[qsort]

> I've watched direct reports operate as a "human command line", requiring precise syntax before they'll act. Don't be either of these type of people.

I've had managers give stupid orders, and seen them immediately backpedal when asked "would you write that down for me, please?"

So yeah, I'll definitely act in good faith but unfortunately I can't assume good faith on the other side, I occasionally need to be a human command line.

[jroseattle]

> I've had managers give stupid orders

I'd suggest that "good faith" means turning those stupid orders into sane orders. In a case like this, help your manager -- educate them.

If your relationship is tenuous, I get this can be hard. Show your good faith and explain to your manager in clear detail why something is stupid. Manage up, as they say.

[pphysch]

Sometimes a manager will just throw something out there. "Can we get a dashboard for this (thing that has come up 0-1 times)".

Feeding into those whims is rarely good for anyone, except the manager's ego.

[lazyasciiart]

A lot of the time they don’t need education, they need reminding to think. The request to write it down achieves that.

[maccard]

The only time I've ever had a report ask me to confirm something in writing it was clear they were operating in CYA mode, but weren't willing to talk to me about why.

It's the sort of thing that immediately escalates a situation, and in reality when the card is played it either breaks the trust, or the trust has already been broken.

[Jcampuzano2]

Depends on the level of effort required for the task in my opinion.

If it's a trivial thing like send an email or some small ask then I wouldn't necessarily expect it to be in writing.

For any non-trivial task I'd expect it to be in writing, even from my manager. Reason for me is that where I work I don't only report to my manager when it comes to how my time is used, but other workstreams and projects, etc.

If I'm busy working on a task for you that is undocumented, then all these other workstreams will wonder what the fuck I'm doing with my time, or may question whether its more important than other tasks. Obviously this is industry specific, since I don't actually work directly with my manager on any projects and probably never will.

From my perspective, my manager has failed or is lazy if they fail to put their non-trivial tasks in writing.

[smugma]

I often ask people to write up requests and often write up my own verbal requests to provide documentation of the ask and allow for clarification. Over time I’ve learned that my verbal requests often leave out important details and then people make assumptions that aren’t always right.

[bee_rider]

I read it as a mysterious CYA move as well, mostly based on the phrasing.

A possibility is that asking for a written version of the task got the manager to start thinking about the fact that they were asking for something that would be hard to articulate exactly, which revealed some hidden complexity in the request. But I guess that would be asked in a fashion more along the lines of “let’s work out the details asynchronously.”

[marcosdumay]

When somebody asks for an order in writing, it's patently clear that the trust has already been broken, and irreversibly so. Nobody asks for that from a position of trust.

[anonymouskimmer]

Unless it's multipart or otherwise complex, then the person asking just wants to make sure they didn't forget everything important. I've asked this on more than one occasion and I think it's clear that I'm asking so I don't forget anything (and have sometimes made this explicit).

[ReactiveJelly]

No it's not. I made it clear to my last team that I'm just super forgetful and if you don't write down your request, I'll have to stop and write it down myself, implicitly making me an over-paid secretary.

There was resentment yes, but I did trust them!

[hiatus]

Asking someone to file a ticket does not seem to point to a lack of trust, in my opinion.

[mock-possum]

That lack of trust is reasonable though - what’s in your head and what’s in my head may be completely different, why ‘trust’ that we’re on the same page when we can literally ensure it by writing it down and looking at it.

You wouldn’t verbally describe a structure to a builder, and then accuse them of not trusting you when they ask to see a blueprint.