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Comment by farcitizen | Hacker News Reader

When everyone in the room wants to go in a certain direction. And you tell the team "9/10 times i did it that way it blew up in my face.", and you don't fight them and let it play out as a lesson. And there is still a 10% chance it could work!

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This is not a positive behavior, also you should ask yourself why everyone wants to go against your position so often that you have a strategy like this in the first place.

Why? Lack of experience. See the other comments, these aren't major things.

Who are the people in the room (including you) and what are they responsible and/or accountable for? There's a time and place to say "that's a bad idea", but typically it's 1:1 or very small groups not in a broad team setting. You also can't always be the naysayer, it is political capital based on a proven track record of saying what we should do instead—not necessarily in the same venue, but if you're just a perpetual pessimist it's of no more value than the irrational exuberance of the naive optimist.

why would you lose your army to something as stupid as 'i told you so?' Don't let them do it.

Because it's not "your army" and there's no point in fighting meaningless wars. Just make a good effort to convey your point and if they still don't listen - let them learn their lesson.

I might argue metaphorically your direct reports can be considered your army. If not an army, then your microcosm of workforce. If you use up the workforce (in whichever way), then you're implicitly "done" as well.

I think saying "no" is easier in a lot of business-related problems, and then when they're the manager, thy can decide. I also accept that as a manager, if I steer the ship incorrectly, I get to fall on that sword

Likely these are not “lose your army level” lessons. I’ve let idiots touch a hot pan if they’ve insisted to do it. I would not let someone pour gasoline on themselves and strike a match

Exactly. That was very intuitive that you picked that up.

Some people have to learn the hard way. I haven't personally encountered this in the professional world, but in my personal life there are several close family members who I've stopped giving cautionary instructions except in the most serious cases. No point in being Cassandra unless the Greeks really are invading.

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