I really respect my manager and would want to work with the person. Few of us in the team believe the product we build may not be successful in the market, few think it'll do great, most don't care, leadership wants to stay course though. I'm doing well in my job and will likely get promoted if I stay course. If I build an MVP for a new product and show the leadership, do I look like a rebel? What repercussions have you faced, if you've tried this in the past? Do they politely manage you out over time? Or do I take the approach of "I get paid to do X, I do that well." Because the status quo is pretty good - good pay, good credential, good growth etc... Is this what people call 'fail up'? NOT Microsoft.
Great question. From my past experience, I used to work for a smaller company whose CEO dictated the product definition. I worked on a design I thought was rushed and risky. It flopped. Whole team lost it’s job. Many pointing fingers happened. The only one stayed was the one who reproduced an academic article and said “I had sent this to everyone warning you guys that this product would not work”. Shitty environment. Should you speak up? Maybe. Should you change jobs? Hell yes!
Thank you for responding. I can't change jobs due to multiple reasons, including visa. I don't want to speak up either, it's not a culture that appreciates that. Either I pretend to drink the koolaid or create a new space that I'm more excited about.
@op, you can always change teams internally.
Mmm there will be light in the end of the tunnel
As an IC I would say just stay the course. In big corporate with multiple levels of management you have very little to gain from resisting the chain of command. If you get it wrong you look bad, if you get it right you'll make your managers look bad. Lose lose. In a small company, I would do it.
I've done the rebel thing before, it went down well. But it's just building a single feature to my own design instead of building a whole new product. It's probably not a good idea to just give them a whole new product though, worst case they'll fire you for not believing in their product, best case they'll steal it from you and you get nothing or very little.
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I'd ask your manager what he really thinks about the product and leadership. If he gives you Kool-aid maybe he isn't actually as food a manager as you think. If he gives you a good explanation of why he thinks it will actually succeed, maybe you'll have more confidence in it. Or maybe he'll explain what his strategy is to get onto a better product :)
>kool-aid Absolutely correct. A manager who BS’s you is your adversary, not your ally. Test him, OP, and find out