Fighting Corporate Psychopaths
Using Aikido principles to survive hand-to-hand fights with corporate psychopaths
"I have nothing to offer
but blood, toil, tears and sweat. . . . You ask, what is
our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with
all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage
war against a monstrous tyranny...
Winston Churchill |
"A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight; nothing
he cares about more than his own personal safety is a miserable creature
who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by exertions
of better men than himself."
John Stuart Mill |
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat
him last."
Winston Churchill |
"Land of Oz" metaphor suggests that bad bosses fall into three groups: the boss
with no brains; the boss with no courage; and the boss with no heart: the Scarecrow,
the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man. But the older I get, the more aware I become
of simple but nasty fact that a significant subset of management types fall in the
category not covered in the "Land of Oz": micromanagers.
Those "M-word" individuals are one of the most frequent variety of corporate
psychopaths. Because micromanagement is petty the level of danger of such individual
is often underappreciated although in corporate environment they are as dangerous
as bullies. Large percentage of PIMMs are females and they use their gender as a
bullet proof vest to deflate any critique. The differences between them and
criminals are pretty superficial -- both are people without any remorse and use
"my way or highway" as the main guiding principle.
Micromanagement is perversion of management and it is important to understand
that for some unknown reason it is more common among female managers then man.
The litmus test of micromanagement is that normal, appropriate activities such as
monitoring, reporting, and requiring approvals are exaggerated to the extent that
they convert into its opposites. monitoring into pretty, detailed control of every
action, reporting into requests for reports with frequency and detail that leave
little time for anything else, etc. Every such measure is perverted and converted
into its opposite. Any initiative not coming form PIMM is squashed...
When taken to extremes those normal organizational measures detract value, impede
performance, and negatively impact process efficiency. Also in both monitoring and
reporting one size does not fit all and level acceptable for highly structured environment
and in environment populated with novices is unacceptable when working with seasoned
IT professionals. That means that what is micromanagement in one area can be reasonable
management in another and vise versa.
Micromanagers are generally are characterized as people with weakened self-esteem,
injured narcissism and paranoid tendencies. They are preoccupied with power.
Note 1: Paranoid incompetent micromanagers
(PIMM), who successfully combine tight control of minute details/procedures used
in performing assignments with toxic incompetence are often called "control freaks"
(CF). This category of corporate psychopaths represents really nasty beasts of IT
jungles who tend to completely paralyze their victims. They are completely
different from PHB on Dilbert cartoons and in many way are close to
narcissistic managers.
In this set of pages that include
we will mainly address this menace.
Note 2: Good advice about the topic is difficult
to come by and depends on your concrete situation: take any recommendations with
a grain of salt.
It really dangerous for you mental and physical health
to work for PIMM for prolonged period of time. Remember classic
survival rule of
three.
The Rule of Three states:
- Humans cannot survive more than three hours exposed to extreme
low-temperature.
- Humans cannot survive more than three days without water.
- Humans cannot survive more than three weeks without food.
You can expand this rule of three to the working with a PIMM. After
certain time period, like with in case of solders in the front lines posttraumatic
stress syndrome can hit you and affect you long after you left this particular
place; moreover chronic stress destroys most
humans really fast.
|
Still to preserve your dignity you need to fight it. Like any fighting, fighting
micromanagers involves two levels: strategic and tactical.
- On strategic level your goals shoiuld be:
- Enhance and preserve your social netwrok
- Try to lessen paralyzing grip
- compensate for lost freedom (
Remember that this is an office not a jail, although the whole atmosphere
smells a lot like Gulag ;-). Your key task here is to enhance your social
network, find allies outside direct reports of PIMM and forge alliances both
on horizontal level (among colleagues who report to another manager -- remember
that micromanagers always try to isolate their victims) as well as on vertical
(among his/her pears, which might make it more difficult for micromanager to
smokescreen his/her failures).
Good contact with peers can permit you to counterattack from the side which
is much better then direct confrontation. In a healthy organization you have
some chances to defeat micromanagers, sometimes even depose them one rank in
managers hierarchy by exposing the most horrid facts of incompetence that they
try to hide. But that's very rare case as the mere fact of micromanager
existence to curtain extent signal that "Something is rotten in the state of
Denmark".
The problem is that most current IT organizations are deeply unhealthy and
as such provide a fertile ground for management pathologies including micromanagement.
Anyway you cannot do much alone and be careful about informing about the problems
HR: without strong allies who know about the situation and who approved the
move you are doomed. You need to forge alliances in order
to succeed. Former employees who manages to escape, if such exist, are usually
a sure bet. Even people who left the company can help you, providing advice
and using their social networks to dissimilate information.
- On tactical level pay you might try to pursue two possible goals:
- Prepare yourself and protect to extent possible in treacherous waters
of verbal exchanges
with micromanager. It's important to ignore provocations and avoid typical
traps... That's involves keeping a diary and documenting your own
and micromanager behavior of daily basis.
- Try to change the balance of your work in your favour by spending
more time enhancing your qualification as you cannot make any useful contribution
anyway: micromanagement sucks the life out of work.
You need to understand that most of micromanagers are pretty primitive and
the tricks they used, including anger bursts are pretty stereotyped. As such
they can and should be studied, classified and for each countermeasures can
be found. For example a good countermeasure for excessive performance related
feedback is spamming micromanager with overly detailed reports filled with superficially
relevant minute details while withdrawing most of relevant or important for
decision making information (total withdrawal is dangerous and easily detected).
This is pretty safe and effective countermove which actually brings you some
sense of moral satisfaction. Just don't overdo it so that it became obvious.
Also trying to make a useful contribution is almost totally useless. Much
better tactic is to try to enhance your own qualification within the limits
possible. The possibility of you being fired is not theoretical: that's
how micromanagers operate.
Rules of fighting corporate psychopaths
The psychopaths are always around.
"It is a characteristic of all movements and crusades that
the psychopathic element rises to the top"
Robert
Lindner
|
Up-the-hill battle is the most difficult type of battle. The enemy commands heights.
some losses are inevitable, a well-though out strategy can minimize them.
There are three simple rules that might (or might not) help:
- Like in any war your survival is not guaranteed. All discussions
of strategy and tactic are good and useful but only to a certain extent and
as a temporary measure. The best solution is transfer or finding another job.
