I’ll Know it When I See it

When I worked as a consultant, I would occasionally speak with employees who were frustrated at the lack of guidance they would get from supervisors and managers. The remark uttered by their superiors, when employees would ask about benchmarks, goals, end results, and other factors was maddening: “I’ll know it when I see it.” This comment angered me on the employees’ behalf. It is unfair and manipulative in so many ways. It was impossible to tell whether the manager had no clue about how to do the work, was unwilling or unable to be specific, or whether the manager was…