Summarizing and organizing data is important

I'll be brief, because I am tired. Getting hauled into work on a Sunday and then working 3 subsequent 12 hour days is not my particular cup of tea. Especially while working under a supervisor that is scatter brained and with terrible decision making skills.

I've given up on trying to blend in by nodding my head and doing what I am told as I have had my ass handed to me by higher up managers for following someone else's bad train of thought. Allow me to summarize the situation:

I am pretty much working on a somewhat complicated process using semiconductor type fabrication technology to make micro-level devices. These devices are fabricated by depositing a variety of metals and semi-conductors in an arrangement of patterns. There are some complexities depending on the geometry of the patterns you deposit or etch out and there are inevitably design trade offs or risks that one might have to take when trying out a new process.

The problem is that the supervisor that I work under shows little sign of reasoning, nor does he do a good job of explaining his reasoning to me (which might be poor in the first place). The end result is that I have no clue on what this guy is basing his reasoning on and occasionally it seems that we are flailing a little bit when it comes to trying to be focused on getting a design challenged solved in a finite amount of time. The problem really kicks in when we have a upper level manager starts questioning our reasoning for the design and experimentation to which sometimes we cannot connect the dots to. This drives me utterly crazy because it feels like the work we do that can't be properly explained is time wasted.

Ugh.

I will admit that working on a somewhat complex device can be a little challenging, though I do not think the process is all that complicated. There are multiple ways of trying to fabricate a device and often a preliminary study is required to determine it's feasibility. The problem is that my supervisor is not particularly good at keeping track of what we don't know, what information is required and comparing them to our other options. The other problem is that I am still a little inexperienced and don't know how to work all the machines we use, meaning I just can't run off and do my own thing (yet).

Anyways, if you want to succeed at a project via making good decisions. Knowing the basics and summarizing the important details is vital and working with smart people is important. I think I am going to be pissed off working with this supervisor for the next few months.

Hot damn.