First of all everybody consider ourselves
Carl von Clausewitz
type of strategist when observing the fight from a distance, but very
few of us can stage a good fight. It's one thing to read all those thoughtful
or stupid recommendations and the other fight those exhausting day-to-day-battles
with a control freak. And like in any war this is not only front line battle.
As in any battle open confrontation is just a side story. The main battle is
actually about supply lines. The strength on your network is as important as
your communications skills and ability to withstand direct pressure, threat
and outbursts (front-line skills).
- All the reading in the world cannot immunize you from the devastating
effects of psychopaths. Like for any solder on front lines after a while
your emotional health will suffer and you will have problem to switch from
the incidents at work to normal living.
- The first sign of this effects are usually troubles with sleeping.
Immersing yourself in hobbies, regular one hour walk before sleeping might
help, but the damage to your health is unavoidable.
- In a long run your family life might suffers too. Chronic stress
tend to disrupt human relations. While for s short to medium time
family can be a great support and help to relieve stress, the chronic severe
stress tends to disrupts the family's stability. See
How to
Cope With Job Stress:
The wear and tear of chronic stress
When you're faced with a demand or an outright threat, your stress
hormones-adrenaline and cortisol-trigger a cascade of physiological
events that put your nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and immune
systems on alert.
Those changes provide the fuel you need to face a crisis, large or
small.
The problem comes when this response
doesn't shut off. This can occur because the threat-real
or perceived-is frequent or prolonged, and you feel powerless to resolve
it. If you're predisposed to health conditions that are aggravated by
stress (such as hypertension), you may be unable to calm down physiologically,
even after the stressful event has passed.
Being exposed to constant stress can result in long term adverse
effects on health. Medical studies have linked stress to depression,
immune system suppression, cardiovascular disease, infertility, miscarriage,
and premature birth.1
The short-term effects aren't pretty, either. We become tense and
irritable. We develop headaches or muscle pain. Our blood pressure goes
up. We don't eat, or we overeat. Stomach and bowel problems may ensue.
At work we find it harder to concentrate. At home we can't sleep, or
we see stress disrupt our family life.
- Rages should be expected and deal with calmly. According to Professor
Hare "Corporate psychopaths tend to be manipulative, arrogant, callous,
impatient, impulsive, unreliable and prone to fly into
rages". If you are unprepared then the pain and suffering
are amplified. Some of victims would succumb to heart attacks, alcoholism
or even or commit suicide, he said.
- They are really different and cannot be measured by the same standard
as ordinary people. They are more like professional actors then real humans:
everything is fake and imitated. Psychopaths succeed in conventional
society in large measure because few of us grasp that they are fundamentally
different from ourselves. They are more like professional actors then real humans:
never forget about that.
We assume that they, too, care about other people's feelings. This makes
it easier for them to "play" us. Although they lack empathy, they develop
a professional actor's expertise in evoking ours. While they don't care
about us, "they have an element of emotional intelligence, of being able to
see our emotions more or less clearly and manipulate them," says Michael Maccoby,
a psychotherapist who has consulted for major corporations. Don't
fall into this trap. Ignore attempts to invoke pity, sympathy or similar emotions.
This is all a game.
- Your social skills = your combat skills. Start improving them immediate
and put as much money on this activity as necessary. Never overestimate your
own social skills and underestimate social skills of PIMM. Social
skills, especially communication skills, are the weapons on the battle field
and they by-and-large predetermine that the results of your confrontations
with PIMM. You better be prepared. That means that you need start immediately
and continue relentlessly train yourself and strive for improving your
communication skills
dramatically.
Such terms as "negative
politeness", "emotional distance", "defection", "self-control" should became
well known and fully understood ASAP. Study literature about OCD and paranoia.
Most micromanagers suffer both from OCD and paranoia. You need to understand
those two pretty well to preserve your emotional health. The danger to it is
very real. BTW alcoholism and drug addiction are also closely related
to OCD.
- Paranoia is such a prominent trait of most micromanagers that studying
literature about the topic immensely helps to understand PIMM behavior and by
extension enhances your ability to fight them. For example personal attacks
and attempts to humiliate others are often used by PIMM as an attempt to alleviate
personal anxiety by conquering, defeating and dominating others. An excessive
need to control one's surroundings is the cornerstone of paranoiac personality.
- Your social network is actually your only open supply lines: without
strong social network you soon be without weapons and ammunition. Just desire
to fight is not enough. You cannot stop tanks with bare hands.
- Get out as soon as possible but not sooner. If you like you
job and the current salary, then finding another position might as painful as
a divorce but unless you are sure that you can outlast PIMM leaving might be
better then staying. Be careful to differentiate between what is a real oasis
of opportunity and a mirage in a desert.
Possibility of long unemployment stretch as well as running out of money,
compounded by the continued discomfort of not knowing when you get a new job
makes "emotionally dictated exit" really stupid. Please be aware that in such
a situation any other job opportunity looks nicer that it really is. That might
result in jumping into a position that is some respects can be worse then your
current situation.
Female micromanager are more difficult case then make micromanagers
It is important to know that micromanagers are often females and that the majority
of victims are also females. Female micromanager are more "kitty-catty" and
usually are more dangerous opponent then male micromanagers. In this case "affirmative
action" became a really nasty, perverted joke (you can be sure that they will be
among active member of any "Female employees career mentioning" or "minorities empowerment"
initiative).
Female micromanagers often hardest on their own
sex |
In case you are male be assured that will use their gender as a bulletproof west.
In case you are a female they will definitely try to appeal to female solidarity,
complain about nasty male-oriented culture of the company, "glass ceiling"
and/or exploit common for females problems.
In
Lovefraud Blog post
When
women are sociopaths-psychopaths the author aptly noted:
There is actually very little research data available regarding sociopathy
in non-criminals and in women. The little research that has been done reveals
that sociopathy in women entails two or three main features that are similar
to those found in men. Namely, female sociopaths
lack empathy and enjoy manipulating and exploiting others.
Violent and impulsive behavior is less common in sociopathic women. This fact
may make them more dangerous, as they more easily blend in with the rest of
society.
The key traits of sociopathic females
A recent study of adolescent girls in detention performed by Crystal L. Schrum,
M.A. and Randall T. Salekin, Ph.D. of the University of Alabama and reported
in Behavioral Sciences and the Law, revealed the core qualities that
best described young female sociopaths. The teens
were callous and lacked empathy, had a grandiose sense of self worth and were
conning and manipulative. They were also likely to engage in
impersonal sexual relationships. Importantly, the researchers revealed that
female sociopaths did not necessarily have "shallow emotions."
