TL; DR:

• Reddit's "just quit your manager" advice misses the nuance
• The real question is how much you actually care
• Level-set expectations in your 1:1s or stay frustrated
• Join me for the live stream (or watch the recording) on Monday, May 18 at 7:00 PM Pacific!

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When Reddit Says Quit Your Manager

I came across a post over on the ExperiencedDevs subreddit where someone was venting about their manager. The usual stuff: incompetent, doesn't really understand basic software things (the poster mentioned the manager doesn't seem to know what Git is or what it's used for), pulls people into endless pointless meetings where nothing gets decided, and ignores everything that comes up in 1:1s. The poster also mentioned this isn't a one-off -- there are apparently three managers like this on their team. They wrapped it up by saying they've started interviewing and asked what else they could do.

The overwhelming response in the comments was exactly what you'd expect: "You don't quit companies, you quit managers. Get out. Stop wasting your time." And honestly, I don't disagree with that as a general principle. But I also don't love how black-and-white it ends up being when that's the only advice anyone offers. So I want to walk through where I agree, where I push back, and the questions I think actually matter when you're in this situation.

You can check out my full thoughts on this in the video below: