You guys hiring?

@someguy - Yep. Grand Rapids, Michigan (main office). But it's not development. It's in Ops. Entry-level stuff right now.

Option 3: IT truly wants everyone to use their monitors exactly the same way for some reason (perhaps because their poorly-trained-and-paid staff isn't up to the task). I've worked with a few IT teams like that.

Can you give some more advice for the option 2 situation? Maybe how to talk to him and get what you want while still letting him feel in control?

@thursdaysgeek - If you find the answer to that, you'll be rich beyond the dreams of Avarice. Control freaks thrive on denying others what they want. It's a very strange combination of jealousy, insecurity, and a little Schadenfreude for spice. My preferred method for dealing with these types usually involves removing them, not managing them.

@JoeStrazzere - Fair enough. I'd call that "Option 2 by proxy." :)

Spoiler: It's not option 1.

When asking IT, in order to not appear to be undermining your boss's [infuriating] need for control, I would copy the boss in and present it as innocently as possible, presenting them as the bad guy, just like your boss pretended. Ham it up: "Hey, I just found out that there is an IT regulation against having my monitor sideways. I think it's really important to my productivity. Windows natively supports screen rotation, (show screenshot example) and the monitor pivots...." yada yada, end with the gist but not verbatim, "I'm not sure why you're making such an unreasonable deal out of this."

part 2: In my estimation, they will likely hit back hard about how asinine that is to suggest that you can't do it that way. In which case, you win this one. Now, they might be aware of your boss' issues with control -- surely they are by now -- and might be more diplomatic with their reply, but either way, I think you win with this method. Except you're still losing by being there. I know you didn't ask but assuming that IT doesn't come back saying "no" as well, you should get a new job ASAP. However, I'm concerned (for your sake) that you appeared willing to live with this behavior

Probably you know this, but someone sufficiently motivated could clean up that image enough to read those emails and slack messages

@JoeStrazzere when mice with wheels first came out they drove me nutz, since they were on like 1 out of 10 or 15 computers I used. Eventually (a year?) it reversed, and the 1 or 2 out of 10 or 15 that didn't have wheelie mice were makin' me mad...

@seizethecarp — are you suggesting it would be better if IT came back and said "no", it's not supported? That actually sounds worse to me.

@calebjay Everything up there pertains to television programming that was broadcast 2 months ago. It was all on TV. :)

@WesleyLong I assume the number taped to the phone was not though...

Option 4: Boss is concerned about potential damage to employees and/or equipment. Both types of damage cost time and money. Sure, a replacement monitor is cheap, but is there a spare in house? Will someone from IT have to burn time ordering a replacement? If the monitor is covered by insurance or extended warranty, who fills out the paperwork? Does procurement need to get involved? Which contract pays for the replacement? Sure, it's a silly random example, but boss may be thinking about things you're not (like ongoing litigation from the previous monitor-orientation-related workplace injury)

Option 5: they have a software installed on company PCs which periodically screenshots employees’ desktop for the management to make sure they are working. And this software doesn’t work good with vertical orientation (or it is just bothersome to view these screenshots).

Option 6. (Possibly UK Specific) HR doing desk assessments have to look at eye height to monitor height, and this isn't something they've ever considered and so don't have a current assessment for this layout.

@Mr.Mindor - I'd never even thought of that. Funny story - I just asked our Ops guys what that number was for. No one knows. The label pre-dates everyone in the department. The longest-term person's been there over 4 years. We're all having a good laugh about it at the moment.

@WesleyLong Do (did?) you have any major customers/vendors/etc in southwestern Pennsylvania? The 724 area code is the primary one for that part of the state excluding the city of Pittsburgh and some inner suburbs.

@DanNeely - Someone just figured it out. It was a cell phone number for a former employee who was FROM PA, originally. I just blurred everything - we're getting off track, here.

$40 in hardware is a heck of a lot cheaper than recruiting, onboarding, and training new staff. very true. Reminds me of then it took me 4 months and probably 15-20hours of time to get a $30 RAM upgrade because I was constantly paging....