3 ms·
12 years experience here. I dislike the idea of the manager as "the mayordomo" of the team. I like the idea of being a facilitator, but having in mind the last
by meerita 7y ago
12 years experience here. I dislike the idea of the manager as "the mayordomo" of the team. I like the idea of being a facilitator, but having in mind the last word is on them. Accountability must be enforced to avoid design by consensus.
- ip26 7y agoThe superior always has the last word, but in a high functioning team, I've observed the reports can often anticipate the choices of their leader, which is another step in leadership becoming both more effective & more invisible.
- jdmichal 7y agoAbsolutely this. I love playing this game: When someone asks me about doing something, I like responding with, "What do I want to know?" or "What am I going to ask you?" It trains them to start anticipating your thoughts and needs, and eventually to your thought processes and decision making.
- drewda 7y agoOne of my own techniques as a manager: if I'm not satisfied with an answer to my question, I'll just keep asking more questions. Sometimes my questioning will lead the others to find some unnoticed complexity in their own proposal. Other times, their replies to my questions will lead _me to realize I had an incomplete picture in my own head. Either is a useful outcome--likely a better outcome than if I outright disagreed at the beginning.
- meerita 7y agoI do ask many many questions. Often I realized people fell onto "gut feeling" cases or other kinds of biases where empirical evidence never was presented. That's why it's important to ask.