In my younger days, I would often encounter a Project or Contracts Manager who would sigh heavily at the time it had taken to review a contract, negotiate the detail and batten down a signature, and then triumphantly observe that there was another pile of paperwork which, with a bit of luck and a following wind, wouldn’t need to see the light of day again – instantly belittling the need for the amount of (my hard) work which had just gone into that paperwork.
I’ve heard it from well-meaning and less arrogant colleagues before as well, pleased with the work which has been achieved in the contract negotiation. “Good job” they say as they file it away the copy document in their bottom drawer (never give away the original document when in-house), along with the contract guide I’d crafted for them to make their life easier and the contract user-friendly, “now we can let that gather some dust while we get on with the proper job”. As though the job done (by me) is not proper.
