Some people treat information like it’s their personal property. If you need anything, you have to go through them, and they decide how much you get and when. It creates unnecessary bottlenecks in day-to-day work and just slows everything down.
I don’t want to escalate this, but at some point I might have to, because it’s starting to make me look bad for no reason.
Information hoarding is the hallmark of incompetent people. At least you know what you're dealing with. Hi value people are helpful.
@r7 Only the approved people even get to participate in information sharing, planning. decision making, etc.
Why? So only those in control and participating can award recognition or more.
@r6 what is invite hoarding?
If you think information hoarding is bad; wait until you discover the invite hoarding that is surely all around you, but may not even notice or be able to describe really. That's by design.
Employees think it's a way of keeping job security. It makes them feel more valuable to their superiors, if they are the only ones that know how to do something. It stems from employees insecurities.
@j9 5
@e3 I smell an LL6
@f0 He's back!
I think I’ve seen this film before and I didn’t like the ending
Welcome to Ford. I went thru this when arriving at Ford. I quietly created a documentation repository and a front end website so that anyone under our LL3 by default could search and find the information. I added a link to request access for people external to LL3. It became wildly popular. Here is what unfolded:
I Left Ford and within a quarter all the doc repository was deleted and so was the automation.
It is all so silly all these gatekeepers and their minions wasted so much company time and resources protecting information that often was outdated or flat out wrong. They build processes and policies around and on top of the junk pile.
I heard that one section of the gatekeepers was outsourced to a service provider last year and that more sections will be outsourced this year. The outsourcing was initiated due to complaints from internal customers. I’d say it is well deserved, but all the youngsters lost their jobs along with the gatekeepers.
@dx I encounter many people who ask a straightforward yes or no answer, yet lack the knowledge or clarity to articulate their thoughts or questions. Sometimes, additional questions are necessary to grasp the context, and this is often for your protection. If I dislike someone, I’ll provide a yes or no response, only to later exploit their misinterpretation of the information. Generally low intelligence and arrogant people tend to ask yes or no questions about things they assume to be simple.
I've found that while there are those that hoard knowledge, for the most part they just dont know the answer. I can't believe how often I'll ask a yes or no question and they'll ask me more questions instead of giving me an answer
@ad This is Ford, our documentation su-ks. Most people (old and new) couldn't write an INCOSE standard requirement if their lives depended on it.
I spent 26yrs trying to centralize information in every role I had. I can tell you that each and every time, it was viciously fought by management LL5 and above. People at Ford fight to keep their chimneys of power. Even if you are successful in setting up a shared info system, they will tear it apart the second you leave with the lame excuse its bureaucracy. And sr. leadership agrees every time. Because gatekeeping info is their only skill. Without it, they are without power or use. All part of Ford's sick and toxic culture.
People that gate keep like this are the ones with out of date skills. The only things that save them come review time is the rear end kissing they do. Best thing is to leave but the 2nd best is to try and go around them, then democratize it and let everyone know what it is. Immediately lower the value of what they have been keeping from everyone, benefits the team all while lower their overall value. It's a win, win. The people that gate keep like this should be mopping floors and emptying your trash, not in charge of teams or anything that requires engineering prowess or anything important in that respect.
@OP. It is called "job security". Older employees already have a target on their backs, due to pension, high salaries and age. Why would they make it easier for younger employees to replace them? Besides, most of the information that people ask is already in the documentation. Why not read it in the first place, and then try to figure out the rest by yourself? SMH...