Gorilla Management
Gorilla Management
(OP)
A former colleague of mind sent me this news article via the web the other day. I must say it was scarry how accurately this described the company we used to work at. Luckily I had the brains to "jump ship" when I did. I figured that you all may enjoy the read....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172661,00.html
If you have never worked in an environment like this.... count your blessings....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172661,00.html
If you have never worked in an environment like this.... count your blessings....





RE: Gorilla Management
RE: Gorilla Management
He hasn't gone completely over the edge like the lunatic in the link but all the traits are there. I'm hoping that the next engineering mistake he makes doesn't hurt any of our people, but I am worried that one day that will be the outcome. We come into conflict most occasions when we speak; I have trouble following the advice in the link for dealing with this species of manager.
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Sometimes I only open my mouth to swap feet...
RE: Gorilla Management
The company is still in business, but I don't know how.
--Scott
http://wertel.eng.pro
RE: Gorilla Management
Growing up in a rage-infested family, I've developed pretty strong anti-bully vibes. Bullies usually steer clear without my having to tell them. I insist on being treated like an adult and on treating others as adult professionals, with no room for personal attacks.
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RE: Gorilla Management
A manager is no longer a manager if no one will work for them.
RE: Gorilla Management
On the other hand though their boss wasn't particularly intelligent so maybe not, she was definitely a bully though.
I suspect most peoples initial response would be along the lines of “I’d never put up with that, I’d quit” but in reality leaving, or at least doing so for an equivalent or better position elsewhere, is sometimes easier said than done.
For instance the people I mention above where in an area with a limited supply of well paying/good benefit jobs. So a fairly well paying government job with excellent benefits, relative job security etc was very hard to walk away from.
RE: Gorilla Management
RE: Gorilla Management
RE: Gorilla Management
... to gorillas, hey these noble apes don't deserve to be compared to some bosses.
RE: Gorilla Management
I use to work for this start up company and the owners (husband & wife) were psychopath and victim. We were ramping up business due to some big $$$$ contracts. We hired some really talented engineers. My boss had the gift of the gab to luring in good engineers. After they were hired I got the chance to have a sit down with them and told them what to expect. I also told them to sit back and watch it unfold. The story happened just as I told it. I was the last one to leave that place.
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RE: Gorilla Management
Having survived one such boss, it's clear that this guy was psychotic, simply because he'd get an Oscar if it was just an act.
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RE: Gorilla Management
When his desk was cleaned out, one of the many interesting things they found was a large collection of silverware from a local eatery - it had the restaurant's name imprinted on it.
That was 6 months of my professional life that I'd like erased from memory...
If you "heard" it on the internet, it's guilty until proven innocent. - DCS
RE: Gorilla Management
RE: Gorilla Management
Don't wait to succeed. Vote with your feet.
RE: Gorilla Management
I think we worked at the same company... You just described to a "T" what had happened at my previous company.
RE: Gorilla Management
But I am still convicned that htese are the exception and not the rule.
Gladly I never came across such situation and I hope I'll never will.
Either way I go with the flow, I work because I like and to earn money for my family, not to earn ulcers and phycological problems.
RE: Gorilla Management
Whilst I am sure there are people out there like this I find it hard to believe badly run companies continue to make profit in the current business environment.
RE: Gorilla Management
It is true - the upper level manager sets the atmosphere. A gorilla manager may deliver short-term results but it ultimately results in long-term destruction. I can look back on my career and see the destruction created by some. Sometimes it happened while I was still at that company. Sometimes I find out about it long after I've left. The score so far is 6 out of the 8 companies I've worked for in favor of the gorillas.
Employees should require reference from their employers, and not the other way around - Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie
RE: Gorilla Management
I witnessed first hand at this company a Jr engineer receive a punch to the chest by the husband for not knowing something. Then the drama really started with the lawsuite. It was ugly to say the least.
I think this type of environment mostly happens in smaller companies. I can't imagine this happening at Boeing, GE, or some other multibillion dollar company.
