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Comment by Suppafly | Hacker News Reader

>We should all discourage organizations that set people up to do a bad job.

That doesn't seem like the case here though. One of the things she was complaining about was participating in new manager training. 21 direct reports isn't that many. Managers have to prioritize their time differently than other jobs.

Ultimately it seems like she had accepted a transfer to a management position to maintain a job instead of being laid off or being transferred to some other sort of job and then realized that she wasn't cut out for management. It's OK to not be cut out for management, most people aren't, but pretending it was anything extreme is ridiculous.

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> One of the things she was complaining about was participating in new manager training.

She specifically mentions feeling like it overwhelming and ineffective. That's not the same as complaining that she had to do it, which is what your comment implies.

) However, even as an experienced manager, I felt overwhelmed by the number of videos I had to watch. Also, I didn't feel that they were the most effective way to learn.

When have you had 21 direct reports?

Some managers like to have weekly 1:1s as an opportunity to check in and for the employee to bring up any problems that might have emerged, ask for help etc. with 21 that’s obviously impossible.

The only management style available is “lol good luck, hope you can manage yourself because I can’t” fine for people who don’t want management intervention, don’t need help promoting, don’t need help learning or tackling the next challenge. Fine for people who can effectively write their own evals for the manager to rubber stamp. Not great if anything goes wrong.

Have you ever had an employee who needed a lot of support? Who was going through something tough? Attacking something slightly outside their comfort zone? I guess the answer at Amazon is fire and move on.

You should post an essay on your management style and how you handle the “perfectly reasonable” 21 direct reports situation. I am generally curious.

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