Today’s management-speak has a lot in common with 1930s Soviet propaganda
fortune.com
fortune.com
- Obfuscates reality by avoiding discussing money ("our teams have performed wonderfully" instead of "you all made the company $X" which is a far more honest representation of mgmt priorities)
- Erodes trust by remaining constantly positive even in the face of major setbacks ("we're all feeling the burn" instead of "the decisions we made caused efficiency losses to your teams")
- Almost always occurs right in the middle of serious problems ("we are proud to announce the rollout of Useless Feature X" instead of "we are aware that you have all been screaming for Useful Tech Debt Payoff Y for months and unfortunately cannot deliver that yet")
So of course being an engineer/technical employee I constantly daydream about a straight-talking, zero-bullshit management culture that unflinchingly calls it like they see it and treats their employees like adult workers instead of children at daycare.
However, I have to wonder if this daydream is naive. Is there actually an unforseen downside when managers totally eschew management speak even at high levels (VP, C-Suite)? Is there something I'm missing--would the orgs crash if the managers stopped talking like Soviet propagandists? Anyone have experience with this?
Personally, when I don't treat people like children in daycare, they get offended. I might be too harsh, but it's not easy for successful people to accept criticism.
Lastly you must be positive as a leader and CEO. The wildest rumors start if you just show the soul grinding stress that is management.