Again the lack of impulsivity and shallow emotions
may make a female sociopath more difficult to spot.
... ... ...
The case of Michelle Drake also illustrates something else about female sociopaths.
The courts are more likely to go easy on them. This attitude of the courts may
reflect the fact that many people excuse the behavior
of female sociopaths and feel sorry for them. Look at the cases
of women in the news lately. We don't know if the women involved are sociopaths,
however, these cases do illustrate the double standard
that exists in how we judge female as opposed to male antisocial behavior.
Several women teachers have been found guilty of sexually exploiting students.
They were treated very leniently for the same crimes that would have put a man
in jail for many years.
As Scott Berkun aptly
noted:
The best advice for having a bad manager is to seek other employment.
Don't undervalue your happiness: it's impossible to be happy if you work directly
for someone you can't stand. It may be difficult to find another job, but if
you are willing to make compromises in other areas (salary, position, project,
location, etc.) it will certainly be possible. Being happy and underpaid is
a much better way to spend a life than unhappy and anything else.
Making life changes, even progressive beneficial ones, is difficult and
leaving a bad manager might require weeks or months
of less than pleasant living. However, on the other side of any
decision to leave is something you can't get where you currently are: the possibility
of a good manager, and the sanity that it will bring you. The "never quit, tough
it out" attitude is a mistake if you are in a situation that can never result
in your satisfaction. I think the act of finding a new job, or even quitting
before you've found one, can be a way to take more control. It puts you back
at center of your life, where you belong. There are risks involved, but it puts
you, and not your manager or company, at the center of them.
But for the sake of this essay I'll assume that you are either unwilling
or unable to leave. Maybe you're looking for something new and have
to endure a bad manager until you've found it, or perhaps your family is heavily
dependent on you and your options are limited. That's fine. Just remember to
re-read the first paragraph every month or so to make sure you're considering
all your choices, and not hiding behind the deceptive safety of a merely acceptable
job, when what you need is something more.
Trimming down your expectations
Don't trust, don't be afraid, don't ask for any favors (In Russian:
Не верь, не бойся, не проси)
GULAG survival principle |
It is very important to trim down your expectations. Expect as a minimum the
following:
- You never have complete authority to do what it was you were hired to do.
- Each step of the work you were hired to do will be dictated by your boss
or his/her hired guns. Expect after that that they will be dissatisfied
with the results...
- Your boss sometimes can behave like an wild animal. Females psychopaths
are less prone to this they are more sadistic and more subtle and just enjoy
inflicting pain on others.
- In crisis (often inflicted upon the organization or enhances in side/effect
be their own stupidity), they will be breathing down your back and block
all useful measures you suggest. After that they will make you a scapegoat.
- You will be completely bogged in useless documentation (that was the exact
situation in the USSR before its dissolution so in a way this is a return of
good old Brezhnev Socialism in the new form with the requirements of formal
piety in the style "Viva Developed Socialism, Viva Leonid Brezhnev"; the latter
actually help to create pretty nasty anecdotes about the leadership which are
told behind their backs ;-). Typical examples include but are not limited to
the area of performance feedback. A micromanager tend to require constant and
detailed feedback and tends to be excessively focused on procedural trivia rather
than on overall performance, quality and results. Writing "Status reports from
hell" is now you second specialty or you will be eaten alive.
- Your boss must approve everything. You might feel like your boss is always
checking up on you all the time and your life in the office is analyzed under
microscope. Micromanagers are usually irritated when other make decisions without
consulting them even if the decisions are totally within the subordinate level
of authorities.
This page is written as a self-help material for those who need to buy some time
or are unwilling or incapable to leave for some other reason. Do not take
your situation lightly. This is a war with hand combat in the trenches involved
so unless you are well prepared on the level of Green Berets which should become
your role model if you want to stay (training is everything here) you might be suffering
post traumatic stress syndrome like many solders who went to the from line:
chronic stress destroys most humans really fast.
"The main lesson I have learnt is that when dealing with a sociopath,
the normal rules of etiquette do not apply. You are dealing with someone who has no empathy, no conscience,
no remorse, and no guilt... It is a completely different
mindset. Words like 'predator' and 'evil'
are often used." -- Field |
I complied this list mainly as self-help instrument. In no way it is complete
or scientific. You are warned.
-
Stoicism as a philosophy can be of great help. See
Stoicism.
We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of
prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus
we learn how to be more content with what we have.
Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful
observers of their own life. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily
business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources
of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the
Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.
David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA)
The Best Introduction to an Ancient Philosophy, December 23,
2008 See all my reviews
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (Hardcover)
I first read Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" while flying to the eastern
United States for a scientific meeting. It was during a rather difficult
period in my life and I had picked up on "Meditations" because of a
mention of this work by Edwin Way Teale in "Near Horizons" as a book
he turned to in times of trouble.
I was not disappointed by these insightful notes written for his
own use nearly 2000 years ago by the Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher.
It was thus that I was primed to read William B. Irvine's "A Guide to
the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy." This is one of those books
that can be really life changing, if the reader is ready for it.
Irvine briefly discusses the history of Stoic philosophy and its
relationship to other philosophies in ancient Greece and Rome. He concentrates
most of the book, however, on the Stoics of the Roman Empire, namely
Seneca, Gaius Musonius Rufus, Epictetus and of course, Marcus Aurelius.
After his historical review Irvine spends some time on the practical
aspects of Stoicism, including
- negative visualization (visualizing how your life could
be worse),
- dichotomy of control (what we can and cannot control),
- fatalism (about the past and present, not the future),
- self-denial (putting off pleasure so as to appreciate
it more when you have it),
- duty (what we owe to others),
- social relations (how we relate to others),
- insults (how to react to them),
- grief (how to deal with loss),
- anger (how to turn it to humor),
- personal values (how to deal with fame and fortune, or
the lack thereof),
- old age (how to deal with the aging process),
- and dying (how to prepare for this certainty).
The last part of the book is devoted to the practice of Stoicism
in the modern world, with both its pluses and minuses.
Although I would have to practice a modified Stoicism (I doubt that
most of us would like to sleep even occasionally on a board or give
up sex except for procreation), there is much of Stoicism that we can
use in the modern world.
