Yeah, it’s obvious as a last resort for judging employees. If you know nothing about the work itself, all you can confidently assess is responsiveness and agreeableness. But beware of the incentives this can create.
When managers reward looking busy and sacrificial rituals, you also end up with short-termism. A team can tread water for years, being constantly “rescued” by “heroes” when a fire starts. This may not be the best people to promote. Wanting to be helpful and being helpful are not the same things.
In software and product development, the best performing teams, in my experience, are small. They have a well defined area of responsibility and a strong culture of ownership. It takes time and commitment to build that up, but when it’s in a good state, it runs on its own like a well maintained clockwork. Not only is this much more relaxing and fun to work with, it also performs so much better in the long run, and requires very little hands-on management.
When managers reward looking busy and sacrificial rituals, you also end up with short-termism. A team can tread water for years, being constantly “rescued” by “heroes” when a fire starts. This may not be the best people to promote. Wanting to be helpful and being helpful are not the same things.
In software and product development, the best performing teams, in my experience, are small. They have a well defined area of responsibility and a strong culture of ownership. It takes time and commitment to build that up, but when it’s in a good state, it runs on its own like a well maintained clockwork. Not only is this much more relaxing and fun to work with, it also performs so much better in the long run, and requires very little hands-on management.