Dog people vs Cat people as managers...

[eris esoteric]

OK, this might possibly belong in the pet section, but bear with me.

I've been having an ongoing discussion with my boss about how to manage people at the front desk. I am very much of an "incentive" type of person, and, by the very nature of what I do, I am able to "sneak up" on people and either point out errors they didn't figure were catchable, or point out areas where people do very well. Because so much of what CAN come out of me is critical in nature, I work very hard at balancing that out, and making sure I compliment people on what they do well. This all goes back to my intrinsically lazy nature, since the less they screw up, the less work I have to deal with. (And I've learned from observation and long hard experience that if the ONLY thing coming out of your mouth is a criticism of some sort, people will eventually stop listening to you at all, and chalk it up to your negative nature).

The manager, on the other hand, is very much of the "Well, if I say it, they should do it school." He is morally offended at the concept of granting special rewards to people for just doing their jobs, even though he is currently managing in a situation where there is no perceived punishment for NOT simply doing the work assigned. Every conversation we have along these lines ends with him telling me that people should just do their jobs. (Well, almost. See, these conversations actually end when I tell him he really needs to consider removing the word "should" from his vocabulary.)

And then a really weird thought occured to me. I asked him today if he owned a cat or a dog.

He owns dogs.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love dogs. They make wonderful pets. I don't own a dog because I live in a small apartment, and if I'm gonna have a dog it's gonna be a retired racing greyhound, and well, there's only room here for one futon.

But I love cats too. And having cats is nothing if not an excercise in working around another creature's reticence to do something that the creature needs to do.

So this has got me wondering... do dog people just naturally go into management? Do cat people feel more inclined to be "support staff?" Is this maybe the secret reason behind the number of heart attacks and ulcers among management types, and the number of offices that are "run by the secretary?"

Any thoughts?

[taurusmoon]

Cat person Director of a cat person department. All except for the Dog person VP whose messes I constantly have to clean up.

[eris esoteric]

Have you thought of using a water squirter on him?

Of course, now I'm wondering what sorts of jobs people who don't like animals get. And the rodent people. Where do they work?

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

eris esoteric said

And the rodent people. Where do they work?

Used-album stores.

[eris esoteric]

I thought that was the reptile people. Or are they roadies?

[Prepoia[$]]

eris esoteric said

And the rodent people. Where do they work?

She is the principal at my school.

Sandy

Who thinks this can be applied to school as well. Why do we reward kids for doing what they should? I have a reward system for those that do better than expected and one that inspires others to just do the work at all. Where does it begin and where does it stop? Can't each of us do what we are supposed to and be graded on the merit of what we've done? For some of us that would be a paycheck and for others grades earned.

[eris esoteric]

Do you *really* want to get into that conversation with me this early in the morning?

[theworm[$]]

My co-workers and boss don't have pets. That might explain a lot.

[lynnzop[$]]

What about people who own both?

[eris esoteric]

They chase themselves into corners?

[murasaki]

I'm a cat owner, but I like dogs, just not sensible to have one (and we intend to get a retired greyhound when we finally settle in one place as well). I have always worked in supervisory or management positions but I think I have more a dog style of management, as described above, than a cat style. But I can also wield a whole lot of punishment if people don't do their jobs.

[Helen_B[$]]

This is a really interesting topic. How about if we generalize it to animal training generally? To get an animal to do something, the trainer reinforces (sometimes with actual food) any behavior that even comes close to what he wants, and eventually he has dolphins jumping through hoops, or horses waltzing to music. Positive reinforcement actually works excellently with people as well, hence the story of the psychology professor whose students trained him to ultimately lecture from a sitting position on the radiator, by smiling and nodding whenever he stepped in that direction. Too bad people management can't involve a pleasant voice and a bucket of smelly fish bits.