Manager Demands Their Inferior Process is Followed, Predictable Outcome Ensues

There is something about being a manager that makes you think you know better than the actual people doing the work. Maybe it's in the way that even a tiny semblance of power links neurons in their brain that causes them to overestimate their knowledge and abilities. This dreadful disorder of "manager-ism" afflicts many a manager you might have encountered.

This is how it was for Reddit user u/AdElectrical5354 in a story they shared with Reddit's popular r/maliciouscompliance subreddit. Their manager insisted that they follow the written process to the letter, even though the frontline grunts doing that work knew better and had adapted their own optimizations. This, predictably, led to a decrease in productivity and missed delivery schedules.

The original poster writes that this manager wasn't all that bad, just inexperienced, and learned from their mistakes, even reaching the point where the two would become close over time.

Managers: never assume that you know more than your producers! Especially when stepping into a new role or new organization.

"At least he appeared to have learned his lesson!" responded user NoHospitalInNilbog in the comments.

"Showing a capacity to learn and improve from the experience is a sign they may actually be one of the good ones." voiced user yParticle in reply.

"Lol, when what you learned implodes because [of] real life. [A] classic example," commented Smoke_Water, sharing their own experience. "I remember training people for fueling aircraft. The training videos were all one way, but the actual work was completely different. Every time I would train the new guy, I would say, everything you just learned. Forget about it. Then we would show him the right way."

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Posted by Brad Dickson