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Bored People Quit

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Re: Bored People Quit

#81

Post by cema »

Lewisham wrote: post #58
1337p337 wrote: post #49

I had a boss that took the opposite approach. Whenever I started to lose productivity, he'd put me on work he knew I'd hate, telling me I'd get to do more interesting things when I showed him I could be productive. So I started working on side projects at the office just to keep my mind from going and became less and less productive until I quit. He was a talented engineer himself and a good friend. We ended up worki…

This person is/was not your friend.

Not a friend, but more importantly, not a very good boss either.

Re: Bored People Quit

#82

Post by munin »

ZoFreX wrote: post #79
lambda_cube wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, all managers answer to another manager, except the CEO. But it's also normal to delegate responsibility when it comes to hiring and working assignments in projects. If you're sufficiently high up in the manager hierarchy (which shouldn't be that high up IMO), you should have the power to make decisions like that.

But by your own admission, some levels of management shouldn't have that power - so what should we call them if not managers? Imo, if you are managing a team of people, you're a manager whether or not you have total hiring / firing power.

if you are managing a team of people and you do not have at least firing power, in my experience, you are not actually managing a team of people.

Re: Bored People Quit

#83

Post by mentat »

kiiski wrote: post #23
lylejohnson wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me that if your employee doesn't want to make eye contact when answering this question, that you already have your answer.

Or maybe the guy is an introverted geek who just wants to get back to coding.

This and similar answers makes me worried about the type of managers people are working for. Even the most introverted person should have a sufficient rapport with their manager to answer this question when it's honestly asked. It's a question the person should be able to answer, for themselves as much as their manager.

Re: Bored People Quit

#84

Post by mentat »

Hisoka wrote: post #56
Troll_Whisperer wrote: post #31

> When I ask, I look you straight in the eyes and if you can’t stare me in the face and answer, I’m going to keep digging until you look me in the eye. If anybody did anything that psychotic with me, I'd quit and head for saner pastures ASAP.

If anybody did that with me, my respect for them would go up 10-fold.. instantly.

Yes, waiting for someone's real answer because you care can't be turned on if there isn't a relationship there, but it is the most essential show of respect.

Re: Bored People Quit

#85

Post by emehrkay »

Didn't read the article yet, but the title is true. I just quit a job two weeks ago because I was bored (and they lacked focus, and we were getting no where fast, etc.)

Re: Bored People Quit

#86

Post by matwood »

edw519 wrote: post #5

Axiom: Boring work can never compete with Hacker News. Axiom: Hacker News can never compete with interesting work. Theorem: The interestingness of my work is inversely related to my Hacker News participation. Supporting data: Today I'm regression testing. I'll be here all day, folks. Idea: Employers, monitor your logs for Hacker News. Occasional spikes probably indicate boring, but necessary tasks. Chronic use probab…

My personal axiom: Boring/Uninteresing work leads to me working more on my personal/startup projects.

Thus, I should be looking for a job that has nothing but boring work. :)

Re: Bored People Quit

#87

Post by matwood »

georgieporgie wrote: post #51
munin wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

quit immediately. if you have a job where you have a "lead" or "manager" title but have to ask someone else before making personnel/project decisions, you are not a lead or manager of anything, just a scapegoat.

Managers and leads aren't all-powerful. They answer to their managers and, in some sense, to their peers.

That's true, but you should able to manage your team as you see fit. If it doesn't work then you get the blame.

Nothing is more demoralizing that being a manager, but having little to no control over your team and being blamed for the failures. I'm amazed how many business people I come across that ignore or simply don't realize that you can only hold people accountable for things that they have the power to change.

Re: Bored People Quit

#88

Post by biggitybones »

As someone who's just reached their wit's end at a small startup (I put in my 2 weeks yesterday), I really want to send this article along as a helpful lesson on what not to do with the next guy.

As others have said, some of the points in the article are things I could feel but not articulate. Great lessons to be learned from it.

Re: Bored People Quit

#89

Post by mechanical_fish »

cema wrote: post #81
Lewisham wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This person is/was not your friend.

Not a friend, but more importantly, not a very good boss either.

Definitely not a good boss, but possibly still a friend.

(No, I'm not just trying to fill out the matrix here. ;)

It's important not to take management too personally. Just because this guy was horrible at understanding motivation doesn't mean he was a bad person or a bad friend, just that he was a really lousy boss. Lots of people don't understand how to motivate others. Lots of people don't consciously understand how to motivate themselves, in fact.

It's probably a good idea not to put up with this forever, but it doesn't mean you can't be friends. I have many friends whom I would never work for. Most of us do, I'm sure.

Re: Bored People Quit

#90

Post by ZoFreX »

munin wrote: post #82
ZoFreX wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But by your own admission, some levels of management shouldn't have that power - so what should we call them if not managers? Imo, if you are managing a team of people, you're a manager whether or not you have total hiring / firing power.

if you are managing a team of people and you do not have at least firing power, in my experience, you are not actually managing a team of people.

But if you could take a valid reason for firing someone to your manager, and they would be fired, I think that would be enough to manage the team right?
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