How To Be a Real Manager on Vacation

Insight #20:

Are you going on vacation soon? If not, maybe it’s because you are not a manager. Or maybe it’s because it is not summer time where you work. Or maybe you are not a real manager. After all, summer is the time when real managers go on vacation while juniors hold the fort.

It is also when a lot of MBWA takes place. No, no, not Management By Walking Around. That’s so 70s.

I’m talking about Management By Wondering About. You know what I mean. You’re relaxing in the sun somewhere when you begin to wonder about the office. Are they coping without you? Are they messing up? Are they missing you?

And then you wonder about your emails.

That’s when you break your promise to your family. You read your emails on that thingy that allows you to MBWA (Manage By Wandering Away) from the office. Before you know it, you’re sending emails that start with “I’m just wondering about…”

But, of course, you’re not fooling them. They know you are more than just wondering. You’re trying to manage them from a distance. You’re Managing By Wondering About.

After all, you’re a real manager on vacation.

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.

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Quote of the Moment:
“Going on vacation was a waste of time, because every time I wandered away from the office, I wondered about the office.” The Chief Nonsense Officer.

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