Why Bored IT Managers Make Bad Decisions

Bored IT managers make bad decisions
Bored IT managers make bad decisions
Image Credit: Steve Koukoulas

Being an IT manager can be an exciting job. There are a lot of different challenges that we need to tackle: staffing, managing, problem solving, interacting with other departments, boosting our IT manager skills, etc. However, in everyone’s IT manager career there comes a point-in-time that it starts to feel like we’ve got just about everything under control. When this happen there is the danger that we might start to become bored. This can lead to bad decision making.

Why Do We Make Bad Decisions?

I guess that we have to ask ourselves the big question: do we ever make bad decisions? The answer, of course, is that no matter how much IT manager training we’ve received, yes we can still make bad decisions. Where things start to get interesting is when we realize that we don’t always make bad decisions – just some of the time.

So what is a bad decision? Bad decisions can take on many different forms. One of the most common forms is the decision that we make when we decide something too quickly. Another form is when we decide something without taking the time to collect all of the information that we need. Finally, yet another form is when we make a decision without taking the time to consider our history of decision making – what has or has not worked in the past?

We can start to make bad decisions if we become bored. When we are bored we stop taking the time to do all of the steps that are required to make a good decision. We simply don’t care anymore. Our attention drifts to other things and when it comes to decisions regarding our IT team, we just don’t give them the attention and the time that they deserve and so we start to make bad decisions.

How Can IT Managers Avoid Being Bored?

In order to not make bad decisions when we are bored, one the best things that we can do is to ensure that we don’t become bored with our IT manager job. As easy as this may be to say, it turns out that in the real world it can be quite difficult to do. It seems as though boredom is always there just waiting to sneak into our day.

One of the ways that boredom can enter our lives is if we feel that we are not being challenged. We may have solved a number of the challenges associated with being an IT manager and we may now feel that we have everything under control. What we need to understand that is that we need to always be constantly improving. We need to take the time to sit down and identify the areas that we still need to work on – our job is never done!

Our relationships with the members of our team is another area that can always use some help. No matter how highly our team may think of us, there is always room for IT team building and improvement. Provide your team with an opportunity to complete an anonymous survey about what they really think about you. I can just about guarantee you that it will be a real eye-opener. Areas where you thought that things were fine may turn out to be the very areas that need some help.

What Does All Of This Mean For You?

It can be all too easy to think that the job of an IT manager is a fast paced position that will hold your attention every day. The reality is that, like any other job, we can grow complacent in our job. When this happens it is very natural that we’ll become bored. If this happens to us, then there is a very real chance that we may start to make bad decisions.

We make bad decisions for a number of different reasons. It all comes down to the simple fact that because we’re bored, we no longer take the time to do the leg work that it takes to gather the information that we need to make good decisions. In order to prevent ourselves from becoming bored, we need to make sure that we continue to be challenged and we take the time to improve our relationships with our team members.

The most important thing about boredom is that as an IT manager you need to always be on the outlook for it. You want to be able to spot it and when you see it you need to take steps in order to deal with it. Banish boredom from your IT manager role and you’ll be amazed at what good decisions you find yourself making!

– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World IT Management Skills™

Question For You: How do you think that you can detect when you have become bored with your IT manager job?

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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

As an IT manager, one of your required IT manager skills is to build the best team possible. Often times you’ll discover the perfect person to add to your team. However, that person already has a job. Perhaps they already have a really good job. If you are going to want to have any hope of convincing them to leave where they are at and come join your team, then you’re going to have to master the art of poaching.