I realize it's hard to take a random internet stranger's opinion seriously, but my manager was really that bad.
I waited about a month before suggesting anything. And it wasn't even serious stuff (e.g. "I think we could use a C API here, that way we don't need a Objective-C++ bridge between the C++ code and Swift", his answer: "No." with no explanation - I'm pretty sure he didn't understand what I was suggesting, and had no interest in trying to understand)
Eventually I learned to make him think he came up with the idea, that was the only way things could get done. Unfortunately I wasted my social capital on the suggestions that had the most impact (early on, before I realized politics were a thing), but thankfully I managed to make some improvements.
> From this and the rest of your post, I would suggest that you try to develop a more diplomatic, political, and humble approach in your next job. This is an important skill.
I waited about a month before suggesting anything. And it wasn't even serious stuff (e.g. "I think we could use a C API here, that way we don't need a Objective-C++ bridge between the C++ code and Swift", his answer: "No." with no explanation - I'm pretty sure he didn't understand what I was suggesting, and had no interest in trying to understand)
Eventually I learned to make him think he came up with the idea, that was the only way things could get done. Unfortunately I wasted my social capital on the suggestions that had the most impact (early on, before I realized politics were a thing), but thankfully I managed to make some improvements.
> From this and the rest of your post, I would suggest that you try to develop a more diplomatic, political, and humble approach in your next job. This is an important skill.
Agreed. My biggest lesson for sure.