Unlike the Cynics who slept on boards all the time and generally
followed ascetic practices, Stoics wanted to enjoy life and followed
something akin to the Middle Way of Buddhism. This attitude could certainly
be of use to counter the worst of this "me first" society of rampant
consumerism. In truth you really cannot take it with you when you die
and to act like you can is the height of folly.
This book is a fascinating exposition of Stoic philosophy and its
possible uses in the present day. The current economic collapse and
other disasters of modern living could be a fertile ground for a revival
of Stoic ideas. I also recommend it as a refreshing antidote for the
hectic modern world in general. Take what is useful, and leave the rest,
but read it if you would live deliberately and thus be free!
- Beware of Stockholm syndrome. Victims of especially severe abuse
often "identify with the abuser" in order to survive. This means she will actually
begin to agree with the criticisms and perspectives of the abuser while her
own personality, opinions, and views fade to the background. This is a serious
set of psychological events called the "Stockholm Syndrome." When an abuser/controller
shows the victim some small kindness, even though it is to the abusers benefit
as well, the victim interprets that small kindness as a positive trait of the
captor. In criminal/war hostage situations, letting the victim live is often
enough. Small behaviors, such as allowing a bathroom visit or providing food/water,
are enough to strengthen the Stockholm Syndrome in criminal hostage events.
Your situation is not the different from a criminal hostage situation and as
such you are susceptible to Stockholm Syndrome. In relationships with abusers,
a birthday card, a gift (usually provided after a period of abuse), or a special
treat are interpreted as not only positive, but evidence that the abuser is
not "all bad" and may at some time correct his/her behavior. Abusers and controllers
are often given positive credit for not abusing their partner, when the target
would have normally been subjected to verbal or physical abuse in a certain
situation. After seeing the wave, the victim expects to be abused again
and when it doesn't happen, that "small kindness" is interpreted as a positive
sign.
- Know with whom you are dealing with. That sounds easy but in reality
it is very difficult. Psychopaths are completely different from us. The are
aliens in the most exact meaning of this word. Still your best defense is to
understand the true nature of those office predators, beasts without any sense
of remorse for their actions:
- Psychopaths are skilled at detecting and ruthlessly exploiting your
weak spots. Your best defense is to understand what these spots
are, and to be extremely wary of anyone who zeroes in on them.
- Every emotion they demonstrate is fake. Try not to be influenced
by "props". Many people find it difficult to deal with the intense,
emotionless, or "predatory" stare of the psychopath. Many people feel bad
when they are consistently ignored. Also attempts of "seduction" should
be resisted: if something is too good to be true it is probably is.
- Psychopaths may apologize or show remorse only to get away with something,
but in the end you will be stabbed in the back and realize how very
shallow their words were. Expect that you will be stabbed in the back,
sooner or later. As Field aptly noted:
"The main lesson I have learnt is that when dealing with a sociopath,
the normal rules of etiquette do not apply.
You are dealing with someone who has no empathy, no conscience,
no remorse, and no guilt... It is a completely different
mindset. Words like 'predator' and 'evil'
are often used."
- Often one of predator patsies tries to play "good
cop/bad cop" game to get information from you, Be especially aware
of attempt of known or suspected patsy (often visible by being treated noticeably
better then other members of the group) to demonstrate good feelings toward
you... This technique is often directed toward subjects who are young,
frightened, and/or na�ve. See the declassified
CIA Human
Resource Exploitation Training Manual (1983), pp. 26-27
- Information that you accidentally reveal will be communicated by patsies
directly to PIMM without any delays and it will definitely hurt you. Remember
that with PIMM there never a team -- its just a pack of frightened
animals.
- Keep your guard and your cool in high risk/direct attack situation
like PIMM outbursts. "Emotional tantrums" are actually an attack weapon.
The idea is to move you off balance or just sadistically hurt you.
The best defense is absence of visible reaction. Never raise
your voice, slow down your speech to half of your usual pace. Even
if you are ready to scream, keep it inside. Any emotional outburst on your
part will give a micromanager all he needs including the ability to submit
the claim about your insubordination.
Carefully document the case and periodically reread/clarify your notes:
that will give you an ability to see certain patterns in PIMM behavior.
This way you can see that the set of threats and behavior itself is pretty
stereotypical and the second or third outburst will be for you not a nasty
surprise but something like a bad comedy rerun. You might even smile
inside seeing the same trick used over and over again.
- PIMM like any psychopath also appears not to be able to remember
what they had said or committed to for very long. They seem to always
be living in the present and that partially explains why they cannot live
up to their word. Once again, it will be you who must deal with the aftermath
of all the psychopath's twists and turns, and you will be discredited as
"uncooperative" by him. The psychopath will try to make himself look like
a victim.
- Remain calm and maintain your composure; you must never
compromise your professional integrity in dealing with micromanagers. When
you lose your composure in the heat of the battle, you often say things
you will regret later. A calm factual response devoid any emotions often
helps to defuse a potentially volatile situation. Most PIMM probably
had more practice in verbal confrontations then you can imagine as they
probably started practicing in early childhood. Also typically
IT technical specialists lack social skills and are slightly socially isolated.
As such are natural prey for corporate psychopaths.
In any way your seldom can compete with micromanagers in open confrontation.
And you never should.
- Be careful about power struggles. Keep in mind that psychopaths
have a strong need for psychological and physical control over others.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't stand up for your rights, but it will
probably be difficult to do so without risking serious emotional trauma.
- Complaining to PIMM about micromanagement usually cause PIMM to do
it even more. Don't make this elementary mistake: this is their true
nature and it cannot be changed by words no matter how convincing they are.
The rule is that you should be very careful negotiating or bargaining with
psychopaths and never try to expose their faults. Avoidance maneuvers
might be a better tactic.
- Know yourself. Psychopathic PIMMs are skilled at detecting and exploiting
weak spots, finding the right buttons to press. In short PIMM is a predator.
Only real feelings they seem to have - the thing
that drives them and causes them to act out different dramas for effect - is
a sort of "predatorial hunger" for what they want. They
are good players in corporate poker and are adept in unleashing especially nasty
complain or demands just before your annual performance review. They also can
use flattery to "soften" you before or after attack. While not all micromanagers
are created equal and in this chess party is it prudent to assume that they
are skilled players who can exploit human weaknesses and have vast experience
in doing so.
- Always stay cool. If you get agitated
you have joined the battle on their terms.
- The best way to protect yourself from PIMM attacks is to prepare
the positions: is avoid any unstructured or not-scheduled contact
or communication. Also don't fight each and every stupid and absurd
decision; carefully pick the battles limiting them to issues that are vital.
