[MBTI General] create a crisis, then fix it

[INTJMom]

What is that aspect in other types that makes a boss create a crisis and then makes the employees fix it?

My boss seems to not be very precise.
She sent out a bunch of emails telling people they hadn't renewed yet for the coming year and then we received a bunch of frantic responses from people saying, "Whadaya mean?! I sent my payment in weeks ago!" or something like that. I don't understand why she didn't do it more precisely than that. Or why she did it so early! So then I had to field emails apologizing for our mistake. I think it made us look really unprofessional. Besides, I already have ENOUGH work to do without her creating more... needlessly!

It seems to be a habit though... throw some mud up against the wall and see how much sticks. Apparently it's tied to a philosophy of how to do a job because my husband does things the same way. My boss is ISTJ and my husband is ISTP.

Do any of you have to deal with someone who uses that work method and
does it bother you as much as it bothers me?

 

[Udog]

Is this intentional?

Bosses that don't have enough to do are dangerous creatures. This is doubly so if they have a nervous temperament, because their minds wonder and they find or create a crisis where none really exists.

Sadly, these same people also tend to lack the ability to actually deal with the crisis, making it worse and forcing the employees to fix it.

 

[Grayscale]

i call it gold panning it's actually pretty efficient and effective for the person that uses it, but there is collateral damage.

 

[garbage]

One of my (ENTJ) bosses looks way, way too far into the future, toward some crisis that probably won't happen, and inadvertently gets everyone else all worried and anxious about it. It's really a sight to behold, and I find myself being the one who has to reassure the group (or the members, individually) so that we can develop our options in case it does start to happen.

Now, stick an ExTJ in a position where he has nothing to do, and he'll feel the need to just organize and reorganize things.. which just gives everyone beneath him more unneeded work. This happens at.. ahem.. certain large government agencies all the time

i call it gold panning it's actually pretty efficient and effective for the person that uses it, but there is collateral damage.

I can imagine so, since ISTPs tend to work well under crisis. Unfortunately, they might assume that everyone else can, too, and that's where the collateral damage comes from

 

[INTJMom]

i call it gold panning it's actually pretty efficient and effective for the person that uses it, but there is collateral damage.

Gold panning... interesting name... seems to connote a certain degree of value.

Do you have a specific example of gold panning?

 

[Grayscale]

Gold panning... interesting name... seems to connote a certain degree of value.

Do you have a specific example of gold panning?

basically it's a shotgun approach where results work themselves out with little or no effort on whoever invoked it.

if your boss' goal was to ensure you retained all your subscriptions, technically the easiest way is to do what she did... anyone who had already renewed, or who might note that it was a tad early would have their feathers ruffled, everyone else would be proactively pressured to renew so that it was either done then or at the very least, not late.

it's just an example of that approach, though... i would agree with you that the bad image it will bring will be more harm than it's worth.

for example, if i had a boss who told me that we had a warehouse full of various fire-retardant suit prototypes, and that i should test each one to see which was the best, i could instead just set the whole building on fire and choose whichever fared the best.

it is rather selfish and lazy, there is a lot of collateral damage that others have to deal with, but that is by definition, really.

 

[FDG]

I absolutely hate this type of management, in fact it's the single most discouraging thing for me to see in a company/workplace. The only time I have been fired it was because I openly refused to fix a problem that was just "being created".

 

[runvardh]

I make it my business to cause bosses hell when they start doing stuff like that. I also do it in such a way that they can be legally ass fucked if they fire me over it. Currently I have a boss who doesn't do that so no problems. ^_^

 

[INTJMom]

I absolutely hate this type of management, in fact it's the single most discouraging thing for me to see in a company/workplace. The only time I have been fired it was because I openly refused to fix a problem that was just "being created".

Thank you. I suspected it might be a type related issue.
Since I have some ENTJ tendencies, I can imagine that might be why we both feel the same way about it.

It does really seem bothersome to me. (I've only been there 5 weeks.)
And because I want to please my boss and do the right thing, it adds more pressure on my shoulders than is necessary. I can imagine over time I would begin to resent having to "keep busy" with senseless things that are a complete waste of time, and if it had been planned better in the first place, I could have worked at a much less frantic pace and gotten the same thing accomplished.