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Why do incompetent managers get promoted?

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Re: Why do incompetent managers get promoted?

#101

Post by agumonkey »

ginko wrote: post #39
TuringNYC wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is even worse. For companies without SME tracks, SMEs find themselves getting almost no raises or comp despite contributing to more and more revenue and/or important/complex work. Then you see stupid things happen, like they find need for and hire 2 or 3 people just so they can justify a 5% raise. Then they find need for and hire more people to justify another 10% raise. Suddenly you have a company with many FTEs…

What does SME, FTE and IC mean?

Surface Mount Electronics, Field Transistor Effect, Integrated Circuit

Re: Why do incompetent managers get promoted?

#102

Post by [deleted] »

mdorazio wrote: post #10

I don’t agree with anything in this article. Incompetent managers get promoted because the things they are competent at are not the things their employees want them to be competent at. There is a dichotomy between traits that get people promoted at large companies and traits that make a good manager from the perspective of subordinates. Those traits only sometimes overlap. Thus the whole argument is predicated on a f…

[deleted]

Re: Why do incompetent managers get promoted?

#106

Post by whatthefox »

JamesBarney wrote: post #18

> ...I’m not sure if every post will end up being occupied by an incompetent manager, but I do think that when a lot of managers realized they’ve hit their peak or comfort level, they then start to focus on playing politics instead of delivering results to hold on to their position. I have an alternative theory. When you're a single contributor you have total control over your productivity and success, but very littl…

"As you move up the ladder you are constantly trading control for impact."

Brilliantly articulated!!

(I logged in after years just to up-vote this comment).

Re: Why do incompetent managers get promoted?

#108

Post by achillesheels »

PeterStuer wrote: post #74
derekp7 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This raises a question in my mind -- do any of these traits actually make the company more successful? Or more generally, are traits that are undesirable to subordinates, yet desirable to higher management, actually good for the company, and are traits that the subordinates value actually detrimental to the company? The reason I ask is that it would seem that natural selection would take over, and if a management sty…

In large companies the connection between personal performance and company results is incredibly weak. At the lower rungs this is because of how little influence there is on the big picture. On the higher rungs this is because everything has been completely de-risked through outsourcing of responsibility, depersonalizing potential blame in case of failure while at the same time allowing full credit basking when thing…

This is how a Kodak can develop digital cameras yet go bankrupt when their revenue model breaks.

Re: Why do incompetent managers get promoted?

#109

Post by whatthefox »

blakesterz wrote: post #8
EA wrote: post #4

In my experience, incompetent managers often don't realize they are incompetent. They are confident and exhibit traits that do not harm others. Competent mangers often are aware of their flaws and capability gaps. They work too much and are often overly critical of themselves and their projects.

That sounds about right. Also it doesn't matter if they're incompetent so long as their bosses find some use for them. That is, if most of their employees think they suck, but their bosses and grandbosses are happy with them, then they get promoted.

Exactly! When things cannot be measured we are left with perception only.

Re: Why do incompetent managers get promoted?

#110

Post by xenocratus »

bityard wrote: post #89
mumblemumble wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this could be put even more simply: You get promoted for making your superiors happy, not for making your reports happy. What actually makes anyone happy is going to vary from organization to organization, from person to person, and from situation to situation. I've known managers whose job was 100% just to keep their subordinates happy, but that happened because keeping those roles filled was one of the comp…

An effective manager does two things first and foremost: 1) Make sure that his/her employees' day-to-day work aligns with the goals of the company 2) Remove any and all roadblocks keeping employees from being efficient and effective in their work, even if it means risking political capital. I've always fantasized that if I ran a company, when annual reviews came around, the reviews would be bi-directional. In order w…

I can't talk about the company as a whole, but in my circle at Arm reviews come from all the people who work with the reviewed. I did a review of my manager, requested by his manager.
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