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Is Your Boss An Idiot?
Dracos writes "CNN Money is running an article entitled "Is Your Boss An Idiot?" Advice on how to cope with a PHB is prefaced with humorous, though suspiciously anecdotal, examples of how to identify one."
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So, Yes my boss is an idiot
What a fool! Always late for meetings, never gives any supportive commentary, the pay sucks, the hours are long, and _HE_ gets all the glory for the crap I have to do all day long! What a bozo!
Waiddasec. I work for myself.
Is there a doctor in the house?
Event Management Solutions : http://www.stonekeep.com/
If I tell the truth my boss will feel bad.
And he will tell his wife.
And then she will get on his case about how I'm a bad.
So the boss is just fine. Honest.
So, the answer is "Yes."
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
The highlight of this article, as far as I'm concerned, is the poll "Is your boss an idiot?" When I checked it a few hours ago, 51% said yes, 49% no. Now that the superior-to-all-bosses /. crew gets to vote, what are the odds that by the end of the day CNN will find that 90% of bosses are idiots?
As for the article, it's short, lightweight filler. It could've been funny if a little substance went into it. As it it's it's only a few apocryphal anecdotes, some of which shouldn't even be in there. IMO.
Disclosure: I'm a slasdot reader, so I voted 'yes'.
The danger with "idiot" bosses is that they often become "blame you" bosses when they are in danger of being discovered. It's like a form of Darwinism - idiots who take responsibility for mistakes tend not to survive, while idiots who blame others for mistakes tend to hang around to be an example for future idiot bosses.
I would take the articles advice and get out - as soon as possible. Even if things seem tolerable.
God is real unless declared integer
Fun anecdotes to be sure, but the article has nothing more intelligent to say than (pretty closely paraphrased quote from the article) "If your boss sucks, get over it or get out of there." Anyone have mod points to rate the article "over-rated"? *mutters* Slow freakin' news day.....
How about we make a site which lets people rate their boss, and if the boss gets enough bad ratings hopefully the higher ups will see the data and fire him.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
Not a story. :)
Why? It's the Peter Principle...
In companies, people get promoted on merit, status and capabilities, going further up in the company until... they reach a position that they're incompetent or ineffective in. Why? Because they will get promoted no further and it's incredibly hard to demote people without causing harm to the way the company structure works.
In theory you could increase productivity in a company by demoting everybody by one position. That way everybody is operating at the edge of their abilities, not way beyond them.
Well, they give all managers lobotomies. How else would they be able to stand going to meetings for 7 hours a day.
Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?
I mean, everyone's always so negative around here. Is there anyone that really likes their bosses?
*crickets*
Is Your Boss An Idiot?
Is that a rethorical question?
Of all the annoying bosses I've had, the 'technical' bosses were the worst... Early in my career, I had a boss who would want to try and 'fugure out' my code. He would stay all night and call me at 4:00 am because my code was 'broken' and I had to fix it be the open of business THAT DAY... would turn out he had changed the code to see what it would do, broke it, deployed it to check if it was broke, and then couldn't remember what he had changed! Source control saved me many many hours of work during that stretch...
Most people, and therefore employees, are also idiots.
I've never had or even seen an idiot boss. The closest thing I've seen is one boss (not mine) who thought that the only way to get people to do anything was to scream at them. People mostly just ignored him.
I've worked for many people and also for myself and my boss has never been an idiot. I would have been an idiot to work for an idiot, and the one time this almost happened (reorganization in the company I worked for), I quit and found another job.
It does not say much for someone who knowingly works for an idiot! Yes, tell me about job insecurity and so on, but if your boss really is a fool, your job ain't safe either.
Work for competent people. It's so much more fun, more secure, and generates more money.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
I for one welcome our new idiot masters...
Wait I don't, but they're already here.
Disclaimer: If I disagree with you I'm probably trolling...
There was an office manager where I worked who had absolutely no idea. He just happened to be the brother-in-law of one of the Directors of the organisation (an ISP).
Other than having a propensity to open up every infected email he received (the best one was when he sent "I Love You" to all the employees), he did some other things that were pretty stupid. My favourite, however was when one of our bigger clients needed to talk to him about something. We looked all round the office, and couldn't find him, so we suggested to the client that they called him. The boss answered the phone, and they had a conversation about whatever it was that was required, though there was a really bad echo on the line. The disucssion was, however, suddenly punctuated by quite a loud "plop!", as if something was dropped into a bowl of water. It then dawned on the client why nobody could find him when we went looking.
He was on the crapper!
This guy had answered his mobile phone to one of our largest clients, while sitting on the john! The client had called the manager in front of us, and we wondered why he at first went bright red and then broke down in laughter.
He didn't tell us what had happened until later.
-- james
Anyway, compared to a lot of these comments, I feel quite lucky. My boss (her name is Kari), is very nice. She's not too nosy, trusts me to do my job correctly, and takes enough time off for her family that she doesn't mind when I take a "sick day" here or there. Others I've heard, aren't so lucky. I have a Worst Case Scenario Handbook for work (quite humorous), and it lists three different types of bosses in there. The Micromanager, The Workaholic, and The Buddy.
The Micromanager - I think everyone has had one, a boss that wants to be into absolutely everything you do, and is basically breathing down your neck 24/7. The advice the book gives is to flood this boss with information. Copy them on every e-mail, no matter how miniscule the subject matter.
The Workaholic - I've never had this type of boss, but this certainly seems like sound advice: put vacation pamphlets on their desk, tell them about your family, show them pictures of your kids, etc. This type of boss has lost touch with the real world, they say. Unless you bring him back to some degree, or show him you're not the same, and that you have a family (or computers) that need your love and attention, this boss will demand the same performance from you.
The Buddy - I've been accused of being this way in other positions. I like to get to know the people I work with, and I'm constantly giving them too much information about my personal life. I'm a bit nosy too, so I ask a lot about things that they did over the weekend. I'm a people-person, I can't help it! ;) The book recommends that you either avoid this boss at all costs or you "make up" a hobby that you can safely tell them about without divulging any information that is of any consequence.
+5, Female
He hired me.
I've had some really good bosses and some so-so bosses. But if you ask them I'm sure they'd say they've had some really good staff and some really bad staff.
From my own experience I would say having a bad employee work for you is worse than working for a bad boss.
I've always thought people complaining about their bosses generally ends up sounding like teenagers complaining about their parents.
Many people's attitude changes onces they've had staff of their own.
You try dealing with a guy who seriously yelled at the entire IT department for keeping livestock on premises... He was refering to the server farm, and no I'm not kidding...
Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
He understands basic logic (look, every one else's machine is doing what you're trying to do and doing it fine so the problem must be in your machine) even if he doesn't understand everything about computers.
But his boss is an idiot that buys every damn toy on the market and expect me to make it work just like the sales person said it would.
And my boss keeps giving me raises because I keep his boss off of his back.
Was it SGI head honcho that wanted to fire all of its 'c' programmers, because they only wanted 'a' programmers on staff a few years back?
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
Ok I'm the IT Manager at an oncology/diagnostic imaging clinic and holy shit is my boss, the general manager (COO if you ask him) an idiot. Some examples include:
Asking a patient out on a date.
The patient he asked out didn't want to date him but did set him up with a friend of hers who just left her husband a few weeks prior, who also happened to be a patient at our other clinic across town. After going out with her he decided to hire her as our new receptionist. Ten minutes after the Doctor saw one of his other patients working the phones she was gone and Frank got an ass chewing.
He reportedly said, in the middle of a meeting with the doctor and a female employ: "Sometimes when I get home after a day like this it's just brain masturbation." There's nothing I can say to put this in context because there was no context, he apparently just blurted it out for no apparent reason.
He's a verbal train wreck in general. Last week he interupted a group us working by the MRI desk (not together, just happened that a lot us needed something from that area at the same time) and shouted "Hey if none of you have any work to do maybe I should dock your pay, har har har!" He then proceeded to hold us hostage for about 20 minutes while he told stupid stories about being a self made man, tried to sell my assistant some old suits he couldn't wear anymore and then told us all the story of how his father died of a heart attack at 52.
Fortunatly he didn't hire me and can't fire me. The Doctor/owner of the clinic hired me directly a few months ago and loves me because I'm finishing projects my predecessor spent the better part of a year fucking up.
"Listen: We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different!" - Kurt Vonnegut
"NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - You can't live with 'em. And you can't shoot 'em. "
Apparently they missed their own headlines a few days ago:
"Salvador Tapia returned to the Windy City Core Supply warehouse where he had been fired six months ago and killed six of his former co-workers, police said Wednesday."
Apparently, if you can't live with 'em, you can shoot 'em.
- Kate
"DNA is life. The rest is just translation."
I don't know how, but I'll find a way. Pack up your stuff, "boss", because as soon as I can find a way to acquire you, I will terminate you so quick you'll think you were in a seedy uptown clinic dodging a coathanger.
Whoops! That's a little tasteless. Sorry. You're still fired, though.
Reuters. Midwest headquarters, Chicago. Stock trading workstations. Instead of taking a 14 dollar NIC off the shelf at the Radio Shack in the lobby of the building 3 blocks away, the company forced me to send the machine to London for NIC replacement. The customer lost his workstation for 3 weeks, during which time he was unable to conduct transactions on the Mercantile Exchange without calling a middleman and paying fees. Fees he had originally avoided by leasing one of our Globex machines. Fees I would have saved him by spending 14 dollars from my own pocket to have the machine fixed in under an hour, walking time to the store and back included. Not to mention the risk to his data during the trans-Atlantic flights, a risk I was not allowed to alleviate by tossing his drive in my machine back at the office and burning a couple CD's for him before shipping out the box. Which is why I quit.
