Why Are Managers So Stupid?
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I have worked for 8 companies in my life. I think out of the 100’s of managers I’ve met, there are only about 1% that are actually smart enough to perform their job. I define a manager as being stupid if he or she does stupid things. One previous manager of mine would watch porn on his computer all day. Another would consistently ask me the date and time despite the fact that she was sitting in front of a computer. I am currently dealing with a manager that fails to listen to anything that anybody says. She holds meetings where somebody will ask a question, such as “Do we want to delete those items from the database?” and she will answer “No! What I am saying is we need to delete those items from the database.” She also steals ideas. One of my co-workers once asked in a meeting “Do you think it’s a good idea to move those servers?” and she replied “No, but I think it what we really need to do is get those servers moved!” I am in no way making this up! What’s shocking is that nobody that matters in the company sees her stupidity. All of the lower level people see it, but the executives love her. They love her so much, she’s next in line for a position as a director.
So I am left to ponder how these people even have a job, let alone one as a manager. Here are some theories I produced.
Nobody likes somebody that’s smarter than themselves
Not many managers like to have somebody below them that is smarter than they are. That would present too much of a threat. So they hire stupid people to manage below them. The chain repeats until every manager along the chain are dumber and dumber.
They know somebody
This one makes the most sense. They must know somebody in the company already, or they are providing some sort of favors to the people that matter.
Stupid people never challenge anything
It’s the smart ones that rock the boat to change things. Larger companies don’t like change or anybody trying to shake things up. Upper level managers just want to come in and make their check without being hassled. They get to make and decisions and give the orders down to somebody stupid to carry out without any push back.
Is it my perception of the world? Am I just smarter than everybody? Do I just have bad luck? I guess if people working in a company were so smart, they would own their own business or do something more worthwhile. I dunno, what do you think?
4 Comments
the oracle
June 17th, 2008
at 3:30pm
Check out a book called ‘The Peter Principle’ . The main postulate is that people in a corporate environment (or anywhere else, but it is clearest in corp envir) rise until they reach a level where they become incompetent in their job.
As someone who has been on both sides, I have never tried to take credit for my employees good ideas, and have given credit where due. My mistakes have usually been of the variety where I overestimated the intelligence or perserverence of those who worked for me. I frequently have had people who have given up on something, moving on to something else, without a word - it is maddening to hear that, since the job was too much for them, somehow the thought process they used, allowed them to alert no one that the job had been done.
the oracle
June 17th, 2008
at 3:33pm
oops, the last line should be
one that the job had not been done.
leftystrat
June 17th, 2008
at 3:49pm
Some of it is the Peter Principle, as Oracle stated.
Some of it is entropy.
Some of it is stupidity from above.
I have frequently noticed that idiots tend to get certain jobs and don’t have a lot of review from above. I work with a dumb blonde out of Central Casting. No one can figure out how she does her job (or spells her name).
Maybe the manager in question has pictures of his or her superior with pygmies and trampolines… who knows?
You seem to have had a few egregious examples of the genre.
Years ago, when I questioned something from above, my manager told me `you won’t understand how they think til you have 95% of your brain removed.’
Right before I got promoted, they asked me how it would feel… after all, I spent a lot of my time picking on Manglement, and now I are one
I’m doing my part by trying to bring my experience as The Managed to the table so hopefully I don’t perpetuate the stereotype. My company encourages growth and even holds classes on managing using their ways.
I guess in this case it can come from above.
Either that or you work for me now and I’m the one you’re on about
Good luck.
Do your best.
Don’t be a stranger to your superiors at any level.
the oracle
June 17th, 2008
at 5:30pm
Just was thinking - there is a book called the ‘1 Minute Manager’ which is supposed to guide managers to work effectively with their underlings.
Not all underlings took it as a good thing - one of them came out with a book called ‘The 59 Second Employee’
There will always be tension due to different staions in life. Frank talk usually helps more than any other thing. If you can get a manager to do it, 80% of the problem is fixed.