Just build in poison pills for changes. "Oh but we've already X so it's too late", solve for X.
Favourite example I heard of this is a manager who would always pay vendors upfront for the whole year, even though there was no discount versus monthly or breaking it into milestones. The money's already paid so higher ups can't stomach canceling his project.
That sounds like an interesting variant of "managing up".
I think I may have employed the opposite technique earlier in my career. When my direct manager would state "Department X has decreed that Y must occur no later than Z so we have to do A,B,&C" I'd just ask what the projected implementation cost was for us. If it was anywhere near the annual profit my business unit pulled in, I knew I could rely on it never happening.
There are actual communication tips below instead of "quit immediately as someone who can not form and standby short term plans can definatly not commit to longterm ones?"
Just build in poison pills for changes. "Oh but we've already X so it's too late", solve for X.
Favourite example I heard of this is a manager who would always pay vendors upfront for the whole year, even though there was no discount versus monthly or breaking it into milestones. The money's already paid so higher ups can't stomach canceling his project.
That sounds like an interesting variant of "managing up".
I think I may have employed the opposite technique earlier in my career. When my direct manager would state "Department X has decreed that Y must occur no later than Z so we have to do A,B,&C" I'd just ask what the projected implementation cost was for us. If it was anywhere near the annual profit my business unit pulled in, I knew I could rely on it never happening.
There are actual communication tips below instead of "quit immediately as someone who can not form and standby short term plans can definatly not commit to longterm ones?"
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