That, and I taught my boss how to say a few bad words in his wife's native language (Polish), and it got him slapped so he quit talking to me in the smoking lounge.
"The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants." --Thomas Jefferson
The countdown to the launch of the QinetiQ1 balloon altitude record has just started. Early on Tuesday a balloon the size of the Empire State Building will take off from the back of a trimaran warship, carrying a ultra high altitude UAV to fly and take its picture on the edge of space.
News: Check, they've been waiting on the right weather for two years
Nerds: Check, this is real science and technology
Rejected: Check, a slow news day eh?
And then we get a story like this ???
Too right I'm pissed
Why not change the tagline to "Funny Stuff and a Bit of Linux" - it'd be more accurate.
Oh and my review is coming up soon. I've working incredibly hard, so I'm sure I will get a good pay increase. Isn't that right of most noble lord of the workplace?
The other day, the moron walked up to my desk, looked at me for a moment, and then said "uh...". He kept looking at me for a second, and then he walked into the bathroom.
Amazing.
For a daily dose of those needing a clue-stick:
http://www.computerworld.com/sharky
Bookmark it people! Put it on your daily reading list! A new story every day!
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
The logical successor to the Peter Principle is the Dilbert Principle: The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to where they can do the least damage: management.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
I can't believe nobody (or at least no high-scored-post) has yet mentioned that Scott Adams has written many books about this. All the books are full of real life examples of stupid boss behaviour but some of the content is disguised as humorous instead of being documentation for real life. Don't fall into that pit! Scott Adams has even a web site dedicated for idiot boss and cow-orkers. You might want to become a member of DNRC, too.
_________________________
Spelling and grammar mistakes left as an exercise for the reader.
I remember an article some time ago, saying basically that after Sept. 11 there was a growth in the number of idiot bosses.
The reasoning was this: after that fatal day many bosses/managers/etc. were able to hide their incompetence by blaming the downturn in economy caused by Sept. 11.
I personally worked for such a company, which managed to get from 300 employees to less than 70 in two years. And I'm not talking about some "dot com" startup, that was an well established company, owned by a bigger corporate, with good products and satisfied customers.
But a new management was put in place and strange (and obviously stupid) decissions started to be made. Customers started complaining, the books got red.
Management's strategy when the owners started to ask questions? Just keep blaming "Sept. 11" and keep sacking people to save the costs - starting with the best techs. So the company is dying because of idiot bosses.
Has anyone else had bosses using Sept. 11 to hide their own incompetence?
The Peter Principle: People rise to their own level of incompetence.
Its really simple, if you can do your current job reasonably well and your immediate bosses job becomes vacant, you're a candidate. Run this algorithm over time and everyone eventually gets promoted to a job they are not competent to hold.
Some firms attempt to circumvent the Peter Principle by bringing in "management" from outside. This is generally worse since the people doing the work see a constant steam of incompetents who know nothing of the business brought in to tell them what to do. With this scenario, not only is the "boss" incompetent but he or she also doesn't understand the business whereas promoting someone from inside may mean you get someone who doesn't know how to manage but at least understands the business.
Regardless of whether you promote from inside or bring management in from outside, there will always be a percentage of people attracted to these positions because their motivations are power, prestige, etc. Since they generally have few useful skills, these people will generally be more politically adept than the poor slob who is actually technically competent and happens to be a person who still hasn't topped out against the Peter Principle. Been there; had this happen to me. That was when I decided that a management career track wasn't for me.
Its really sad commentary about the so-called planned economies of the Soviet Union, etc. that this "system" is still more efficient than any planned economy.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
All those who work in the White House say: Amen!
Carpe Diem: Seize The Day!
From 'Betterman,' Algernon
http://www.google.com/search?q=betterman+algernon Couldn't find a really good link that explains it all, sorry.
Boss - "My boss says we need some eunuch programmers." Dilbert - "I think he means UNIX and I already know UNIX." Boss - "Well, if the company nurse comes by, tell her I said never mind."
c-hack.com |
I've seen plenty of idiots in charge of things, but mercifully haven't worked under one for a while.
I think good management is a culture that comes down from the top. In the company where I work, there are around 50 of us. The MD (also owner of the company) is a very down-to-earth guy, knows the technical side but is also the kind of manager who reminds you to take regular breaks because they're good for you. He hired a smart guy to lead the half of the company I work in, and he in turn hired/promoted smart team leaders for each individual project. Working conditions are among the best I've ever seen, and almost no-one ever leaves...
