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When I was at a previous studio, I had a theory based on conversations (negative ones) with one of my managers. This theory has continued with me through my various transitions within our industry from place to place. Essentially, the idea goes like this: bad managers aren't born, they're made by other bad managers.
What, you ask, spawns these creatures? Well, a manager’s intuitive system of management is shaped by his or her interactions with authority figures. That is, if an individual has a manager that screams and shouts, he or she will be more inclined to scream and shout when placed in a similar position.
To some degree, this is what we call social learning. We are learning through our interactions with a social climate. If our manager does well and is promoted for yelling, for bending the knee to his superiors, then we may become predisposed to following suit--whether consciously or not.
I was reminded of this while reading Emotional Awareness. The Dalai Lama proffers: “In the monastic community, the monks live with their teachers. If a student happens to have a teacher who is very harsh, then sometimes the student repeats that pattern when he becomes a teacher.”
Ekman notes that the level of absorption is dictated by an individual’s ability to be self-aware. That is, employees or children that are more capable of introspection and identification of their own mental moods and emotions are more capable of breaking away from the examples set by their mentors (whether those mentors be voluntary or involuntary).
Have you seen this in your workplace? Life? How can we “break the cycle” of maligned or poor management and inject new, fresh ideas and perspectives?
About the Author
Andrew Andreas Grapsas is a game programmer at Arkadium, Inc. developing casual and social games. He previously worked at THQ and EA as a systems and gameplay programmer on triple-A shooters.
Andrew is actively writing and programming for various projects. You can read more articles exclusively at his blog aagrapsas.com.
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1. You act similar to them when you are manager
2. You do the opposite given your bad experience
To me, the difference is in recognizing what a good manager is and what a bad manager is. But I'm not sure how often #2 happens.
It's similar to the way parents raise their kids and how those kids will raise their own kids.
I think your proposed theory isn't the whole story. I feel like I have a great deal of empathy towards my subordinates, as well as a good understanding technically of what they do. I can, however, feel, that as long as I'm under my current management, the more I'm being pushed to act in ways that I wouldn't act normally.
Perhaps I shouldn't be doing this job...
Can I change it?
Can I work around it?
Can I accept it?
If I make it to the bottom and the answer is "no" then I look for another job. Life is too short and the industry hard enough without getting stuck under a bad manager / lead.
I just want to say that we shouldn't directly blame the managers, in fact, we shouldn't assign blame. We should look at the system, the whole, and find ways to resolve the core issues that generate poor leadership, poor interaction skills, and a skewed understanding of human needs and talent.
Now, I've exploded at managers in my professional career, just like anyone :) I've mumbled under my breath after meetings; but, in the end, it's not the manager's fault. They were formed by an imperfect system. The best I can hope to do is help us all identify the root causes and, eventually, strive towards bettering the whole by managing the sources and interactions that generate these sentiments and results.
Does that make sense? :)