I've been more willing to wait and see all season-long with Larry Brown, as it certainly takes more than one season for a coach to really get settled. Obviously, a coach does need time to get settled, and LB's track record speaks for itself, so it's a no brainer.

Then, I got to thinking further. Would I feel the same way if I worked for the guy? I started to think about how my work situation was. I have a complete micromanager for a project lead. He thinks he knows everything and that his way is the only right way. He's actually said before, "if you're not doing it my way, then you're doing it WRONG". When I find success along one path he pulls me from continuing along that path before I'm done, often for very bogus reasons. For example, he told me that he wasn't confident that some of my code worked -- even though I had done multiple unit tests and lab tests and proved that it had. Because of his "fear", he made me rip out of my sections of code and replace it with his own -- mind you, his code DIDN'T work, and then I wound up having to take the task of going through it and fixing it. He was requiring DAILY status meetings, which lasted 1-1.5 hours each. In addition, he required weekly status reports and daily lab notes. When it came all total, I estimated an average of 8 hours per week giving him status. Then he would try to set his meetings after work hours, so as he could milk some of that time from us for free (we get paid minimal overtime). That I had to tell him that I would not be able to tend, because I have other committments (not to mention, I'm not going to a meeting and not getting paid for it).

At the times I was working hard, I was blocked from continuing along a path, especially if he didn't understand what I was doing. If he did, he would often say that there was a better way, and his better way was a 6 hour hackjob until 9 pm at night, where he manned the computer and I was watching... leaving us confused. He wanted to know EVERY bit of what was going on. When he went on vacation, Dan (the manager), told me to be a "proxy Dan". After almost a year through it, I finally figured out most of this out, and that most of this was his issue, and not mine (btw, other coworkers had issues with him, as well). He was delegating responsibility, but not delegating authority. Yet, the two go hand in hand.

Thinking further, I finally realized that his actions were not in the best interests of the company. I'm now just weathering the storm until the opportunity arises for a new job (I'm still finishing up my MBA, so can't leave just yet), and a boss who will actually take me seriously. I'm close to the level where I could be considered a C++-guru. I've been called this multiple times and the entire team, with the exception of our manager, relies on me for my expertise. I've seen Dan's code; it's a total hackjob, and there are so many places for improvement it's tough to even know where to start. Yet, his way is the "better way" and I don't have enough seniority to combat that.

Now, having said all that, let's go back to Larry Brown. A coach or manager becomes a problem when their intervention becomes disruptive. I think many could say that about LB. He especially doesn't play his young talent to their full potential, and they often wind up becoming successful elsewhere. I think I'm of the conclusion that workers do "play hard" when they know where they're going, they feel like they're respected for what they're capable of, they feel like the manager is trying to assist them, not control them.

I think Larry had a good hand in how this season went. He also holds a big part of how our young kids are going to play for the future. The survivors of his regime may come out stronger, but what about the rest?

I also would like to say that this is not giving a free pass to primadonnas like Marbury and Francis; these two are clearly just not team players and are convinced that there is an "I" in "team".

Thoughts?

Thoughts?

Your manager is a dick.

oohah

Posted by oohah:

Thoughts?

Your manager is a dick.

oohah

Haha. Yes, yes, he is.

I'm still borderline considering if I want to bring it to the attention of upper management when I leave.