4 ms·

"Help, I see a problem and no one is prioritizing it "

20 points by BerislavLopac 3y ago

whydoineedthis 3y ago
meh, he's not wrong, but he's not right either. The author assumes that the manager above them is actually right about the impact, and therefor the priority, of the problem. In the more common case, where the manager has the ol'head-up-the-arse problem, the real solution is to know how to kiss-tushy and pick your battles carefully. If you can't come to terms with being right, but also keeping your mouth shut at the same time, then indeed your management potential will be limited.
- irisgrunn 3y ago
  Yup and if all else fails, just leave (wish I realized that before my burn-out)
- MilStdJunkie 3y ago
  Sometimes you just need to let the ship sink into the ocean. Wish I had a time machine to go back and tell myself that ten years ago. Quite often, doing a rescue on a process problem . . it's like a coaler changing the course of the Titanic after pie April 14, 1912. At some point, you just make sure you're abovedecks and have your oilskins on by midnight.
PreInternet01 3y ago
Previously, on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39583349 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39583349. A single comment, and not listed on https://news.ycombinator.com/invited https://news.ycombinator.com/invited
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
yungporko 3y ago
my philosophy when management refuse to acknowledge problems (when they're real problems), is to make sure to allow them to actually be problems. make the problem and the impact known, make the solution known, then sit back and let the problem be a problem. don't work harder to compensate for it, don't suggest workarounds or help to implement them (in fact you should pick holes in workarounds and find problems with them if you can). people will not ever solve your problems, they will only solve their own problems, so make sure it's their problem too.
- nomonnai 3y ago
  Serious question: How do you avoid being blamed after all? I've observed reactions like, "It looks like you are just incompetent." and, "Whatever, just find a solution."
  - jononor 3y ago
    First one tries to raise it in the usual channels. Document the issues. Try to escalate for getting resources to fix. Make sure this is all in a written paper trail, so it can be pointed to later.
  - yungporko 3y ago
    when i've raised the problem, described the impact and explained what it would take to solve it, there's really no amount of mental gymnastics which could end up with it being my fault, especially if there's a paper trail. if a manager started doing stuff like calling me names over it, i'd go to their boss and make a formal complaint. at least that's what i hope i'd do. it's never gone that far for me and in practice i'm only ~80% sure that i wouldn't just tell them to choke on a dick and get myself fired at that point. to be honest if you have a boss like that you should be spending all of your time and effort on finding a new job rather than trying to solve problems at your current one anyway.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
chambers 3y ago
Learning the full context before pushing a problem is alright advice. Same with sharing context on the impact of an otherwise hard-to-see problem. Otherwise, this article is banal. It lacks a strong or unique take on the topic of "Manager ignoring problem I care about". There's nothing new for staff/principals already skilled in navigating people & forming insights, and nothing deep for juniors who want to see behind the scenes, how the sausage gets made.
LightFog 3y ago
This tiptoe-ing around leaders who can’t communicate is often a path to frustration and burnout. Getting promoted won’t help, the rot probably goes the whole way up. Tbh I would just start finding an other group to work with - life’s too short. This seems to be advice for people who can’t do that and are hopelessly stuck where they are.

20 points by BerislavLopac 3y ago

meh, he's not wrong, but he's not right either. The author assumes that the manager above them is actually right about the impact, and therefor the priority, of the problem. In the more common case, where the manager has the ol'head-up-the-arse problem, the real solution is to know how to kiss-tushy and pick your battles carefully. If you can't come to terms with being right, but also keeping your mouth shut at the same time, then indeed your management potential will be limited.

irisgrunn 3y ago
Yup and if all else fails, just leave (wish I realized that before my burn-out)
MilStdJunkie 3y ago
Sometimes you just need to let the ship sink into the ocean. Wish I had a time machine to go back and tell myself that ten years ago. Quite often, doing a rescue on a process problem . . it's like a coaler changing the course of the Titanic after pie April 14, 1912. At some point, you just make sure you're abovedecks and have your oilskins on by midnight.

PreInternet01 3y ago

Previously, on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39583349 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39583349. A single comment, and not listed on https://news.ycombinator.com/invited https://news.ycombinator.com/invited

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

yungporko 3y ago

my philosophy when management refuse to acknowledge problems (when they're real problems), is to make sure to allow them to actually be problems. make the problem and the impact known, make the solution known, then sit back and let the problem be a problem. don't work harder to compensate for it, don't suggest workarounds or help to implement them (in fact you should pick holes in workarounds and find problems with them if you can). people will not ever solve your problems, they will only solve their own problems, so make sure it's their problem too.

nomonnai 3y ago
Serious question: How do you avoid being blamed after all? I've observed reactions like, "It looks like you are just incompetent." and, "Whatever, just find a solution."
- jononor 3y ago
  First one tries to raise it in the usual channels. Document the issues. Try to escalate for getting resources to fix. Make sure this is all in a written paper trail, so it can be pointed to later.
- yungporko 3y ago
  when i've raised the problem, described the impact and explained what it would take to solve it, there's really no amount of mental gymnastics which could end up with it being my fault, especially if there's a paper trail. if a manager started doing stuff like calling me names over it, i'd go to their boss and make a formal complaint. at least that's what i hope i'd do. it's never gone that far for me and in practice i'm only ~80% sure that i wouldn't just tell them to choke on a dick and get myself fired at that point. to be honest if you have a boss like that you should be spending all of your time and effort on finding a new job rather than trying to solve problems at your current one anyway.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

chambers 3y ago

Learning the full context before pushing a problem is alright advice. Same with sharing context on the impact of an otherwise hard-to-see problem. Otherwise, this article is banal. It lacks a strong or unique take on the topic of "Manager ignoring problem I care about". There's nothing new for staff/principals already skilled in navigating people & forming insights, and nothing deep for juniors who want to see behind the scenes, how the sausage gets made.

LightFog 3y ago

This tiptoe-ing around leaders who can’t communicate is often a path to frustration and burnout. Getting promoted won’t help, the rot probably goes the whole way up. Tbh I would just start finding an other group to work with - life’s too short. This seems to be advice for people who can’t do that and are hopelessly stuck where they are.