How to tell if your manager believes in “heads I win, tails you lose”

http://alexpotato.com/blog/how-to-tell-if-your-manager-believes-in-heads-i-win-tails-you-lose/

by alexpotato • 12 years ago

24 9 12 years ago

xtrumanx• 12 years ago

In Tom’s case, if he were to take the project, he should negotiate...

Negotiate? What does Tom have to negotiate with?

As an employee, if he's assigned a task it's his job to do it. He could certainly ask for resources but the term "negotiate" seems to imply he has some choice in the matter. Like he could decide to refuse to take on the project.

This is the reality I find myself in. Now I've just decided to care about the job only as much as management does. If they don't care about certain issues; why should I? They've shown me time and time again that doing a good job or doing a mediocre job is all the same to them.

I've decided to focus my energies in other parts of my life and I feel less depressed about my job now.

jaddison• 12 years ago

I know so many people in this situation, there should be a support group for them. It's incredible how many poorly managed (top down) organizations there are.

alexpotato3• 12 years ago

As an employee, if he's assigned a task it's his job to do it. He could certainly ask for resources but the term "negotiate" seems to imply he has some choice in the matter. Like he could decide to refuse to take on the project.

That statement implies a couple assumptions:

a. Tom has to do everything his boss tells him to do. What if his boss asked him to pick up the trash or clean the toilets?

b. (a) is built on the assumption that Tom is essentially an easily replaceable "widget".

His manager obviously has a need to fill and he believies Tom is one of the few, if not only, employee who can complete the project given the constraints (time/cost/personnel etc). Tom can use this as leverage to bargain for a better outcome for himself.

romindst2• 12 years ago

So, I'm a dev. I like programming. I definitely believe in pushing back on unrealistic expectations when given a task. Is there a way that I can do something beneficial for my career in this situation without asking my boss to turn me into a manager?

alexpotato3• 12 years ago

Make every interaction with your manager a deal that you both benefit from.

For example, if your boss asks you to work a weekend say: "I am more than happy to work Saturday if I get an additional vacation day"

Example 2, if your boss keeps giving you tasks:

a. it is perfectly ok to say "I have too much on my plate"

b. you can say "I can do task #6 but you(boss) have to pick which of tasks #1-5 I am going to stop doing to make sure task #6 gets completed"

romindst2• 12 years ago

That sounds like good advice, but it seems more like basic defensive measures than something really advantageous.

:aside:

I learned after my first real job that I need to protect myself from my boss's unrealistic expectations if I wanted to continue working in the position I held. But that was more of a station-keeping exercise than something to advance my career.

mpdehaan2• 12 years ago

I've referred to this topic in the past as "take credit / assign blame". It's unfortunately not just a management characteristic and there's not much you can do if you are under it.

In many ways the corporate world would be better if folks realized the goal of everyone should be to help other people regardless of org chart position, and that was really the only goal.

In the world of corporate politics, the best strategy is still from Wargames -- when offered the game of global thermonuclear war, don't play.

The phrase "servant leadership" is perhaps apt. A manager's job is to help the people working for them, and that's the best thing they can do to serve the people they are working for.

If there's not much can be done to fix a situation like the above, at least remember it, many folks who become managers can become better by not repeating those same mistakes. Try to build the department you wanted to work for.

jeffehobbs• 12 years ago

Typo in second subhead. You mean "tails you lose."

How to tell if your manager believes in “heads I win, tails you lose”

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