"What I'm hearing you say .." and then say what you want to happen.
lol. Yep seen many a manager use that
Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
61–70 of 81 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#62I don't know if it's a power move, but I like to reiterate all verbal communications in a follow up email to the person(s) I was conversing with, prompting them to ensure I understood everything correctly. While it's more of a CYA thing, the power move comes into play when they try to feign ignorance on the topics of the conversation, and I can use their written words to set the record straight (or just have a record…
It's definitely wise to have a written record of certain conversations.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#63How are these power moves? They transfer your power to someone else? Showing up late for a meeting purely to waste time tells the other person you are extremely inconsiderate and someone they should actively avoid. If I value my time, why would I spend any of it around you?? The rest of these things are just extremely rude, I cannot understand why you'd call them 'power moves'. They show insecurity and a desire to de…
They're certainly quite rude. It's possible the OP isn't sincere in asking for more ways to be rude. In a sense, being rude is a signal of power, because if you're rude and not powerful then you'd get punished for being rude. (As you say, I wouldn't wanna work anyone who behaves so rudely, though). https://medium.com/incerto/how-to-legally-own-another-person...
(OP here) I am 100% not advocating the use of "power moves". I don't believe they grow mutual respect or help build constructive work environments... but let's be real, any of us that exist in the real world have seen this stuff from time to time and like everything, there are good and bad versions of it.
The "Ask HN" is meant to be of an "observational" nature. My aim is that the discussion provides utility for understanding social dynamics, and hopefully people use discretion with the info (i.e. Hanlon's razor).
Hopefully the info can be used to help people navigate their lives better.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#64From the comments, seems there is confusion on what you're looking for. I sense sarcasm in your request, i.e., 'What are cargo cult things one can do to show power?' But some responses are more genuine. If you make the ask clearer in what you're really looking for, it'll make it easier to decipher the responses. My 2 cents...
Mea culpa. I could have been clearer. I was mainly looking for a "zoo of power moves". definitely not advocating for the use of dis-respectful social tools. I was mainly trying to identify what they look like out in the wild - the good, bad, and ugly included.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#65Quitting. Especially effective in the Midwest U.S. where jobs are more scarce and employers tend to take you for granted.
As someone else who works in the Midwest U.S. you are absolutely correct on this. There are always opportunities to fill the void short-term if you decide to "pull the trigger" so to speak.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#66The classic programmer corporate power move is wearing whatever you want to the office.
Isn't that something? I work in a big-4 accountancy office and just wear a hoodie or t-shirt.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#67Document dump. Not software-related, but someone needs files for diligence and either has some obnoxious request list or wants something you'd prefer they not really know about; you just dump literally everything on them in terrible formats to potentially obfuscate negatives and consume an enormous amount of their time. Many people will find whatever they need to check the box and move on. It's a dick move.
You mean hundreds of scanned pdf files without ocr and password protected with different passwords isn't helpful?
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#68Being late isn't a power move, it's just makes you look disorganized and disrespectful. This would have 100% the opposite of your intended effect with me. Real power moves are exercising real power: saying no and being able to back it up, expressing a dissenting opinion, solving problems and providing real value, brining in money, controlling budgets or headcount, threatening to quit because you can/will, leading by…
> Being late isn't a power move, it's just makes you look disorganized and disrespectful.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#69Quitting. Especially effective in the Midwest U.S. where jobs are more scarce and employers tend to take you for granted.
What Midwest are you talking about? It's the opposite - there are tons of jobs and not enough talented people to fill them.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite corporate power move?
#70"Per my previous email" is my favorite. I usually attach the prior email that answers the question.
Isn't this passive aggresive? Would you do this in real life? I feel like this thinking would breed bad culture and is a short-term win at the expense of a long-term relationship.
Having changed roles that puts me in more frequent contact (not support) with admins, “per my email”, “per my instruction document” seems a bit kinder than RTFM.
I don’t want a long-term relationship with IT people who think I’m their resource for their live streams of conciousness IT sessions.
I had a call this week where my instruction doc was on the right side of the webex and the terminal on the left and they wanted me to read the commands to them...