Don't sweet the small staff. Let him punish the company for his promotion:
that's a fair game.
- No matter how much you hate PIMM never resorts to dirty tricks
or step outside the law. Always play by the rules -- particularly
on policies regarding your attendance (including lunches) and usage of corporate
hardware and services for personal needs. Collect information but
don't spy.
- Carefully protect all your notes that are not explicitly designed
to be seen by the PIMM. Preferably never take them to the office: write
them only late at night or early in the morning at the safety of your home.
Remember that with PIMM as your manager even walls have ears.
- Relentlessly train your communication and social skills. Never consider
yourself more clever then the opponent. Remember that the best way to
lose is to consider yourself more clever then your opponent. Ability
to write programs of sophisticated scripts does not guarantee equal measure
of social skills. They might be completely technically ignorant but
in social skills they might give you a run for the money. Relentlessly train
yourself in social skills and communication. That's were the battle lines
are drawn. Enroll in community college for some suitable course in
psychology or sociology.
- A paper trail is the most powerful weapon against micromanagers.
One of the best lines of "defense" is your diligence in clarifying the progress
you made and keeping a paper trail of everything that you have done in a form
of "progress reports" that micromanagers love so much. In true Aikido
style make this weapon against you act as the weapon against micromanager.
- Consider "progress reports" to be the major battlefield where
you can win or lose the battle. Never cut corners or spare efforts
in preparation of them: this is your major work assignment for day one when
micromanager became your manager. Even if it is never explicitly mentioned
in your objectives :-). Forget about other work that needs to be done. This
is the work that needs to be done first: priority No.1
- If necessary work the weekend before the meeting to make your
monthly progress report really sharp and polished weapon.
- Think about sequence of progress reports as
a chess party that slowly unfolds between you and the micromanager.
- When you document all the assignments in your progress reports,
make sure that the absurdity of some of them
will be evident in retrospect to everybody.
This actually created a "paper trail" of micromanager incompetence, the
very train they try to avoid by not giving any written assignments.
Due to this historical information even without specific critique of
PIMM your progress reports are very powerful and effective in structuring
your boundaries and they are should server as constant complain of any cases
of trespassing those boundaries. But you need to do it in a very subtle,
diplomatic way.
- Carefully document and maintain the list of all oral, phone and indirect
assignments.
Document agreements. Follow-up verbal briefings, requests
and agreements with an email to avoid confusion. Provide as much details
as possible. If they are reluctant to write you emails to avoid paper
trail, send them a follow up emails documenting assignment as soon possible.
Create and maintain the list of all (all) assignments bestowed on
you each month and update it regularly. Later summarize those emails in
the progress report.
- Every task should have a stated measurable goal, whether it's a report,
a decision or a sale, and a process and those would be explicitly
identified.
Forget about doing the best work possible. Do assignments
only on the acceptable level. Any success in your department strengthens PIMM
position more then your position. If you need to program something really
innovative to feel yourself comfortable consider contributing your efforts to
open source project.
In some cases it makes sense downgrade the system to industry standard level
as keeping it on higher level might required additional efforts that are better
spend on preparing "defensive paperwork' like progress reports.
- Try to put measurements in hours on any
assignment to prevent abrupt changes
- If you are subject to humiliating "you did it wrong" or "this is
not what I meant" attacks you might try documenting all goals for each and
every assignment explicitly. Negotiate to deliver a very specific
product at a very specific time. Always try to set goals that
can be measured. Attack shifting direction by negotiating "change of priorities".
Chambers recommends using color-coded system for your priorities.
Move the most time consuming tasks to objectives and negotiate the "time
issues" that arise.
- Send regular updates on your progress by email to forestall surprise
checkups.
- Never send a partially finished version of your project memos
or presentations unless you want to reopen the negotiations.
- Hand over the deliverables on time, and stand firm on the
point that you have met the deadline. You can also try to claim that
your product conforms to all stated specifications, but you need to understand
that there is no such thing as "final specifications" in micromanager lexicon.
If you plan to do so ensure that you picked your battle wisely and
don't sweet the small staff.
- Avoid direct, open fighting of your boss's suffocating grip.
You will be accused along the lines: 'This person is not a team player.
This person won't take supervision. This person is trying to hide something.'
- Use "structured" slots like monthly progress reviews to put demands on
the PIMM. Ask for copies of some documents, spreadsheets, presence on some
of the meeting you chair, etc. But remember that all your requests should be
constructive and they should be useful for your work.
- Try persistently to make demands on them.
Each time they became especially nasty in controlling try to invent some
useless meeting and insist that they should be present. By
asking something of them, you will be indicating that you are not intimidated.
Remember that fear and compulsive-obsessive personality disorder are two
driving forces behind PIMM persistent meddling in your projects. For
some PIMMs the simple request to validate the minute of the meeting acts
as a cold shower: all of them are panicky afraid of taking any responsibility.
- Make negotiating deadlines that you can meet and, especially, renegotiating
priorities as time consuming as you can. This involves instigating planning
discussions.
- Politely but firmly give them tasks without which you activity
supposedly halts to standstill and make them know that. Beware that checking
of the completion of the task too often is not the point as they can retaliate
and remind anything to PIMM is the action that is potentially harmful for
your health. If you want to do it do it politely in email. Just create minimal
pressure to escape their grip. Don't overdo it.
- Make polite demands on them-- especially when dealing with the
type control freak who like to intimidate you so that feel frustrated.
Ask them to send you something or do something for you. even minor thing
for accomplishing your task is OK. If they forget remind them but only once.
By asking something of them, you will be indicating that you are not
intimidated and con fight back because of their incompetence. As a
result the jaws might relax somewhat.
Try to treat each attempts to control the process as requests to
change the end product, the act that in any reasonable business
presupposes the agreement to reopens the whole negotiation. But don't
overplay your hand: the problem is that there nothing reasonable in PIMM.
Still if this is crucial and you probably put a lot of efforts into meeting
previous, now abandoned specifications. So don't hesitate to call
the "an objective clarification meetings." and spend some time reviewing
obvious things providing a drag on PIMM time. If they avoid the meeting
don't insist but put some facts and difficulties in your monthly report
so this is documented.
- If the end product is not affected,
why change the process?
- Keep thorough notes and bring them out when the person wants to
meddle with the project.
- Ask whether the characteristics of the project's final goal
are different now.
