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That manager would probably have disavowed everything anyway
44 comments- TAGS:electric lock, mission impossible, physical security
- IT TOPICS:Management
This IT pilot fish works in a big open-plan office, where the last employee out is supposed to turn out the lights.
"One day, the last person in the office couldn't find the light switch but saw a big handle marked 'power,' so she decided to use that," fish says.
"Well, it did turn the lights off. She thought it was a little quiet then, but she left the office by the fire escape and went home."
Next morning, fish shows up for work with the rest of the staff -- but no one can get in. The electric lock on the front door to the office isn't working.
Someone phones a manager who's responsible for the bypass keys. He tells the employees to smash the door in.
That idea doesn't sit well with fish's team, and they come up with an approach that involves ropes, ladders, gutters and a few moves out of Mission: Impossible. But they manage to break into the office cleanly and restore power -- without causing any damage.
"It certainly improved teamwork," says fish.
"Later that day, the manager who told us to smash the door down came in and we found out the only bypass key was in a locked cupboard inside the office.
"This key was moved to another office about a quarter-mile away in case we lost power again."
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