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From a different angle: why do almost all people who assume power change the way they communicate? Alternatively, why do candid people not attain power? The an

From a different angle: why do almost all people who assume power change the way they communicate? Alternatively, why do candid people not attain power? The answer is probably that being candid makes you vulnerable. This is a guy who would systematically attack management for their decisions. Yet he failed to connect the dots between his actions and theirs. In the real world you'll frequently find situations where there is no unequivocally good answer, but a decision needs to be made. In new companies leadership has more blind trust from employees that they can rely on. In mature companies where staff frequently challenge decisions it is easier for management to just present a smaller target and give non answers.

allenu 5y ago
Regarding changing the way they communicate, I think some of it is just a natural filter that gets applied to people who move up. At some point, you notice that the people who move up the management chain are more "diplomatic" and don't really reveal what they actually think, at least not in public. They toe the company line. People who are too candid can't be controlled and can't be trusted to do what may be in the company's best interests. If you don't agree with toeing the company line, you either leave or aren't promoted. At some point, a company needs its management to move in lock-step, otherwise it can't predictably meet its goals.
- underwater 5y ago
  Which is the cause and which is the effect? You might have less candid people being promoted (survival of the fittest) or it might be that people become less candid (learned behaviour). I suspect it's more learned behaviour. I see my younger self in the author of these cartoons. I saw myself as the smartest guy in the room and would complain about everything as though the answers were obvious. Now I have more responsibility everything has become a lot less black and white. I realised that bitching about stuff in this way is cheap (and to be honest, I think it's intellectually lazy). It's also a privilege you lose as soon as you have power, because now it's your job to fix the stuff that everything is complaining about.
  - allenu 5y ago
    I agree that there's a lot of learned behavior here. I feel the same way about my younger self. I also thought I knew better than people above me, and I also now recognize that it's not so simple. Even if I was right and we took action based on what I thought was best, there would be effects elsewhere that I hadn't thought of, mostly political effects, which would have larger organizational ramifications. What's more, I have found recently that I've accepted this attitude of "find ways to accomplish goals, don't rock the boat, and find a way to get everyone moving in the same direction without complaining" and a lot of it is really not about "being right" but making it possible for the largest number of people to succeed. Even if I dislike aspects of how we're doing things, I've recognized that it doesn't help the cause to be overly candid about it as that just introduces chaos organizational (it tends to encourage discord and behavior that isn't constructive). The strangest thing about this recent change in behavior is my manager and skip-level manager have both independently suggested I consider management, which was never my goal (still not a goal).

allenu 5y ago

Regarding changing the way they communicate, I think some of it is just a natural filter that gets applied to people who move up. At some point, you notice that the people who move up the management chain are more "diplomatic" and don't really reveal what they actually think, at least not in public. They toe the company line. People who are too candid can't be controlled and can't be trusted to do what may be in the company's best interests. If you don't agree with toeing the company line, you either leave or aren't promoted. At some point, a company needs its management to move in lock-step, otherwise it can't predictably meet its goals.

underwater 5y ago
Which is the cause and which is the effect? You might have less candid people being promoted (survival of the fittest) or it might be that people become less candid (learned behaviour). I suspect it's more learned behaviour. I see my younger self in the author of these cartoons. I saw myself as the smartest guy in the room and would complain about everything as though the answers were obvious. Now I have more responsibility everything has become a lot less black and white. I realised that bitching about stuff in this way is cheap (and to be honest, I think it's intellectually lazy). It's also a privilege you lose as soon as you have power, because now it's your job to fix the stuff that everything is complaining about.
- allenu 5y ago
  I agree that there's a lot of learned behavior here. I feel the same way about my younger self. I also thought I knew better than people above me, and I also now recognize that it's not so simple. Even if I was right and we took action based on what I thought was best, there would be effects elsewhere that I hadn't thought of, mostly political effects, which would have larger organizational ramifications. What's more, I have found recently that I've accepted this attitude of "find ways to accomplish goals, don't rock the boat, and find a way to get everyone moving in the same direction without complaining" and a lot of it is really not about "being right" but making it possible for the largest number of people to succeed. Even if I dislike aspects of how we're doing things, I've recognized that it doesn't help the cause to be overly candid about it as that just introduces chaos organizational (it tends to encourage discord and behavior that isn't constructive). The strangest thing about this recent change in behavior is my manager and skip-level manager have both independently suggested I consider management, which was never my goal (still not a goal).