You might have met a manager on a bad manager day. Equally as frustrating is when you work for a manager who has rules about problem solving. I once worked for a manager who proudly said to me, “Don’t bring me a problem without bringing me a solution.” I blinked once and said, “Why would […]
I wish I could tell you I never had a bad manager day. I wish I could tell you I never screwed up. Nope, that would be a very tall tale. Here’s a doozy. I once told one of my employees to leave his emotions at the door. Yes, I really said that. Luckily, he
“I need a little breathing room in my group,” Carl said to Steve. “I have fifteen people reporting directly to me, and you and I both know that’s way too many. I need to promote somebody, but I’m having a little trouble deciding who to promote.” Carl shook his head as he looked at his
“We have mandatory all-hands meeting this afternoon. I’m going to have a stomachache then,” David said. “What do you mean?” Jenny asked. “You haven’t even had lunch yet. How do you know? What are you talking about?” “Look, you know what our wonderful division head, Martin, is going to say. He’s not going to take
“You know, if you want something done, you just have to do it yourself,” Clive muttered as he strode down to his office. Susan looked up from her desk and sighed. She stood, followed Clive down the hall, and knocked on his office door. “What? I’m a little busy right now!” he replied and turned
“It’s time for our annual management meeting to rank everyone in engineering,” Don, the VP started to explain to his three directors. “Hold on a minute,” interrupted Dave, the development director. “We didn’t do this last year, because we explained we can’t be objective and it makes no sense. We thought we eliminated this nonsense.”
“I know what the people in my group are doing, Johanna. Each and every one of them.” “But you have twenty-five people in your group, Stan,” I protested. “And I walk around and see what every single person is doing. I read their checkins, too. I know what they are doing.” I was working with
I vividly remember my first promotion into management. I was looking for a promotion to be a senior engineer. I asked for a promotion. I got a promotion into management. Was I ready? Oh no! I remember asking for another promotion. I was told, “You’re too valuable where you are.” I decided to make my
I have another management myth up over at Stickyminds. This one is Management Myth #11: The Team Needs a Cheerleader! I once worked for a manager who ignored all the problems we had, who said, “Let’s go, gang, we can do it!” I thought I would die. I’m an optimistic person. But I don’t believe
Anton Bangratz made my day today with his post, Management Myths Debunked by Johanna Rothman. He really liked Working Long? Rethink Why. I liked his reaction. Actually, I loved his reaction. Happy dance. The myths to date are here: The Myth of 100% Utilization Only the ‘Expert’ Can Perform This Work We Must Treat Everyone