A former senior member of staff from Cannington College - long retired - found my blog by accident. He shared his views with me on the strict understanding that he would not be identified.
1 - Norman became Head of Department by accident (Brian's terminal illness) and before he was experienced enough to take on the role.
2 - Norman found it very difficult to manage Mike and Richard and so to prove to himself that he had what was required to be a "boss" he overcompensated and became too macho in his dealings with other colleagues.
3 - Norman needed a 2nd in department but the obvious candidate (Steve) was never going to be acceptable to the rest of the staff.
4 - Norman made a number of beginners mistakes especially when he invested a lot of energy and time in members of the department who subsequently exploited the staff development opportunities that he had given them to find new jobs away from Cannington.
5 - What Norman and his "inner circle" did while setting up Network Training was unfair to the rest of his department. Norman took his eyes off the ball but by then he had his escape plan formulated and so he didn't care that much about public opinion.
