Dick is a bad manager

The manager doesn't always have to fit that description totally to be a bad manager. As the post suggests, if people are saying "You should check with ____ before doing that," that probably indicates some micromanagement tendencies, which are just as demoralizing and counterproductive, even if the manager is otherwise well-loved as a person by some/all members of the team.

Also, if a team member tells you: "If you want to make that change, just do it, because if you check with ____, it'll take a while or might never happen," that is a sign of an overly-political manager.

Finally, I'd like to add the "smiley"/"fake" manager attitude. It's one thing to have a fun manager, but at some point you expect that your manager is trying to get work done. If they seem always happy and poking fun at things, it can be really annoying and make you second guess why they are trying to make everything seem so fun (probably because it sucks).

Let's not forget the rest of the story: Dick is not a dick by accident. He chooses this management style to keep his people on edge. Do you recognize any of these other things...

1. Dick will omit one or two critical considerations about the task that you have no way of knowing. You're expected to gain this knowledge by osmosis or through the ether. It's your fault, not his, if you don't.

2. Dick assigns no priorities to any of the tasks he assigns. Since by definition, there will always be something not done, he will choose that thing to delve into. You can't win.

3. Dick waits until 4:55 to start a conversation. Once is an instance. Twice is a coincidence. After that, it's a pattern.

4. Dick only uses first names. If you don't know who he's talking about, you're the idiot.

5. Dick will pull his people off partially finished projects all the time for the emergency du jour. Then he will act as if he never did this when the bumped project is not done. Again it's always your fault, not his.

6. Dick will always find some outlying case no one has ever thought about and drill down 8 levels deep until he's the only one who knows what he's talking about. Everyone else is an idiot.

7. If Dick wants something, he yells. If he doesn't get it, he yells louder. If he still doesn't get it, he cusses.

8. When you least expect it, Dick is manic. The greatest guy in the world, as happy as can be, and everyone's buddy. Don't worry, things will be back to normal tomorrow.

9. Dick never uses formal functional specifications and rarely commits to anything in email. That way, when things are not built exactly the way they are needed, he can't be pinned down. It's always someone else's fault.

10. People come and people go, but Dick is still a dick and always will be.

In some environments, a close eye is required on an employee or two. Never everybody. When Dick appears, he is a sign that a company is already trending downhill.