So, one of the things that I’ve been thinking about recently is the relationship between getting the best work out of people in a work environment, and being an asshole.
The thing is, I can’t say that I have a particular relationship between those two factors in my experience – by and large, when I find someone I like, I work hard for them. When I think someone’s an asshole, I do my best to undermine them. Not intentionally, but it’s defintely some mental switch that flips, and the attitude changes to, “Oh, fuck this guy.” (I’ve never worked directly for a woman… wacky.)
But, that’s me. The thing is, on at least two of the things I’ve worked on, my boss has been incredibly nice, and the team has been almost unable to maximize its potential. To me, it was in both situations because the person in charge was somewhat conflict-averse, and unwilling to really put their foot down and say, “We *need* better than this.”
And so, it gets me to wondering – in the *real* world, how do you maximize the potential of a team? Obviously, in an ideal world, your team would consist of incredibly well-motivated individuals, driven to produce the best thing possible *just because they love it so much*. But really, that’s just not sustainable. So, what, then?
Of course I like working for nice bosses – but mostly becuase I’m internally motivated to do my best, make a name for myself, and move up in the world. That’s not a motivation *any* manager could give me. And it seems, in my experience, there’s a wide variety of motivation. Some people like a steady paycheck, come in on time, leave on time, and only ever give what is absolutely required of them. There are other people who appear to be singularly motivated to do as little as possible, as much of the time as they can.
So, there’s a variety of motivations. But I think one thing that’s become increasingly obvious is that inadvertently or not (advertently?) people tend towards the path of least resistance. That becomes clear watching people play games, it often becomes clear watching people work. The path of least resistance is *not* always the path of least work. Instead, it’s the path of least resistance relative to their internal expectations.
And you know what, with that, I totally lost my train of thought.
Basically, though, the question ends up as more or less something like this; Can you push someone to do more than they want to, and not come off as an asshole? For me, I get so frustrated that people’s standards don’t meet my own that I’m *unable* given my current social skill set, to express a desire for people to do more without actually getting angry at them. I get incredibly upset when I think a co-worker/teammate is slacking, particularly when I’m busting ass to do the best I can.
For me, in some sense, I don’t know how to push a person beyond what their internal motivation is willing to give without being a dick. Some people can, I suppose. But of those people, is the perception from the people that they’ve pushed that they’re assholes?
I think there’s a difference between pushing somebody to do more than they want, and expecting the best from them. When I think of jerk managers, I think of idiots who say “we need this by tuesday to meet our deadlines” or whatever, where the expectations are driven by what the manager needs.
I wonder if there would be a way to manage such that you could turn it back on the person – “Normally you do such great work, but this isn’t up to your usual standards – is there anything I can do to help?” It’d be coming from a place of respect.
I also agree that nice, conflict-avoidant bosses are a disaster. Expectations need to be set, and set high, and then followup needs to occur to make sure those expectations are met. Those expectations should be set collectively in a collaboration between the manager and the workers, but once they’re set, they should be viewed as a contract, and the manager should find out what’s keeping the worker from fulfilling their end of the deal.
It continues to be amazing to me how people will listen to me if I just say something. In my class group, we’ll be sitting around and I’ll say “Okay, let’s break up the work this way, this is what I think needs to get done” and they say “Okay, sounds good”. Or the way in which I make the Power Picnic happen each year. All it takes is one person to provide a goal, and do some minimal followup and the group will generally follow along.
I think the word you are searching for is Leadership. It’s very possible to be a good leader without being an asshole, and being a nice guy doesn’t mean you can’t be a good leader.
But being a good leader is hard, especially for those of us to whom it doesn’t come naturally.
Sure you can! Somehow persuade the person that it was their idea, and not yours. You know: drop hints and clues about your plans, letting them figure it out for themselves. It takes work, for sure; but nothing in life is ever that easy.
Inspiration is a different story, entirely. If someone is taking a nine-to-five just as a living, then they will lack motivation, doing just enough to earn another paycheck. Creating a fertile work environment is the job of management. While it is management’s job to hire individuals who posses this drive, it is also management’s job to sustain passion in the environment.
Without giving it too much forethought, I am going to make a comparison to dog training. Because, as you like to say, when you’ve got a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
The lesson I take away from dog training is that being an asshole != being a leader, and being nice != being a follower. Our dog training instructor was a great example of a leader who was quite gentle, yet firmly and clearly displayed that he was the leader and that the dogs needed to obey.
Being a jerk can scare dogs into falling into line, but they won’t do it with the enthusiasm and eagerness they would bring if you were to coax/lead them in the right way.
People are also pack animals. Firm, effective leadership is almost always welcome in a group, but there is absolutely no reason to have to be an asshole get people to follow you. I have worked hard for great managers and project leads that I’ve respected and thought were skilled in both protecting the team and making sure that we met our milestones and goals.