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It's an impossible task. Without direct access to their brains and being able to alter those, you are at a lost cause. Middle Manager Syndrome would be great f

It's an impossible task. Without direct access to their brains and being able to alter those, you are at a lost cause. Middle Manager Syndrome would be great for machine learning to cure. I hope you come out with your nerves intact

a1369209993 6y ago
Actually, what they said was: > to appear as if they understand and control their shops [emphasis added] Ideally, the manager would provide coordination and clerical support, and insulation from the rest of the bureaucracy (ie actually managing) without necessarily needing to understand or control the details. But if that's how they appear, upper management will classify them as overpaid secretaries, and gut their authority (and, on a selfish note, salaries). So it's important that they appear to understand and control their nominal subordinates, even if they're actually following sound advice of the form > It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. (It may still be a impossible task, but it's a different task from having them actually understand and control things; even technical managers rarely accomplish that.)
- 6510 6y ago
  An illusion that only works for half the audience is not very reliable. I see opportunity to [by email] assign reading materials to them and possibly offer to tutor them weekly. When you own the problem it is yours to solve.
- closeparen 6y ago
  Spot on. I know for a fact that it's a need to appear so because the issue was brought on by a change in upper management. The same middle managers had previously just smiled warmly and told me I was doing important work, never asked to see (let alone influence) architecture diagrams. And I'd like to say I'm surprised and encouraged by the number of people empathizing with this problem; at work it is a lonely predicament. It somewhat dashes my hopes of escaping it by jumping to another firm, but at least I know I'm not the only one.

a1369209993 6y ago

Actually, what they said was: > to appear as if they understand and control their shops [emphasis added] Ideally, the manager would provide coordination and clerical support, and insulation from the rest of the bureaucracy (ie actually managing) without necessarily needing to understand or control the details. But if that's how they appear, upper management will classify them as overpaid secretaries, and gut their authority (and, on a selfish note, salaries). So it's important that they appear to understand and control their nominal subordinates, even if they're actually following sound advice of the form > It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. (It may still be a impossible task, but it's a different task from having them actually understand and control things; even technical managers rarely accomplish that.)

6510 6y ago
An illusion that only works for half the audience is not very reliable. I see opportunity to [by email] assign reading materials to them and possibly offer to tutor them weekly. When you own the problem it is yours to solve.
closeparen 6y ago
Spot on. I know for a fact that it's a need to appear so because the issue was brought on by a change in upper management. The same middle managers had previously just smiled warmly and told me I was doing important work, never asked to see (let alone influence) architecture diagrams. And I'd like to say I'm surprised and encouraged by the number of people empathizing with this problem; at work it is a lonely predicament. It somewhat dashes my hopes of escaping it by jumping to another firm, but at least I know I'm not the only one.