Hacker News Reader

Try this:

Tell a story about a recent win, something personal or in work, unprompted. If your direct report (above or below) on the other side of the 1:1 does not get excited and celebrate, however small, they have no interest in your success.

Most of my 1:1s are now "how I win and what I learned" and invite them to do the smae.

View on HN

I know plenty of people who are exceptional at their trade that could not care less about most of their coworkers, especially their personal lives. Maybe it's not the culture fit you're looking for or something, but I glean that you believe that their interest in your success is indicative of their work output and ethic. That's just not true. In fact, sometimes it's the people who pretend to be the most excited are also providing the least value. Work is about putting on a show to some people; and other people are tired of that show and just want to do a good job to avoid any potential problems and then go about their own personal lives.

My attitude about work is a bit more on the obsessive side, though I recognize one does not need to be obsessive about their work to do an excellent job.

And then what?

These shit-tests reveal things. When one side has power over the other, some things aren't meant to the tested unless you want to consistently discover how little people care about the folk that have very little impact over their lives.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com