Bet you’re ready to disagree, right? I’ve had this on my list to write about for a while. One trend I see in business is a tendency for subordinates (often managers themselves) to ignore or actually try to undermine the agenda of a person higher up the corporate ladder.
In practice we all know that the boss isn’t always right. Not because we know better (sometimes we do, more often we think we do) but because the universe just isn’t that simple. If anyone could make the right call every time it would be a much simpler world!
There’s nothing wrong with arguing your case, making sure they see both your side of things and why you don’t like the other options. Good managers don’t want people that just say YES. So, once the discussion is done, the boss gets to decide. May not pick the right decision in hindsight, but it’s the one that needs to be executed with the best you have to offer. The only fair alternative (short of legal/ethical situations) is to leave.
As employees we’re not always going to be happy with decisions, that’s the nature of being human. But we can try hard(er) to support those tasked with making decisions, we can learn from their “mistakes”, and we can try to be a positive force rather than a negative one by supporting decisions that have been made.
Not sure I got my thoughts down well this time, but I’m looking forward to the discussion!
