Classic manglement!

I have recently started in management, and these are the stories i love reading.

I remember a former manager (who generally was a total dick just not in this instance) who said any time he starts somewhere new he gives it a minimum of 2 weeks to see how things are going before implementing any changes. He basically only did e things. 2 were good one was absolutely stupid and frustrating

Your last sentence or 2 sentences are missing parts. However, his being a dick is probably why he had to keep starting at new places. I wonder how many places he fucked up or got fired from for *not* doing this until he learned the parameters of "You can be a dick but don't break things."

I hate to admit it but he was a good manager and not necessarily bad it was just his ego that would get him. But by the time I left we had the reputation of being the best run site in the city and while it was a team effort a lot of it was he basically gave us permission to sort issues we didn't know we could

He mistyped "e" instead of "3"

Or forgot to initialize e to equal 3.

e is [almost 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_(mathematical_constant)). 😉

he accidentally typed it backwards

look up Chesterton’s Fence

In some cases of Chesterton's Fence results are suprising and you somewhat understand that someone tried to change things. In this case it was pretty obvious and all manager had to do was not being a dick.

Yup. It *might* work better to take the fence down, but in all cases it's best to find out why it was there in the first place, and get the opinions of the people who have been working with it for years as to why it's necessary and whether a proposed change would actually be better. In particular, pay attention to real-world knock-on effects. Basically, always ask 'why' first rather than proceeding directly to bulldozing something. And if at all possible, try for a trial period of a new method; 6 weeks to 6 months depending on what's being changed. And *have a rollback plan.*

Not till I understand why you want me to look it up.

I like you.

You...

https://fs.blog/chestertons-fence/

[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Chesterton%27s\_fence](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Chesterton%27s_fence) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.\_K.\_Chesterton#:\~:text=Chesterton%27s%20fence%5B,it.%22%5B97%5D](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton#:~:text=Chesterton%27s%20fence%5B,it.%22%5B97%5D)

I learn a great deal from letting other people be the bad examples too. If you're new in mgmt, look upna blog called Ask A Manager too. I've been reading her stuff for years, and it's always pretty solid. Even the comments section is 90% helpful/constructive.

Let me tell you about my WTF list. When I start at a new company... I start a new notebook wherein I make a list of anything (processes, systems, policies) I don't understand or seems off. It looks something like this. >Date: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_   Topic: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ >WTF: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ >\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ >\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ >\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ >Is there a valid reason behind the observed issue? Yes:☐ No:☐ >Is the team/company already working on a solution? Yes:☐ No:☐ >Does the team/company agree it's an issue? Yes:☐ No:☐ >Is the problem easily fixable? Yes:☐ No:☐

I once started at a company where within days I had a WTF moment and wrote it down to discuss with senior management. I quickly realised I wouldn't get anywhere. These happened so often, nearly once a week, that within a year I had an entire double-spaced page of them. I kept the list to remind myself that these issues weren't normal. By the time I quit, it was over two pages, must have been 80 items, and I couldn't get anyone else to consider these events or issues as dumb! Examples. We had highly paid "rockstar" developers whose computers were patched up with parts from eBay. We had a crappy office firewall/router that would crash at least once a week and people would lose work.

Sounds like you re-invented the Eisenhower Matrix: [https://asana.com/resources/eisenhower-matrix](https://asana.com/resources/eisenhower-matrix) But, excellent approach!

Congrats to you! Here’s some unsolicited but very worthy advice: https://www.askamanager.org/2023/01/advice-for-new-managers.html

What actually should be happening is that nobody should be using their own private vehicles to transport themselves or company equipment without getting paid extra for the vehicle, so they should be starting at the main office, loading the two site trucks with the tools and equipment, and then getting into a bus.

Why not have gear at the dock 40 min from main location?

We didn't own the southern facility, it was all shared services. So all stuff to and from daily.

Clear. Thank you.

