📅 Thought for today:
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‘Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.’
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— Robert J Hanlon
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#thoughtfortoday #supervision #relationship #past #present #future #being #fearless
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This is “Hanlon’s Razor”.
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It is also often attributed to Napoleon and a whole host of other people, and similar things have been said for many years. Sometimes stupidity is replaced with incompetence.
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As ever, I used the Quote Investigator website to check out the many and varied citations.
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I chose the quote (with incompetence) in reference to management by fear. I have seen recent examples of this and can describe managers exhibiting management by fear going back decades.
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More recently they have been the ones that describe themselves as compassionate or empathic managers, who tilt their heads to indicate sympathy and carry significant personal anxiety into the workplace.
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It is rare for me to get the opportunity to work with such a manager, they don’t actually think they need to change anything.
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More often than not I work with the people who report to them. Sooner or later these people decide for themselves to either usurp the manager or leave the company.
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Yet I find myself turning towards the managers, wishing they would let me work with them, help them to change. I recognise their fear. If they don’t want to change, there is nothing I can do.
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Yes, the story today about BrewDog also brought this to mind.