- If your manager says they aren't, respectfully ask why, if the goal
is the same, the process to achieve it should be changed.
- This logic is difficult for anyone to refute, even a control
freak. This strategy works best when you have some history of
delivering the goods on time and in a satisfactory manner.
- Make such assignment list as non-threatening as possible and try to
create an illusion that you care about all this BS. Always say "Thank you"
and project such an impression that the micromanager feel they are
"helped" you do your job. As perverse as it is, some of them really think
that they are mentoring you.
- Make sure they know the deadlines and milestone for the projects - BUT
never reveal real status of things They care about the paperwork and
processes not results. See below.
- Consider dealing with micromanager to be a battle test for your communication
skills. Relentlessly work on improving them from the day one. You can need
all you have and more. If by change you are attacked by PIMM for having
"poor communication skills" use this as a great opportunity: enroll in training
as much as the company and your boss permits. Acquire all the necessary literature:
this is money well spent. Talk with people you respect for their communication
abilities, invite them for lunch and try to learn from them. I know that 's
very difficult, but please try...
If the manager have the second thought you can always accuse him/her is being
not forthcoming in your development: after all it was him who pointed out on
the fault. And this is a rather serious accusation that can help you to weaken
the grip of micromanager.
- Beware of risks involved in using HR to intervene in a micromanagement
problem. Micromanaging is not a problem for HR. But you can use
HR to provide your documentation stating why you disagree with
the end of the year assessment of your results by micromanager so that your
objections can be entered into your performance record. When the time
is truly right for HR to act, then you will have trail of historical information
for abuse and mismanagement that will be difficult to deny. And it can be used
both with inside and outside sources to take action.
The same is true about upper management. Remember, micromanagers tend to
hire micromanagers, so assess your boss's boss carefully before whistle blowing.
See also Whistleblower Bill of
Rights
- Try to deflect rather then counter attacks. Every micromanaged employee
needs to know the main principle of aikido. That's a martial art where the key
is to turn an opponents force back against him with clever footwork, leverage,
and ducking. Micromanager is a paranoiac person which is driven by his/her own
insecurities and he/she rushes blindly with tremendous force on direct opposition.
Like shark feel smell of blood micromanager automatically attack any sign of
resistance. So sometimes it make sense can try mimicry and "play dead" by pretending
to give up : don't fight, don't push back, don't resist. That will only
make the micromanager do it harder.
Fake compliance while subtlety undermining or deflecting idiotic measures and
start quietly pursue your own education (getting some sort of certification
ASAP is the first such measure that you should consider) can improve the situation
to the extent it become more bearable.
In other words try to simulate compliance while diverting part of your energy
from deal-end activities dictated by PIMM to some socially useful, self-esteem
enhancing activities like giving free lectures, participating in some voluntarily
organization that you value or writing/supporting open source software. But
never lose your guard or reveal the changes of your strategy: do not change
the frequency of meetings or communication with the boss (open avoidance is
big mistake) and do not allow to be driven into measure that are illegal or
can really harm the company: micromanagers can be pretty charming it they
need to got get something. Paralysis is OK though: that's a fair price
the company should pays for promoting a micromanager to its current position.
- Develop and protect your company support net. This is your safety
net. Try to do free work for other departments if possible. Usually It
environment is flexible enough to provide you an opportunity to help others
at the expense of your department.
- If you decided to quit, right timing is everything.
- The rule should be "if you still need the paycheck, adopt the
"when in Rome strategy". But at the same time double your efforts
on creation of a plan B.
- You need carefully prepare plan B in advance. Never make
an impulsive decision on the spot under the influence of emotions, even
when pressure becomes unbearable. Even if your anger overwhelm you, please
think about your family and your mortgage and postpone the final decision
at least for a night.
- After you start working on plan B never stop the work no matter
whether the relationships improved or not. All PIMM are hypocrites
and most of them are good actors. Most people understand that open conflict
with a micromanagers is dangerous as micromanagers feels that their subordinate
is threatening their control. But most people do not understand how manipulative
and cruel PIMM can be: those people are very similar to a typical psychopath
and like them they have no conscience.
But even understanding this is not everything and situation can developed
unpredictably anytime. A workable plan B is the best insurance policy for
of your mental and physical health. Remember that both are threatened and
this is not an exaggeration.
- Your best option is to get an actual job offer in hand with another
employer before situation became unbearable. By not having a back-up
plan ("plan B"), you have given your abusive boss even more leverage over
you because they know you have no where else to go. Having a plan B, however,
creates the possibility to walk-away at any time should the pressure became
unbearable or negotiation with your boss about "boundaries of control" not
go right. That actually increases you negotiating power considerably both
directly and indirectly. confidence is a great thing that implicitly is
communicated to any partner in complex negotiations. Increase your power
and have a plan B before you deal with the severe conflict.
Level two recommendations
An airline passenger observes abusive
passenger who behaves like a high placed airline official seated in
front of him and after a while asks the stewardess, "How can you take
this kind of abuse?"
The woman said with a straight face
"Mr. Smith is going to Los Angeles but his luggage is going to Nairobi."
|
- Beware of the "Fundamental Attribution Error" in interpretation of the
actions of your boss. Most people have a tendency to overweight the
role of what "kind" of person is on a person's actions, and underweight the
social and environmental forces that influence the particular person Humans
tend to attribute others motivation to much to character and inclination and
too little to context. For instance, your boss might be distracted by troubles
about which you know nothing. There might be dozens of scenarios like that.
While most micromanagers have deep personality problems this factor should
never be considered as a single one determining the behavior. Upper level management
requests might be a factor as important or even more important and cruel and
unusual behavior toward you can be just an attempt to meet requirements or follow
directions from above. The corporation as a whole might be as sick as
your boss. BTW over attribution is less likely, perhaps even inverted, when
people explain their own behavior. See
The Fundamental Attribution Error
"Control Freak" label might well be a form of attributional error or "dispositional
bias": the tendency to perceive other's motives or actions as indicating some
inner motivational or personality trait that explains the (especially questionable)
behavior, that is, sleazy, cheap�a "control freak." And of course, the face-saving
inverse: we tend to personally attribute or rationalize our actions and outcomes
(especially unfavorable ones) to external, mitigating and "out of our control"
forces.
Only careful documentation and "post factum" analysis of events can reveal
real set of traits and dominant modes of attack of particular corporate psychopath.
