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Here, take all my upvotes. :) The only thing I would amend is that most poor managers aren't the "slaver" types (if you end up reporting to one, it'll be obvio
by HillRat 13y ago
Here, take all my upvotes. :)
The only thing I would amend is that most poor managers aren't the "slaver" types (if you end up reporting to one, it'll be obvious and you'll know to run as far and as fast as possible). Instead, they're weak -- incapable of protecting their people and productivity. Weak managers come in a lot of flavors, and it takes time to discern when one isn't working out. For example, you could have a promotion who has trouble taking on a managerial role with his or her old team; a likable supervisor who lets his team drift so he doesn't come across as too demanding; a manager whose focus is polishing the rungs up the ladder rather than the people below him; or a tech hire who has trouble focusing on project and budget details, or who avoids dealing with peer managers as much as possible.
A related problem is more strategic, and one that you find in very large organizations and bureaucracies -- the biggest conglomerates and public-sector agencies. In these environments, management undergoes a phase shift at a certain level, and successive layers of management are wholly budget-focused, isolated from operational realities. As I warn people, "First, you do. Then you tell people how to do it. Then you tell people what to do. Then you're creating the conditions for people to do what they do. Then you tell people why they're doing it." That fourth layer is where the trouble starts -- several layers of managers are involved in creating the financial conditions to allow lower-level management to actually get things done, but this means that by the time you get to the C suite or seventh floor, the executive/political layer is dealing with managers who aren't directly plugged into operational realities. The end result is that decisions coming from the top are, no matter how well-intentioned and considered, depending on rumor, hearsay and report, not on-the-ground knowledge. Thus the sense from the floor that the only thing the brass are good at doing is consuming steak and producing bullshit.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- sizzle 13y agoalso, be able to pick up cues on psychopath personalities in management positions and steer clear of them
- jonnathanson 13y agoExactly. I received a very valuable piece of advice in my first job out of college, when I reported to someone who seemed to be the slave-driving type. That advice was this: "Everyone's got a boss." It's something to think about. Shit tends to roll downhill, and not because people are actively attempting to be sociopaths (at least not in 90% of cases). It's because they're under even more pressure than you are. If you think you're dealing with bullshit and politics at the lower to middle levels of an organization, just wait till you experience the upper-middle, or even the top. Politics gets more intense the higher you climb, not less. There's more bullshit to deal with at the top of the mountain. That's why there's so much shit to roll downhill in the first place. :) In general, it helps to think of corporate bullshit as an emergent property of the organization, rather than as the personal failing of your immediate supervisor. Bullshit comes from constrained resources, limited timelines, and constant pressure. That's not to say there's no such thing as a bad boss. Most bosses are probably not great at being bosses (cf., the Peter Principle). But life is much easier when you give your boss the benefit of the doubt (to a point), and assume there's some shit way beyond his or her control. If you're unable to make this emotional compromise, your life's going to be pretty miserable for the next 40 years -- regardless of how high you climb, or what line of work you're in. Big-picture perspective is a valuable business skill. Maybe one of the most valuable.
- hanswang2013 13y agoHonestly, your word of "BS" blind me of understanding the true meaning of your paragraph.