7

Here's the question (10k only - deleted) (partial quote):

How do I handle a manager who lacks leadership skills?

I am a software engineer with considerable qualifications. My manager is a high school drop out, who is, despite that, quite qualified technically and very intelligent. However, on more than a few issues he is a terrible leader, due to his lack of training as a leader and lack of knowledge as a programmer. How do I handle this?

Here's the answer (full quote):

Change to another employer. He is not going to change his management style nor increase his level of competence nor go back to school nor improve his attitude just for you.

Do I miss something above? Is there something we could do about this question and answer?

8
  • 2
    I think the biggest issue is the high number of votes on that answer. I'm open to any ideas on how to address the "mass upvoting of non-answers" problem.
    – Nicole Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 3:49
  • @NickC FWIW, ChrisF seems to have a working solution for this issue (also discussed at Prog meta: Top answers duplicated on community wiki question)
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 4:53
  • @gnat - Sorry, it's not quite clear and I'd rather not try and guess, so, do you mind clarifying? Thanks! :)
    – jmort253 Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 6:05
  • 1
    @jmort253 my understanding is, Chris simply deleted the "answers" based on meta discussion / complaint. Though, it is probably safer to simply check that with him in TL chat
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 6:06
  • Ah, I think I did finally see that in a comment... ideally, I'd like to see posts get improved, and I'd hope we can approach people with the attitude that, with a little nudge, they'll positively contribute, but unless someone comes up with a compelling reason to change what we decided in public beta, this post will eventually get removed if it's not improved.
    – jmort253 Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 6:09
  • 1
    @jmort253 well given that you added a mod notice, your approach makes good sense to me. My reference was mostly to point out that generally, there are cases when it's okay for moderator to delete highly upvoted answers (two at screen shot have score +147 and +150, go figure:)
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 6:12
  • 1
    That's a good thing to highlight, especially for any new mods after next week. When it comes to moderation, I hold positively scored posts to a higher standard than the negative ones. I'm happy to leave stuff lying around that the community can take care of.
    – jmort253 Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 6:14
  • 1
    @jmort253 or NickC could we possibly have the comments tidied up on that answer now? There has been a lot of editing, improving, and discussing since this point
    – user5305
    Commented Mar 27, 2014 at 8:37

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

Is there something we could do about this question and answer?

Absolutely! Any user on our site with at least 50 reputation who understands and supports our mission to make the Internet a better place can add comments with the resources they need to improve their post. If you haven't installed the Pro-forma comments for SE and loaded it up with the community moderation comments template, please consider doing so now. :)

I added a similar comment and put a "citation needed" post notice on this post. While I'm certain the answerer posted with good intentions, it definitely needs more attention if it's to remain.

Despite the softer nature of our topic, this is still a Stack Exchange Q&A site. It's important that our site represent the best in quality so we continue to be viewed as the place to go when people with real problems want answers.

UPDATE:

The Workplace is a Stack Exchange Q&A site, and the platform doesn't work very well as an advice forum. We went ahead and deleted the closed question. Due to the number of answers, it didn't seem feasible to edit and fix the problems without creating more problems. It's possible the question could be re-asked in a form that meets the Good Subjective, Bad Subjective guidelines. To be successful, steer clear of phrases such as the following:

  • What should I do?
  • Any advice you have would be great!
  • How do I handle this? (Instead, be specific about what you want to handle)

In short, it's not that it was a bad question; it just isn't a good question for Stack Exchange. It may fit much better on a discussion forum or in a chat room. Hope this helps.

6
  • how many close votes / flags are currently on this question?
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 4:54
  • Just one, @gnat, but I'm not sure I see anything majorly wrong with it. Maybe it could use an edit to help emphasize more on the why part.
    – jmort253 Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 5:14
  • I am asking about the question, not an answer - is there only one flag/vote to close on it now? including expired ones, if there are any
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 10:31
  • Yes, there's just one close vote on the question itself.
    – jmort253 Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 13:46
  • 2
    The correct response there was, "There is a way you could gain access to that information..."
    – Shog9
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 17:33
  • 1
    @jmort253 the question in question has been deleted, would you mind editint the answer to account for that? (to avoid misunderstanding, I don't complain about deletion)
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 29, 2014 at 5:35
-4

Is there something we could do about this question and answer?

Change to another website. People are not going to change their voting style nor increase their level of competence nor go back to the drawing board nor provide greater relevance just for you.

/humor

4
  • 1
    edits done to the answer in question sorta contradict the statement that People are not going to change...
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 27, 2014 at 15:17
  • 1
    Hi aroth, haven't seen you on meta in awhile. :) A fresh perspective is always welcomed, but we're hoping for a little more thinking outside the box... If you come up with any constructive ideas, feel free to edit this.
    – jmort253 Mod
    Commented Mar 29, 2014 at 1:57
  • @jmort253 - Thanks, though I think I've been reminded why I generally avoid meta. Things get taken far too seriously here. I even went so far as to add an explicit /humor tag to my post to show that I was jokingly paraphrasing the answer being discussed (since the question asked is essentially "This answer hopelessly sucks, what do I do"; a near-paraphrase of the question being discussed), and people still didn't get it. Or else they got it, but decided that this is no joking matter so how dare I make light.
    – aroth
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 9:48
  • 1
    @aroth - Humor is okay, but we're here to solve problems. If you say something funny in the course of also providing a constructive solution, that's great. But this doesn't offer anything constructive. One thing I can tell you is witty repartee tends to go over much better in The Workplace Chat, where things are more real time and less likely to get taken out of context. :) But on meta, our goal is to solve a problem, and jokes can certainly accompany that goal, but it shouldn't override that goal. Hope this helps.
    – jmort253 Mod
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 15:37

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .