How to treat the "Crusher Boss"(2)
This time, I would like to discuss why the Crusher Boss occurs. I think there are several reasons.
Let me start with the thing which you might think is off the topic. Having decided to translate my article into English in every article, I also had translated my last article and found out that it was most difficult to translate into English below wording.
"Because the appearance of the opinion of the Crusher Boss seems to be very logical and based on their personal work experience, it will be very difficult for their subordinate to object to his or her argument.”
( Reference: クラッシャー上司 - Wikipedia(Japanese))
I can assume that the native speaker of English will ask “Why the subordinate cannot object to the Crusher Boss's opinion? If the subordinate cannot object to it, don't you think that the subordinate is not right?"
Therefore, I would like to first discuss this situation. The situation will be like as follows;
(In the sales division in Japanese Company・・・)
Crusher Boss:" Hey you, have you provided the proposal document to client A?"
Subordinate:"Uh, I am sorry. I had no chance since I need to respond to client B's claim.
Crusher Boss: "Do you realize the existence of our sales division!? We don't have any meaning if we don't sale anything. Responding claim doesn’t help selling or our evaluation, you have to do as I have told you! First and foremost・・・"
This kind of conversation takes place in the office with the Crusher Boss.
If the subordinate has no time since he or she needs to respond to the claim of client B, it is the role of boss to arrange it. Why the Crusher Boss will blame to the subordinate? I think the reason for this will explain how the Crusher Boss will occur.
1. The high ability of the Crusher Boss
I think when the Crusher Boss needed to face to such situation (such as the customer's claim or the trouble) above as a player; he will handle it correctly and achieve the goal since the Crusher Boss has the high ability to work. As it has been pointed out a lot, it is not always the case where the subordinate has the same ability of the Crusher Boss. The Crusher Boss needed to know it before the Crusher Boss work as a boss but it happened not.
- The desire to be recognized
I think the Crusher Boss wants to be recognized his high ability. We can assume that by blaming their subordinate, the Crusher Boss can confirm “I have definite ability". Thinking the purpose of business, you don't have to blame someone for that purpose, since you just only explain such thing to their subordinates. But considering the blame or the long period of blame, I think that there is a high possibility that such desire of recognition exits.
- The Crusher Boss cannot accept the constructive objection
For example, after above conversation, what will happen to Crusher Boss when the subordinate pointed out that treating claims from customer properly will contribute to company's profit as a whole, eagerly studying the new management strategy? Although such suggestion is partially correct, the Crusher Boss will not accept such thought. Why the Crusher Boss cannot accept that? These have also several reasons.
(1)The Crusher Boss recognizes such discussion as a fight which will result the winner and loser with respect to the view of the Crusher Boss.
With respect to the side of the subordinate, he or she thinks that someone has to respond to such claim or trouble, it is reasonable to think such opinion is constructive but the Crusher Boss will think he is loser when he accept his subordinate's opinion and think of new solution.
There is a possibility that the Crusher Boss is not aware of this because in the surface, some smart boss seeks for the open discussion.
When discussion, it will be a fight so some subordinate give up for such discussion or some subordinate who hates to lose will chose to fight but it might turned out be exhaustion to and "crush" to such subordinate.
(2) Japanese Education System
In Japan, for entering the society, the measurement of the students is limited. The person who has graduated the superior collage in Japan is the person who had success to complete studying only the subjects. Without the measuring the possibility to contribution to the society or personality, he or she can graduate such superior collage (although recently there is AO examination (*1)).
Generally speaking, by studying subjects through this Japanese education system, the students will struggle to learn lots of thing other than just learning such subject. For example, difficult math, difficult Japanese language(*2) will cause the students to suffer or skip studying which will be scolded by their parents.....Through such experience, the students will grow with a wide view.
But this is not the kind of thing which is written down clearly. So there are exceptional cases where some students who have high ability will not struggle to learn such subjects. Such students will enter into society without breakdown and with inflation of their ability. Therefore, there is a risk that some students who entire into a society are not grown up.
In my opinion such person with high abilities acquired through Japanese education system can be promoted in a conservative company in which the business model has almost no diversity.
No Japanese will tell the Crusher Boss's success was caused from luck. The Crusher Boss misunderstands his or her achieivment was caused from only his or her ability.
Although such opinion might be constructive, to accept other opinions is very difficult for a person who thinks he or she is always right and believes his or her ability.
There are other reasons than above such as the work of Japanese is affected by the gropu in which such person belongs to or Japanese is a collectivism people. I would like to discuss other reasons further in the near future.
In summary for this time, I wrote the reasons of the occurrence of the Crusher Boss. They are lucky since, although they don't know or try to know other people's feelings especially who are not highly skilled, they are promoted for their limited range of skill. If you found out the reasons, you will know how to treat them. I would like to discuss this next time.
(*1) AO stands for Admission Office. The is the examination method for college in which the college will look into the characteristic of the student. It is different from the normal examination in Japan.
(*2) Japanese subject is difficult for lots of Japanese student since they need to acquire high skill to analyze the Japanese reading.
How to treat the"Crusher Boss"(1)
I also have happened to meet the “Crusher Boss" in the past. There were times when such people are my boss or my colleague. The "Crusher Boss" seems to be defined generally as follows;
・He or she will blame for a long time the miss of the person who work under him or her
・Because the appearance of the opinion of the Crusher Boss seems to be very logical and based on their personal work experience, it will be very difficult for their subordinate to object to his or her argument. If the subordinate objects to the Crusher Boss argument, the Crusher Boss will eagerly deny such opinion and pushes the Crusher Boss' opinion. Even though the difference of the action of the subordinates from his or her images of the work is very small, the crusher boss will try to rectify such action as quickly as he can.
・He or she will not listen to the opinion of the person who work under him or her, although he or she will force his or her opinion on their subordinates.
( Reference: クラッシャー上司 - Wikipedia(Japanese))
One of the characteristic of the Crusher Boss is that the work he or she do seems to be highly achieved and worth trusted through the eye from the colleague or boss of the Crusher Boss. On the other hand, if he or she needs to be in the relationship with the Crusher Boss as a subordinate, I think it will be tragedy since the colleague or the boss of the Crusher Boss are on the side of the Crusher Boss even though they had sympathy of the subordinates.
When you google it, in most cases, the website seems to provide solutions such as quit such office or job and run away from such situation. But there are some cases where you cannot quit your job and the evasion is not realistic. So I would like to think of four solutions to this situation when it is difficult to quit a job.
1.Analyze deeply why you hate the Crusher Boss
Hating someone is the backside of your desire. If you have no desire, you will not hate anyone.
Although each person has each reason why people hate the Crusher Boss, in my experience, it will be the threat of the sense of the value of the work. It is the backside of the feeling such as "I want to work freely" or " I want to decide all things." without such boss.
2.If you are able to analyze your desire, you need to rethink whether such desire is necessary for you
If the desire is that you wanted your sense of the value of the work to be recognized by such Crusher Boss, you need to rethink of that. The Crusher Boss lives in a different world from you. You might be able to think the Crusher Boss as Gorilla. You really want your values to be recognized by Gorilla?
As lots of books mentions, it is almost impossible to change the value of the Crusher Boss (Same as you cannot change Gorilla into human beings). It will be worth nothing to try to change the character of the Crusher Boss. If you think as such, there will be more choices for action you can take.
3. Observe the action of the Crusher Bosses in detail and if there are any slight actions which are benefit for you, tell the Crusher Bosses the complement or praise to such actions and lead such Crusher Bosses to comfortable person in a manner that the Crusher Boss doesn't know such change was caused from you.
This is the method explained in the book called "The technique to avoid to be scolded*1". The Crusher boss is also wondering how he or she should be as a boss. They don't want to be a bad person from the first time. By praising, you might be able to provide the images of the ideal boss from you. (For example, the Crusher Boss might sometime trust your work, immediately; tell him “Thanks for trusting my work. You are surely generous man." This method requires patience and you need to tell him many times but if the Crusher Boss was told as such for a many times, the Crusher Boss starts labeling their self images such as they are very generous man and there are slight possibilities for their changes.) However, since the Crusher Boss is generally very cautious person, you need to be very careful for the complement.Your intention might be seen through by the Crusher Boss
4.Always think the multiple solutions. It is skill, not a gift, to think of many ideas for solution when you are in trouble. Such skill is very useful wherever you work. It is desirable to acquire such skill in this kind of situation.
Lastly, the Crusher Boss will not success if the Crusher Boss finishes being as a Crusher Boss. The reason is clear. The Crusher Boss has a narrowed view of the world (Again, it is worth nothing to try to change such Crusher Boss by directly correcting his stance. If any, I think the solution would be kind of 3 above in which unconsciously lead the Crusher Boss to change his or her stance). Although his prestige might be little better than you, he will soon reach a deadlock. On the other, by contacting with such Crusher Boss, I think there are some benefits for you. There is an opinion which indicates that you will grow most when the stress exists*2. You don't have to think of revenge. I think it is enough for you to observe the Crusher Boss as a Gorilla.
This was the summery but I would like to discuss this issue again in detail.
*1 (I think It is not translated in English)
https://www.amazon.co.jp/怒られない技術-「失敗」を切り抜ける心理テクニック-知的発見-BOOKS-内藤誼人-ebook/dp/B00GOL2QW4
*2 Japanese translated version of "Kelly McGonigal, The Upside of Stress: Why stress is good for you (and how to get good at it) "
スタンフォードのストレスを力に変える教科書 | ケリー・マクゴニガル, 神崎 朗子 |本 | 通販 | Amazon
クラッシャー上司の実践的対応策(1)
私も過去にクラッシャー上司といわれる人々と出会ってしまったことがあります。直属の上司のときもありましたし、同僚であったこともあります。詳細は、また別途議論したいと思いますが、クラッシャー上司は以下みたいな人達のことを言うようです
- 部下が業務上の失敗をすると、長時間にわたり非難する。
- 上司の主張は実績や経験に裏打ちされた内容で、論理的には外見上正しいため、その内容自体への部下からの反論は非常に難しい。たとえ反論をしたとしても、それを上回る勢いで否定し持論を押し付ける。部下が少しでも自身のイメージと異なる行動をした時点で即刻矯正しようとする。
- 自分の主張は長々と部下に伝えるが、部下の言葉は聞こうとしない。
- 自分の過去の経歴や実績をやたらに持ち出し、部下の経歴や実績を執拗に非難する。等
彼、彼女等の特徴としては部下としてではなく同僚やおそらく上司として接する場合仕事が手堅く安心感があり頼りになるところです。部下として接するとつらい思いをし、そこが救いようのない苦しいところだと思います。なぜ苦しいかというと、クラッシャー上司の上司や同僚は、悪いとわかっていたとしても、クラッシャー上司の方に味方についてしまうからです。
検索すると対応策として出てくるのは、転職などしてとにかく逃げろというものが多いようです。簡単に転職が出来るとは限らないですし、逃げるのは現実的には難しいこともあると思います。そこで転職等の逃げる手段がないときの対応策を４つ考えました。
1.まずはクラッシャー上司と接することがなぜ嫌なのかというのを冷静に見極めることです。
嫌だと思うことは自分の欲望（なにかをしたい）の裏側にあるものです。欲望がなければ嫌だと思うことはありません。
クラッシャー上司が嫌な理由は個人毎に異なると思いますが、私は自分の仕事の価値観が脅かされることだと思います。自分で決めて仕事がしたい、自由に仕事がしたいという欲望のうらかがえしなのだと思います。
2.嫌な理由が整理できたら、その裏側にある欲望が本当に必要なものなのか考えることです。自分の価値観を認めてほしいというのがその欲望だとすると、冷静に本当に認めてもらう必要があるのか考えた方がいいでしょう。
クラッシャー上司は自分とはある意味違う生き物です。ゴリラと一緒だと思ってもいいかもしれません。ゴリラに自分の仕事が認められたいかというところです。
よくいろいろな本に書いてあるように相手の考え方を変えるのはほぼできないです（ゴリラを人間にできないのと一緒です）そこにエネルギーをかけても無駄です。そう考えると行動の選択肢も増えると思います。
3.クラッシャー上司をよく観察し、自分にとって少しでも都合のいい行動を少しでもしたら、褒める・感謝の気持ちを述べ、知らず知らずのうちにそちらに誘導するという方法もあると思います。
詳しくは、「怒られない技術」※1という本にも載っていますが、上司の方も、実はどういった上司になろうとしているか悩んでいます。最初から困らせるような上司になりたいと思っているわけではありません。褒めることによって、自分が望んでいる上司像を示すのもありでしょう（たとえば、稀に仕事を任してくれることもあると思います。そういうときにすかさず「こんな私に仕事をまかしていただけるなんて、○○さんは、太っ腹ですね」みたいなことを言う手です。根気が必要で、何度も言う必要がありますが、このような言葉を繰り返し言われると、自分は、「太っ腹な上司だ」と勝手に自分のセルフイメージをラべリングをし、そう行動を変えていく可能性もあります）。ただ、注意しなくてはならないのは、クラッシャー上司は、往々にして警戒心の強い人でもあるので、あくまでも、実際にあった行動とともに褒める・感謝をしないと、なにか裏があると疑われてしまいます。
4.3にもつながりますが、とにかくいろいろと最善策を考えることも重要です。こういうピンチのときにどれぐらいアイデア解決策が考えられるかは才能ではなくスキルです。どの場所で仕事するにも使えるスキルなのでこれを機会に身につけるようにしたいところです。
最後に、クラッシャー上司はクラッシャー上司から卒業できない限りかならず失敗します。その理由は明らかで、考え方が偏っているからです(繰り返しになりますが、そこを正面を切って、一生懸命指摘しても治らず、あるとすれば、3のようにこっそり誘導するぐらいしか方法はないと思います)。ある部分は優秀であなたより多少地位は高いかもしれませんが、必ず限界がきます。一方その人と接していると、あなたにはメリットもあるのではないかと思います。人間ストレスがあるときに一番成長するという考え方もあります(注2)。復讐とか考える必要なんてありません。ゴリラを見るように気軽に接するぐらいの気構えができればいいと思います。今日は概要だけですが詳細は別途議論したいと思います。
※1内藤誼人 『怒られない技術 「失敗」を切り抜ける心理テクニック』 (知的発見!BOOKS 2013年)
https://www.amazon.co.jp/怒られない技術-「失敗」を切り抜ける心理テクニック-知的発見-BOOKS-内藤誼人-ebook/dp/B00GOL2QW4
※2 ケリー・マクゴニガル『スタンフォードのストレスを力に変える教科書』(大和書房)
スタンフォードのストレスを力に変える教科書 | ケリー・マクゴニガル, 神崎 朗子 |本 | 通販 | Amazon
