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I don't want the details

466 points · 226 comments · mooreds

  1. FartyMcFarter · · focus · HN ↗
    > Then I realised that "I don't want the details" wasn't being dismissive. The executive assumed that we were competent, and was saying "I already believe you. Now let's talk about what happens next".

    Something about this feels wrong:

    - If you trust them completely, you don't need to know what happens next either. Just trust them to do the right things, your leadership isn't required.

    - If you don't trust them completely, how can you know if "what happens next" is appropriate without knowing the details?

    Isn't this just reinforcing the idea that leadership doesn't need to have their feet on the ground?

    The best leaders I've worked with were paying attention to things from the bottom-up as well as top-down.

    1. Lalabadie · · focus · HN ↗
      I don't read the article this way. It's pretty sane for an exec to draw a line where the team's autonomy meets leadership's responsibility for structure and incentives around which said team needs to organize.

      "You did the right things and met the goals we set, but we hit a problem and we all agree it shouldn't happen again. Let's talk about what needs to change to address this."

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