-
Do a little side project of your own using free time, for example
some write or assume ownership on so open source software development project
or help with documentation of the open source project you use, etc.
There is a lot to learn in this world, and you probably have an Internet connection
at your desk. If you sick and tied of programming write a novel about your expertise.
who knows may be you are closet Leo Tolstoy and can became rich this way.
If you do something productive in your free time, you will be less vulnerable
to attacks on your self-esteem and you will not sweet the small staff like in
a typical situations when boss by changing direction destroys all or large part
of your previous work or when he by over-controlling you make you less
or zero productive.
-
Beware of any attempt to talk "openly and honestly" with PIMM. It
is highly unlikely that you are going to change your boss or restrain him/her.
Remember the fairy tall about three little pigs. You are a little pig
who goes to the open to negotiate with a wolf.
- Keep your private copies and CD-based backups of all valuable data including
all progress reports as well as and paper copies of major emails that might
be needed if you eventually decide to go to court or to arbitrage.
That might take up some of your time but this is a necessary safety measure;
you also will have less time to worry about yet another abrupt change of direction
of the project or other work problem.
The person being micromanaged must create documentation that quantifies
work being done to provide detailed information later to refresh the memory
of the micromanager. The quantified information should not be used to attack
the micromanager using HT as a Trojan horse, but as a defense against unfair
job evaluation only. HR is an instrument of management and will always be it.
- Try to attack their tendency of avoidance of the responsibility by providing
"total feedback paper trail". That might slightly lessen their grip if you
can exploit overload, although your mileage can vary:
- Document any conflicting instructions and assignments, many PIMM
dislikes giving instructions in writing; there are some that like to transmit
instructions via patsies. In this case always fire a email that documents
what patsy told you to do and ask to corrections. PIMM
only real goal is to stay in power however necessary and avoiding responsibility
to their actions is a part of the game. Having documentation about abrupt
changes of the course can help you in the future as in case of failure or
problem any your statement about exact instructions will be severely contested.
Write the history like early historians did: facts and facts only.
- Track and carefully document all emotional outbursts as well as unfair
accusations and abrupt project reassignments.
- Try to camouflage the danger to micromanager of your reproduction
of his assignments in emails by sugarcoating it. For example sending
email about the assignments communicated via patsies you can write something
like "I wrote down this in order to keep track of the detail of
this assignment because it's important for me to understand it
correctly."
- At worst, when sh**t hits the fan, you must have a verified tack
of evidence to support your claim: "I've been micromanaged to death
and here's the proof. " Of course this should used only when things
turn really ugly.
- Collect intelligence but never spy on the person. Among
useful questions:
- What is actual level of formal education of this person
- What are the companies s/he was employed before. You might have
common colleagues.
- Keep in mind that psychopaths often lie in their resume and misrepresent
their previous positions, education, salary history, etc.
- Fully exploit the fact that micromanager cherishes the constant flow
of updates and reports. It leaves in artificial world of paperwork
that has nothing to do with the reality. Use email to the fullest extent
possible, but remain constructive.
- Never spare them of information that is relevant to the project
you performs. Let them enjoy full information they so desperately want.
The flow of emails often acts as sedative for many PIMM creating an
illusion that they are in full control of the situation.
- This also serve in implicit goal to increase the load on PIMM
so that s/he has less time to overcontol all you activities.
- Use calculated avoidance maneuver but remember
that keeping a micromanager at a safe distance is extremely difficult
and somewhat dangerous.
- Never accidentally drop into the PIMM office. This is
a torture camera; ask yourself whether it makes sense going to this spot
voluntarily.
- Some rare contacts in hallway might be beneficial but should
be limited to non-job related trivia like car in the parking lot with broken
window, bad weather, accident of route 888, etc. "If you bump into them,
be polite, you can't let them think you're avoiding them on purpose,"
- Remember to have regular scheduled "progress report" meeting and
be prepared to each of them ( (monthly is probably optimal schedule).
Regular "progress report" meetings not only ensure you and your boss are
on the same page, it also alerts you to changes on the landscape. Also you
have better chances to stay cool during some abrupt last moment changes
in project objectives if this happen just once a month. You need to spend
considerable time preparing for them. Plan this time in advance.
- Sometimes disappear in the lab or other site. But be aware that
it can backfire. Meter your absence.
- Try to remain as non-confrontational as possible. Lit a candle
in the church and pray that God will end this hardship some time in
the future. While relying on God, do all the necessary steps to find a new
position.
- Do not volunteer information not related to your projects and assignments,
especially about your family, relationship or other problems: you just
attract the attention like sharks are attracted by blood.
- Practice meetings Jujutsu
- During meetings let them control the agenda, but as a countermove
concentrate on controlling the pacing. If you stay calm and speak
twice slowly that you usually do, you will be in command of the pacing of
the conversation.
- Pay attention to the pace of your speech. Use watches or other technical
means. The normal tendency is to gear up and as anger fly people start
to speak more rapidly. This is a major trap you should avoid: it just
make chances of some undesirable verbal exchange higher. Also people tend
to personalizing the situation more is as they speak more about it.
Slow speech help to view the whole situation more objectively (might be
not a big deal after all) as well as avoid costly mistakes like letting
your anger to drive your responses.
- Stay calm during the meeting no matter what. Never raise the
voice. If situation became hot go and get the coffee or tee and sip
it during the meeting. micromanagers tend to generate a lot of tension in
those around them but drinking tend to slightly dissipate the built tension.
Try to maintain a comfortable distance and instead of confronting their
stupid plan start thinking immediately about the best way of sabotaging
them.
- Focus on your breathing. As you get more agitated and demanding,
breath slowly and deeply two to three time. If you stay calm and focused,
this often has the effect of relaxing them as well. If you get agitated
you have joined the battle on their terms. Maintain your breezing
pace.
- Pay attention to induced emotional reactions; delay your reaction
and limit it to home and friends not connected with your work.
Never give away your anger at office. You can buy a punching bag and boxing
gloves, put the PIMM's face on it and hit it with it as hard as you
can at the privacy of your basement :-) This is a classic Japanese
technology of alleviating anger that micromanagement generates. This also
might be a good exercise after a day of work with micromanagers.
- The less you speak the longer you survive. Consider checking 5 things
before saying something:
- is this polite
- in this professional
- in this non-confrontational
- in this non-threatening
- Never try to negotiate the delegation with PIMM, use subversion instead.
There is no such thing in PIMM life, he/she just cannot relinquish any authority.
