> 6 weeks of wasted work is much better than 12 weeks of wasted work

If he had wasted 6 weeks less than would have otherwise been wasted, I would have given him credit for saving 6 weeks rather than blame for wasting 6 weeks, which is what actually happened. According to everyone involved, including reportedly the manager himself, though he wouldn't say it to my face.

> And how exactly did you know what work to do in the first place?

I'm a data scientist who helps people across the company with analytics. They make measurably better business decisions than they would have without me. Relationships, continuous service on existing products, and word of mouth generate more work.

Basically I run my own analytics consultancy inside the company.

What manager or director decided to fund & hire a data scientist with a charter to function as an internal consultant? Or did you hire yourself or co-found the company?

A lot of managers are paper pushers instead of leaders. Their usefulness varies depending on circumstances.

Maybe no manager or director at all? Sometimes things happen in an organization in a self-organizing manner. Like people finding out who is able to help them with their problems and the word getting around.

It is actually my experience that the organizations which are able to organically evolve like this are the most effective ones.

Honestly, the best thing about my company is that the managers mostly don't get in the way of this organic process if the people involved have demonstrated they know what they're doing.