Member-only story
The 3 P’s Rule of Thumb
In 1973 I went to work for a defense contractor as a Technical Writer. I had only been with the company a short while when my ex-boss, became very ill and was unable to return to work. The individual who was directly under him was asked to work in his absence and he declined.
I was approached by the Vice President of Engineering to be in charge of the department. I agreed to take on this task with one caveat — I would perform his duties at my present classification and pay for three months. At the end of that time if they were pleased with my performance I would be promoted to the head of the department and receive the same salary as my boss.
So, for the next three months I worked my tail off running a department of six people preparing technical manuals, supervising and coordinating daily activities. In addition, I was tasked to review contracts and prepare proposals for new activities.
Shortly after the three months had passed I approached the Vice President of Engineering about our agreement and I was told he would have to talk with the President of the company. A couple more weeks went by and still no response. Once again I approached the Vice President of Engineering and did not get a positive response. I informed him that I was going to talk with the President of the company.