My last company was a family run company that was very profitable in fact I left a really nice yearly bonus for a more "stable" mid-size company. I guess being denied time of for a death in the family and a birth of a child just put me over the edge....especially when the owners daughter got time of for her medical condition. I guess I had the wrong last name.
Bottom line is I hope nobody has to go through this type of work environment but abusive work relationships are not a figment of the imagination.
RE: Gorilla Management
Maui
RE: Gorilla Management
I have also seen where this type of manager on top causes a situation where everyone underneath, resists. By resists, I mean in the way that is achieved through the use of co-coercive management. The people do, just good enough, to keep the boss quiet, but will never truly excel.
Ultimately, in order to be successful a manager must be able to rely on their own, "personal power", which can only be achieved through earning the respect of the people that they manage.
RE: Gorilla Management
1. He ordered me to fire one of my employees because the guy got leukemia after 40-yrs of service. He thought it would cost the company to much on insurance.
2. He ordered me to fire another employee because “he is one of those lazy ‘N-word-here’ and you know how they are”.
3. He drove another manager so hard that the guy had a heart attack at his desk and died. He wouldn’t give time off for anyone to go to the funeral “because the guy was only here for a short time so we didn’t really know him”.
4. My father had an emergency triple bypass surgery and he didn’t want to let me go “because that’s a common surgery these days and it not as big a deal as it used to be”. I went anyway.
5. I won’t even tell you the toxic waste story, or the many multitudes of verbal bashings, threats, public tongue lashings, lies, covering for him while he cheated on his wife, covering for his drug abuse, and listening to his stupid sob stories and why I should feel sorry for his rough life.
In short here is how it played out. I refused to fire either one of the guys noted above. I stated: “I not only will not fire either one of them, if you fire them I will quit.” Satan and I got into a heated argument which resulted in him pushing me physically in my office, I snapped and beat the crap out of him and left. When I walked out of my office, everyone in cubieville was stunned. I called my wife and told her that our plan to move was going to happen quicker than I thought and I went home.
I warned the two other employees that the nut-job was out to get them. The guy with leukemia took my job and began recording all his conversations with the boss. Two months later he was ordered to “fire that ‘N-word’”. Bingo, the second guy quit, took the company to court, the guy with leukemia played his tape, and the second guy got a $2-million dollar settlement. The leukemia guy retired, “nicely”, and is still doing fine after 15-yrs. Satan has been fired three times from three other places but he is still a VP at another well known company. May God pitty them.
Thanks for letting me vent,….. It’s been a long time.
RE: Gorilla Management
RE: Gorilla Management
No, I've never heard that said in real life, though I have worked for some who treated this as a guide to life. I guess I'm no different to anyone else in having met some pretty bloody minded people but only one could be described as a gorilla, or, if not a full grown gorilla, a pretty mean ape.
I guess the gorilla I knew never ever thought how other people saw him and could give a damn if he did.
But then, I have only known the non-virulent form; given to occasional outbursts, not a daily outpouring.
Actually, probably all the more shocking for that since I guess with a regular Gorilla you build up some ability to endure.
With the one I knew, (he was probably usually pretty well medicated I guess) his outbursts were unusual and therefore seemed pretty bloody to those of us not used to such behaviour.
There is a plus side to mergers and acquisitions though, and when it happened to our company, he was one of it's first victims and we all breathed easy for the first time in a long while.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Gorilla Management
Hg
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RE: Gorilla Management
YOU ALL NEED TO STOP YAPPING AND GET BACK TO WORK
I thought their voices needed to be heard too
RE: Gorilla Management
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Gorilla Management
The abusive techniques used by a bad boss in control of an employee are just so similar to an abusive partner relationship. I have seen a manager scream and shake his fist at an employee - something that would get a spouse or partner arrested immediately had it been in other than a business setting.
RE: Gorilla Management
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Gorilla Management
http://NotOnlyBridges.blogspot.com
RE: Gorilla Management
RE: Gorilla Management
RE: Gorilla Management
We are talking about Gorilla managers, the types that beat their chests etc.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Gorilla Management
Rambo does not work here anymore:
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Probably the old fashioned guerrilla management created psicotic gorilla bosses.
http://NotOnlyBridges.blogspot.com