I posted here yesterday about what makes a good manager. I asked whether you are a good manager, and how you would know if you aren’t.

One thing I’ve thought of since is one way to tell you aren’t a good manager. Sometimes the negatives are easier. And although I can’t imagine all the different ways you could be a bad manager, I’m at least quite sure that one way is to pretend to delegate without actually delegating. What is that? Here’s how, step by step:

1. Tell somebody they’re in charge of something.
2. Wait.
3. When it’s done, tell them what you would have done instead.

I can pretty much guarantee the result of this kind of management: your victims will stop making decisions on their own. Over time, you’ll end up frustrated that nobody thinks for themselves anymore. Everybody has to ask you everything. You’ll ask: “what’s wrong with them all?” And the answer will be: you.

And yes, I know what you’re thinking: there’s something wrong with my number 3, because you have to tell people what went wrong. You have to analyze results, right? Isn’t that management? Or do you just shut up? The answer is you analyze results without suggesting you would have made different choices if you’d done it yourself. Learn this line: “good decisions sometimes have bad results.”