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
I work for a relatively new company that is establishing itself. I have three effective bosses (co owners) and they break down like this: The guy who I used to share a flat (apartment) with who will make any and everyone laugh and taught me that the most important thing in the workplace is communication. He understands that people have to be given the opportunity to screw up and will not assign blame without their being good reason. The guy I go to the gym with who goes out of his way to ensure the company pays people early at xmas, that the company pays for staff days out and sees himself as some sort of father figure to everyone. The guy who invites people to his house for meals and wine and trusts us all to do our jobs, even when we don't. And people wonder why I am so damn happy here even though I could make more money elsewhere. Great jobs are great because of the atmosphere and the people you work with. In the past I have had my share of fun bosses tho: The anti social anal retentive who couldn't get anything actioned and I spent my entire day talking people into doing what he wanted just because he had no people skills. The guy who, with one breath, would claim you were overexagerrating the scale of the problem and then claim you weren't doing enough to deal with something you knew to be important. The raving lunatic who once told me that we had been doing something in a certain way for twenty years despit the company being 3 years old and the system for doing said operation still being in development . . . .
I love my job. I love my boss. I wake up looking forward to work.
:-) But let it be known that it IS possible for managers with good technical knowledge and managerial/people skills to exist. They're rare, though. If you find one, you'll probably be happy to deal with the odd bits of shit that get through to you.
(And no, I'm actually NOT being facetious!)
My manager used to be a tech geek. After the company was bought out, he left due to personality conflicts. When the subject of said conflicts was fired for being utterly incompetent, he came back as manager of a tech group, and has steadily worked his way to manager of the entire Unix team (about 40 of us or so).
His job, officially, is to make sure that we provide the best possible service (Unix hardware and software both) to our customers. His idea of how to accomplish that is to fight like hell to ensure:
1) We don't have to deal with corporate bullshit.
2) We have the equipment and tools we need to do our jobs.
3) We get the training we need, initially and ongoing.
4) We don't have to deal with client-side politics. If the customers have problems with us, they take it to our manager. (who in turn deals with us fairly)
And on top of that, he's been away from the command line for a few years now but he still at least understands the work we do.
Am I just bragging here? Maybe.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
Well, they give all managers lobotomies. How else would they be able to stand going to meetings for 7 hours a day.
Meetings are lobotomies. Long, drawn-out ones, that slowly kill you over time, like cigarettes.
PUBLIC SPLIT ON WHETHER BUSH IS A DIVIDER -CNN scrolling banner, 10/15/2004
The buddy system worked for me. ;)
My former supervisor was a very nice guy and talked about his personal life JUST enough that you felt like he was your friend. He never used anything you said against you.
He lived about an hour and 15 minutes away from the office, and would almost every day talk to me for the entire drive home about all of the stupid crap that went down.
I'm not dumb; at first I didn't state that I saw anything wrong with the way things were done... I let him throw the first punches and name names. After that, it was a nice bitch session every day, including smoke breaks that I would spend with him complaining about the idiots that run the place, and how ineffective the entire management structure was. It was great.
I was laid off due to financial constraits (and I was the last in the door; the customer [I was a contractor] decided on me, not my supervisor).
My boss went to bat for me and tried to find me positions on other teams in the company. After he told me about that in my "we have to let you go" meeting, he actually produced a STACK of papers that were email trails with the leaders of the teams he was trying to get me positions with.
He left the company since because he couldn't stand the way they ran things. He left cold without another job lined up. He can't even get unemployment as a result. Things were THAT bad there.
In closing, I'm very glad that I got to have discussions about all of the "water cooler rumors" that spread around the office with him, and got to share my TRUE concerns and hear his about the way the company was run. I still talk to him on the phone to this day... He is a little more free to talk to me about what happened there now that his job is no longer at risk
Back when I used to work as a software engineer, we had a large automotive engine tester that we made. Our boss, VP of Engineering, was out trying to help sell gobs of them to some large car repair chain. They asked him, "What operating system does it use?" His reply? "We use Microsoft Word."
There is no hope for him. I'm glad I'm out of there now.
Lemon curry?
IMO, the problem is not how technically knowledgable the boss is but rather how inept he/she is and whether there is too much micromanagement involved. I would suspect that an inept but knowledgable boss is invariably more dangerious than an inept and unknowledgable one.
The worst bosses I have ever had were the inaccessible micromanager types-- you know the kind-- the kind that thinks they know exactly how best to do your job and assume that they don't ever need to be available to discuss issues with the employees. I have seen this happen with both technical and nontechnical bosses and the result is always the same-- teamwork simply isn't, and the boss is resented by everyone.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
You mean the one looking at my screen over my shoulder? Of course not! Hes the smartest guy in the world.