Use your superior knowledge and if necessary subvert the authority and resources
to grab little breezing space.
- Avoid discussion crucial issues that you might be able to decide
yourself without PIMM involvement.
- Do not inform PIMM about facts that can increase your dependency,
unless hiding them is clearly against the interests of the company.
Being more or less loyal to the company is important not because
you owe something tot he company but because it provides some psychological
comfort and a good point for fighting absurd suggestions and claim that
is difficult to overturn.
- If it is not appropriate for you to accept delegated tasks you
might try to delegate them horizontally or vertically to escape
or dilute responsibility. It's a dangerous maneuver, so tread
lightly here.
- Never try to kill them with kindness. This is self-defeating
strategy and they only increase their demands. Keep a safe distance from
the jerk. Avoidance with the flavor of mystery is a better coping strategy.
See above.
- You can try to get the status of a lackey, but a protected one. In
this case try to be proactive without taking credit. Give ideas but don't push
them. If the boss acts on your idea a month later and takes it as his or her
own, be grateful. But few people can adapt to whatever the boss wants. This
old-fashioned, 1950s "Company Man" view of the world is obsolete. Micromanagers
are sometimes too much even for sycophants.
- When overwhelmed with anger and resentment try to remember, the essential
need of a control freak is not to crush you but to defend himself against anxiety
and insecurity. The latter usually it's
a reflection of the manager's own shortcoming. Although it may
not be apparent to you when they are making their demands, these individuals
are usually fighting off a deep-seated sense of their own helplessness and impotence.
By becoming proficient at trying to control other people, they are warding off
their own fear of being out of control and helpless.
- Consider control
freak behavior to be not so much directed on you as his/her an anxiety management
tool. That helps to avoid anger. Be
always aware about PIMM deep sense of insecurity. It seems that compulsive
controlling is dictated by their own deep sense of security (usually
well-founded: most of them are incompetents). If you tale into account
this fact it is easier to survive emotional outbursts and unreasonable demands:
look at PIMM as a sick person who badly needs treatment and anger management
therapy.
- In any power-related encounter, the control freak has a
lot at stake in prevailing. While trying to hold a conversation
and engage them in some way, their emotional stakes involve their own identity
and sense of well-being. Being in control gives them the temporary illusion
and sense of calmness. When they feel they are prevailing, you can just
about sense the tension oozing out of them. Deceive them -- pretend dead
why in the background sabotage all their efforts. Procrastination or "Italian
strike" (working by "following the rules to the letter") and complaining
about difficulties (there always difficulties in IT) is a good tool if used
wisely. In moderate doses it is almost undetectable.
- Remember that the control freak is very frightened; never attempt
to undermine his/her self-esteem unless you are painted into the corner.
Even in this case it is better calmly provide all the collected documentation
to HR and quit. Part of their
strategy is to induce that fear in you with the subtle or not so subtle
threat of loss. Pretend it works and do not give them ground
for insubordination attack. Since the emotional stakes are so high for them,
they need to assert themselves with you to not feel so helpless. Ignore
their outbursts. After all this is not a real Gulag this is a more of a
Comedy Central: useless manager in a useless company trying to hide its
complete incompetence. To relinquish control to them is tantamount to being
victimized and overwhelmed.
- Imitate some level forgiveness and professional calmness without lowing
the level of your guard. You do no not need to be openly hostile while collecting
stones: all information about their anger attacks and tantrums should be carefully
recorded and maintained ready for HR but your demeanor and communication should
always be strictly professional Remember that within most micromanagers
there is a good measure of paranoia. They usually can read you very well
and unless you masquerade this by calmness you might be unpleasantly surprised
by preemptive actions micromanagers take if they became afraid of your retaliation.
Believe me, they will be first to HR and better prepared then you might
think...
- Beware micromanagers lackeys. One common micromanagers survival
strategy is to surround themselves with staff members who mirror their personality
and work style. Getting one of two patsies and communicating via them is a typical
strategy. They defuse the responsibility to incompetent actions and also serve
as informers.
- Always maintain political correctness. Never try to be witty or sarcastic,
or you will pay the price. This is why companies need the probationary
periods in employment contracts for managers that allow for ending of the
contract at (or during) those periods for ANY reason.
- Never criticize your boss behind his back speaking with PIMM direct
reports. Be evasive, as some of your better treated colleagues can be PIMM's
informers. This is a mini-Gulag ;-). Micromanagement is
the trademark of insecure bosses. The grapevine and gossip within
the group dominated by micromanager has never solved any boss problems only
increases your own insecurity: you now depends on a coworker who knows nasty
words you said about the manager. Forget about attempts of honest or sincere
communication: this group managed by PIMM is doomed to become a perverted
parody on Gulag...
- Don't change your behavior abruptly. Especially, never
try self-isolation as cure: you need some level of communication within
the group no matter what are your opinions about some of its members.
Petty family/weather/pets/cars related chit-chat is very important.
- You can make it much less hurting psychologically if you consider your
employment and your company to be "not a big deal". Just try to create your
little private space. God sometimes test people. People survives in much harsher
environment. In order to not feel degraded, humiliated and have your sense
of self and self worth assaulted, you need to avoid taking this too seriously.
This is, after all, "a small staff" and at the end doe not matter.
If one useless corporation exploded in flames due to PIMM activity so be it.
One stupid corporation less.
- Expect that PIMM lack any compassion. PIMM are usually offended by
any suggestion that people under their span of control suffer under their petty
dictating style. They consider them self "mentors" or invent some other
rationalization. In reality most micromanagers tend to have a obsessive-compulsive
personality and their over controlling tendency just reflect this abnormal personality.
Most of them fear mistakes to the extent that fear
paralyze them. They don't believe that work can be done without
their constant intervention and not without a reason -- they are probably the
most hated type of managers in this corner office in any organization.
Not only people do not want to help them, most of their subordinates can go
to a great length to cause them harm.
Personal insecurity and obsessive-compulsive tendencies are usual driving
forces behind PIMM petty behavior. This makes life unbearable for those
around him. Again, PIMM will be very surprised (and even offended) when confronted
with this frustrating reality. Very often the result of micromanagement is complete
disintegration of the team. This creates vicious circle as this actually strengthens
the perception of a micromanager, that "employees can't be trusted".
- Try to communicate objective information about PIMM real level of competence
in companies IT surveys, if any. But beware that sometimes anonymity is
not guaranteed...