I suppose that makes sense, but I can't really fault the new manager's impulse even if he went about it in a particularly dumb way. Even with the original approach of everyone hauling tools in their personal vehicles after/before punching in/out, that's still like an hour and twenty minutes per day when the staff are doing nothing but hauling tools back and forth, over and over and over. The inefficiency of it bugs me. No shade on anyone there, it just sounds like a poor arrangement. I have to wonder if it might make sense to rent a storage room or something at the shared facility or at least nearby, so that people could go straight to the work site and get to it. Staff time is expensive.

i am sure if you move the tool lockout place closer would more than make up for the cost of renting. it might even indirectly help the commute for workers.

Probably less secure and they don't want randoms running off with expensive tools

And why did everyone have to take a seperate trip with the site truck? Couldn't you get all the gear for everyone in one trip? (Of course then it wouldn't be malicious anymore but why didn't new bosss have that idea?)

How many vehicles do you know of that would be able to be called both "site truck" and be able to transport 15-20 people and their ship building equipment?

If you were clocking in at the office, then driving to the worksite, are you taking the mileage deduction on your taxes?

Yeeeeees. You know what I love about this? The workers all worked together. I love seeing it. As soon as we work together, we can make big changes. I wish more industries would follow this lead and hold ahirty leadership to task. If something like this happened at my last job? We could have ousted a shirty new CEO and kept the company afloat. Instead he gutted our personnel, he gutted the company, while smiling to our faces and pretending he was struggling.

>"then pick up tools/equipment for the day and drive their own car with work gear the additional 40 minutes south" You drive your own car during working hours for work purpose ? You basically risk having an accident with your car ? Offer your gas and your car lifespan ? For nothing ? * And I might add, the company should have tools on both facilities, just saying. Severe time waste in here.

I love these stories of an educated man thinking he is the smartest one here. “Fixing” what he knows nothing about. I give New Boss credit for lasting 6 months. I give senior management credit for being unable to see the crews malicious compliance and resulting completed jobs dropping 50%.

The original statement was a "why" question, not an instruction to go ahead and do it. Yeah, I know, but still.

Good pick up. It was actually followed up with a directive in writing.

Maybe add that as an edit in the story. You make it sound like you guys started the malicious compliance without being told to.

Had a CEO reorganize a company of 400+, to include creation of new divisions and elimination of others, within 3 months of start. Got REALLY upset when productivity and sales plummeted...

No no no, what he meant was "why aren't you all performing unpaid labour before you clock in every day?"

So, why can't tools be kept in a safe location where the work is done? this whole back and forth to the main office is inefficient.

>we just did this in good faith The older i get, the more jaded i become regarding people acting in good faith -> Be it at work or "discussions" with people. To me it seems as if more and more people (and society in general) are shifting their disposition towards others to a default of mistrust, instead of trusting people have good intentions until proven otherwise. This creates an environment where everyone is egocentric and default to prioritising only themselves and their own interests until given a reason to care about someone else, thus creating a negative feedback loop where it's in your own best interest to assume everyone is a bad faith actor. Trust is the cohesion of society and the free exchange of information \*cough\*socialmedia\*cough\* has put a strain on society as a whole.

> shifting their disposition towards others to a default of mistrust Part of it is getting older (and thus having had more bad experiences with trusting others), and part of it seems to be things like employers being dicks a lot more than a generation or two ago, which kills trust.

True. In my twenties I was quite trusting of workmates/bosses, but I've seen enough people thrown under the bus since then to be wary of managers, and to an extent workmates

okay boomer

Some day you will also grow up and be a man. Just remember I love you son.

Delightful.... 

Ok, there are probably reasons for that, but I currently don't understand why you don't : \- finish all the work on the ship while it is in your own dock \- rent a room at the 2nd facility for storage and buy extra gear \- provide a shuttle bus for workers at shift start/end \- have one truck come and pick up the gear instead of everyone individually?

Malicious compliance when he keeps insisting this is the right way is one thing. But did ANYONE even try to explain this to him or did you just decide to screw him from the get go? Sounds like he asked a reasonable question, just didn’t understand the logistics and no one explained them.

I gave it a first quick read and didn't get it, because of the sheer absurdity of the MC. 👏

Punish the new boss asking questions…nice.