TLDR: My lead was passed over for a management position that she was the best candidate for. Now I want to make management's life difficult without affecting my coworkers.
I work for a mission driven organization, the kind of place that says they want to save the world in one form or another (but not faith based). When I started, the distinction between management and boots on the ground employees was fuzzy. I'm on the boots on the ground side. Years ago, my side of the line was given a voice in big decisions. We were respected as subject matter experts. We might not make as much money, but there was a distinct feeling that everyone was working together for a common goal and bringing their own strengths to it. In recent history, that atmosphere has changed. Another layer of management was instituted and those of us who had been here for a long time could tell that this new layer of management didn't respect us that much. We were grunts. The old upper level management all retired and the atmosphere got distinctly more us vs. them with the new upper level and not quite as new middle management making decisions without asking for feedback from us. Ok, fine. I love my day to day job, if they don't want my input, I'll just keep doing the stuff I like to do. At this point, management seemed kind of hypothetical. They didn't really affect me one way or the other. Except now.
They created another middle management position that will directly oversee me and the team that I am on. My direct lead (technically not my direct supervisor because we are union) applied for this position. Her experience exactly matched the job description. Twenty years of excellence, innovation, compassionate leadership. She held our team together through COVID. She mentored me and others to professional excellence. She had excellent relationships with other departments in the organization. She got stuff done. A perfect fit for the position. People from other organizations contacted us to say “Hey, I saw this position but I'm not going to apply for it because it is so obviously perfect for (my direct lead)”.
Well, the position was posted an advertised in the typical places. The closing date was kind of far away, which was weird, since my direct lead had her resume ready to go and sometimes they will just post for a few weeks to follow the rules. Then upper management started dropping in on relevant forums and Facebook groups etc. to let people know that the position was posted. Then the first interview happened and they interviewed a LOT of people, including people my lead had trained that ended up at other organizations that didn't have any actual experience in leadership and little other relevant experience.
Then the second interview. My lead was scheduled for an onsite in July and two other outside candidates were scheduled for onsite interviews in August. One dropped out. The remaining outside candidate had literally less than half of the experience that my lead has and technically didn't even meet the requirements of the posting. The difference between their application packets was ludicrous.
After the second interview, the hiring manager asked for our feedback in person and through a form. My team unanimously backed my direct lead for the position. It was almost funny. “Give me feedback on the candidates, let's start with your lead.” Cue 30 minutes of voluble discussion of all of her excellent traits that were directly relevant to the position. “Ok, now the other candidate” Well, she seems like a nice person, I guess?
I know the rest of the organization was united (perhaps not unanimously, but I'm sure close) in supporting my lead for this position.
Anyway, after drawing out the process for an excruciatingly long time, they hired the unqualified outside candidate. It was awful, especially because my lead has some terrible stuff going on in her personal life as well that this promotion would have mitigated somewhat. Management knew all about that as well.
What can I do to make my managers miserable without impacting my team? I don't even really know what they do all day, the parasitic weasels.
Even if there aren't any implementable ideas that come out of this, thanks for letting me rant.