren't here to see my comings and goings? Now that would look bad. Really bad.

Does the bias of the person change the fact that I don't get there at 8? No, not at all. That underlying fact would still be true, and clearly true. And it's on me - I simply don't get there at 8 and that has nothing to do with the bias of anyone reporting that.

But here's the rest of it - the part the the biased person would probably omit. I rarely leave before 6 pm. Being at the office until 6:30 or a bit later is not that uncommon, especially if I don't keep an eye on it. If I leave by 6 it is usually because I've made up my mind to do so. There is kind of a running joke with my boss that if I am leaving at 5:00 I let her know that I am "cutting out early - you know - at 5". I don't remember the last time I went out for an hour at lunch. I usually go for carryout, and am gone maybe 20-30 minutes.

I am on my email by 6:30 every morning to see if there is anything I need to do to get my dept going, and catch up on emails. I keep an eye on it at night in case anyone from our office in China needs anything - if I can answer that night it saves them an entire day. I also catch up on other emails occasionally in the evenings. I do my weekly Close of Business report on the weekend, and also read the COB's from other Senior Managers.

I probably average somewhere between 50 and 55 hours per week, as a best guess. That doesn't even count the days (such as next Thursday) that I get up at 3:00 a.m. to catch the 5:00 flight to St Louis, and don't get to check into my hotel there until maybe 9:00 at night.

Not crying about it - not at all. But someone with a bias could easily complain widely and publicly that I don't get in on time at 8. Ever. And that person would be perfectly correct, with that fact unaffected by the bias.

But it doesn't tell the whole story - far from it. So I guess that's why I wonder if there is a bias in the Mastro reporting, and think I will reserve opinion until I can tell if there is or not.

Sorry for the long post - it was the best (read, only) analogy I could think of.

Joann