19 July

At a 2-day training on leadership and management. Not my choice, tried to get out of it. The usual and dominant ideas, that management is about managing people in all sorts of ways, drawn from pop psychology and other areas. I think that’s a total waste of time. Managers are there to manage the work. What somebody thinks or does personally about the work is irrelevant. You’re not there to be the cruise director that keeps everybody socially happy. If people can’t differentiate between the work they’re paid to do and how they get along with other people, teach them that. If they refuse to get it, fire them. I hate workplaces that try to manage personal things, it’s intrusive and never achieves anything either. You’re at work to work. Even with people you don’t like.