Re:Unlike Babies, the Best Managers Come with Instructions
by freedomben on Sunday November 10, 2019 @04:35PM
(#21500327)
Very much agree with your analysis here. It's like many, many good ideas that have come up in SV (agile/scrum, OKRs, etc), when looked at as a useful tool for the individual that should be utilized on an individualized basis, they are incredibly useful. When made standard and forced into use-cases and personality types they don't work for, they can be mediocre or even counter-productive. They will also be used in ways not entirely desired, such as for self-promotion, self-justification, gaming things, etc. Managers also tend to get overly prescriptive about how to use the tool (usually a sentence that starts with, "here's how we do $TOOL at $COMPANY" is often heading there).
I've used OKRs, Kanban/agile and many other tools for me at an individual level and loved them. I've had the exact same tools at companies become a waste of time, a point of contention, and only be a "value add" for management.
Re:Unlike Babies, the Best Managers Come with Instructions
by lonelappde on Sunday November 10, 2019 @12:12PM
(#21498897)
If someone tells you they are an asshole, the problem isn't that they told you.
The problem is they’ve turned into something that justifies bad behavior more often than not. So many of them have this undercurrent of “I’m an asshole - don’t take it personally!” which is just totally not OK. The solution isn’t to proudly broadcast and justify that you’re an asshole and expect others to adapt — the solution is to not be an asshole.
That being said, things like “I tend to work late so if I email you on the weekend, I don’t expect you to reply until Monday” are totally reasonable and I think, on the whole, a good thing.