Truth is Stranger Than Fiction: The Height of Indirectness

From time to time I’ll use my blog to share management stories entitled “Truth is Stranger Than Fiction.”  They are cautionary tales of what not to do!  Here’s the first in what will be a regular feature.

In two consecutive staff meetings, my friend’s manager criticized her.  The manager complained that my friend was not flexible enough. “When new requests come up,” he said, “you need to find a way to do them immediately and still finish the other work on your plate.”

My friend was angry because she did not see this as a legitimate complaint.  She had urgent projects of greater importance to complete (ones sanctioned by her manager), and she had made judgment calls regarding what to do first.  

She was also unhappy about being singled out in front of her peers.  So she met with her manager.  “I’m concerned you don’t think I’m doing a good job,” she said, “and it was hard for me to hear that for the first time in a staff meeting.”

Now here’s the response that stunned her when she heard it …

“Oh,” her manager said. “I wasn’t talking about you.  I don’t think Bill (another team member) is being flexible, and he isn’t taking on enough new projects.  I wanted to make the point so he’d hear how important it was and change his behavior.  Don’t worry. You’re fine.”