Psychological Safety & Cyber Security

In my long career as a technologist I have often not felt comfortable telling my boss that I had to take time and effort to do something, pretty much whether my boss liked it or not. I felt that there was only one right answer, so I was reluctant to ask the question in case I got the wrong answer. As the old saying goes, "it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."

But in my heart of hearts, I know that ignoring or manipulating other people, especially people above me in the hierarchy, isn't really a long-term solution.

So I put this question to our Behavioral Science expert, Ted Hayes, and he explained why this dynamic occurs and what I should do instead.

Ted explained that not trusting my boss to make the right decision likely stems from not feeling that my boss is going to give me a fair hearing and not going to respect my expertise. Bad boss behavior likely comes from not being comfortable with ceding control (making the decision) to an underling.

On the other hand, sadly, Ted explained that this does not justify avoiding your boss or trying to baffle them with techno-babble.

My boss owes me a fair hearing and considering of my proposed solution, giving due consideration to my experience and expertise. By the same token, I owe my boss an accurate, comprehensible description of the problem and a reasonable proposed solution.

We recorded this conversation so that you can benefit from it as well by watching this video on our YouTube channel.