The seven things that you can learn from a bad manager
This is the second of a two-part blog focusing on bad management. The first blog focused on ‘seven important messages for bad managers’.
Even the very best of managers can make the worst mistakes. Therefore, if mistakes were the sole determinant of bad management, then all managers would be bad.
In truth, the determinants of bad management are an eclectic mix of functional, methodological, cultural and evidential factors. These speak to the mindset, pre-disposition, posture and application of individuals. There is also a systemic dimension, to the extent that bad management is evidence of whatever people will repeatedly and predictably do.
This blog focuses on the study opportunities that arise for both subjects and observers, of bad managers. Described below, are seven things that you can learn from them.
1. Submission to authority
There is an essential lesson here about the importance of submitting oneself to legitimately constituted authority. For some that might be a bitter, even painful, pill to swallow but it is also an important and undeniable fact. The organisational hierarchy is not an a la carte menu, from which the workforce can pick and choose. That is not to say that dissatisfied employees should not raise concerns where such arise or even refuse to carry out instructions where these are unethical, illegal or in breach of organisational policy, because they must. Rather it is to establish the rule that authority should not be usurped just because you don’t like it.
2. Knowing your breaking point
The very nature of bad management means that at some point, the tolerance threshold of those within its orbit will be tested [perhaps even to destruction]. To that extent, you will eventually discover exactly what your triggers are, because given the opportunity and time, a bad manager will find them. Whilst the experience of being stress tested is not pleasant, having a clear knowledge and understanding of one’s boundaries is necessary. Not least because it is not uncommon for bad managers to deliberately test these, so that they can provoke a reaction and justify their response.
3. Resisting the gravitational pull
As set out in the previous blog, it is much easier to be a bad manager than you may appreciate. Let’s be clear, the honing of elite management capability and talent, requires determined effort and relentless application. By contrast, bad management is built on a foundation of laziness, indiscipline and corner cutting. Notwithstanding, whenever bad managers appear to evade accountability for their actions, the impulse to do as they do can be highly seductive. Clearly, whilst there is much that can be learnt from bad management, the adoption of its practices is not one of them.
4. Seeing improvement as an opportunity not an admission of weakness
Managers respond to their deficits in two basic ways; there are some who will acknowledge these and seek out opportunities to be better. Then there are others who, fearful of embarrassment, will dig in or come out swinging. This second group reveal a perhaps little-known fact about bad managers, which is their crippling insecurity. One of the many dangers of insecurity is that it looks inward and not outward and can often be predicated on a narrow-minded and even narcissistic view. Therefore, when push comes to shove, do not expect bad managers to own up to their error.
5. The dimensions of the spectrum are wide
It is easy to think of bad management in its worst incarnation with incompetence and dysfunction, reigning supreme. However, that would be an over-simplification. The formative manifestations of bad management are often hard to detect and may be imperceptible to those who don’t know what they are looking at. These may include slippage on relatively minor tasks, or the ability to perform certain functions at a consistently higher standard than others. It is when this kind of behaviour becomes systemic, that habits form, justifications are made, and the management culture is established.
6. Never assume that all sense is common
One of the worst things that you can do when observing and assessing management performance is to assume that sense is common. It is not. The underpinning rationale for bad management is predicated on a different set of standards, judgements and accommodations. This makes it possible, even easy, for these individuals to justify their own actions and believe that their behaviour will be consequence free. There is an important lesson here about the mindset and logic that drives these practices. Therefore, a nuanced understanding of how bad managers think, will inform how best to respond.
7. Incompetence comes at a cost
Bad management is a profoundly unwise practice. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, those who engage in it run a significant risk of exposure, embarrassment and ultimately ejection from their place of employment. Much like a house of cards, bad management is unsustainable and at the right moment, will collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. Whether due to the cumulative impact of multiple indiscretions or a single reckless act; the end, when it comes will be surprisingly swift. When bad managers depart an organisation, they should expect to leave friendless.
Learning provides an important opportunity to mitigate risk, grow and mature. From the perspective of management, perhaps the most powerful and sobering lesson is that whilst the potential exists for anyone to become a bad manager, it is important to recognise that how one chooses to manage is a conscious decision. As the introduction to this blog makes clear, it is not the number of errors that determine whether a manager is bad or not, but rather the decision to do things one way, knowing that they could and should be done differently.
Paul Aladenika is host of the 11th Thing Podcast
