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Comment by laurent92 | Hacker News Reader

I used to offer via ferratas or paragliding on worktime, but then the employees would leave at 5 (none of them have children) and no-one stayed for beers.

If you do that, then at least be good at go-kart, you’re paid for it.

At least it clarified the situation: They don’t expect work to be fun. I stopped organizing events. If you want work to be boring, then this is how to make work boring.

It makes me a bit sad. But at least I’m sure I don’t care if I lose them.

I hope to build a better team after moving (which is in the plans), but I’m clearly lacking the talent to build a dynamic team. One of them told me his preferred series was The Office. Now I know my role. Maybe I should incarnate the Mickael Scott role, have a separate office, and be so much a caricature of the boss that they’d have to laugh.

But Mickael Scott was the only one at the airport when the girl left.

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If I may... your events might not be as fun as you think they are. Just because I don't have kids doesn't mean I don't have other obligations. I'd like to workout after work. And the dog needs to be walked, dinner needs to get made, clothes folded, etc. I'm also an early person so I've been logged in since 6:30am. Maybe I just want to zone out and watch the grass grow for a while. It doesn't matter - the point is, you don't know what people have going on outside of work, and it shouldn't bother you that those might be a higher priority for the people on your team. If these forced events are so important to you, maybe try delegating them? "I've set aside an hour for us all and have asked Amy to put together an idea."

Well they are not taking initiative at work, so I thought doing an entirely different task may create another dynamic. But you are correct that I don’t expect myself to be more fun than the next guy, especially a boss. The question remains for me, how can I give them ownership of what is happening, because we are not going to grow if they don’t own things.

But maybe that is why I went entrepreneur. I just see the missed potential for everyone, and if I wanted to grow bigger, maybe they are the wrong “first employees”.

You sound like you're trying, which is good. As the other poster said, maybe don't expect so much.

For example, I'm a total wimp. I forced myself to do go-karting because the big macho guys wanted to do it. I hated it, it was loud smelly and scary. I was sore for days.

Maybe allow different people to make suggestions and go with ones that are out of your comfort zone instead of expected your colleagues to do things that might not appeal.

> Allow people to make suggestions and go with the ones that...

You talk like they would do suggestions... They are totally passive, and they position themselves as passive, expecting me to come up with the ideas and directions for the software and even for where to position the desks or... everything. They’re just doing as I say.

It is possible to blame it on me for not “leaving them enough room”, but when I leave a blank, they don’t fill it. I expected events to let them be more active, and I’ve tried to give them ownership of projects, but they don’t extend beyond the initial tasks.

Omg I’m just noticing of bad of a team they are. Technically they are good, but they’ll never extend the company beyond simple execution. I made myself blind by trying to empower them, but they don’t want any power. I’ve paid them too much and now they’re not trying.

Sad.

From this and a couple other of yours posts in this thread, it sounds like you are completely oblivious to possibility that YOU might be the problem. You are the leader of these people at work.

I really don't mean to be rude here. Strangely I've had a boss that had a similar beef with our 5 person team years ago.

Boss always harped that nobody takes ownership but lacked enough self-awareness to realize Boss exhibited extreme overly controlling behavior. From which snacks we had (or didn't) to which color markers we should use in a whiteboard brainstorming session. And don't forget to wipe the sink down in the bathroom after your wash your hands. Things that really didn't matter in terms of whether the business was successful or not. Nobody took ownership of the products or features without being force assigned. They were all too afraid. And too afraid to let Boss know that.

Have you tried telling any of them _directly_ that you want one of them to take ownership of a _specific_ project?

I work to pay for my life outside work. I like what I do and I find it rewarding, but it's a means not an end. I do not have kids, but I have a wife. We like to spend the evening together. My life is not boring. My work is not boring. Michael Scott as a child said "I wanna be married and have 100 kids so I can have 100 friends. And no one can say no to being my friend. " You seem to want to have employees that can't say no to being your friend.

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