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Employee changes strategy to "show, not tell" his boss that his ideas are terrible: 'I didn't have to say a word. He saw the error himself'

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  • A group of coworkers reviews an employee's presentation in a conference room.
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  • Stopped arguing with my micromanager boss and started doing this instead. The results were instant.

    I used to waste hours trying to explain my logic to my boss. He would never listen, and I would just end up looking defensive or "difficult." I realized I was trying to win an argument, but in a corporate setting, logic rarely wins against ego.
  • So, I switched tactics completely. Instead of explaining why his idea might fail, I started saying: "That's an interesting angle.
  • Let me run a quick test/mock-up on that and show you the numbers." I would then do exactly what he asked (knowing it would fail) or run a small simulation.
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  • The Shift: When I brought him the results, I didn't have to say a word. He saw the error himself.
  • He couldn't argue with the screen. Before: I was the guy who "always complains." After: I became the guy who "executes and verifies." If you are stuck explaining yourself to a wall, stop talking.
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  • Demonstrate. It saves so much energy and actually protects your reputation.
  • A businessman presents to a team of coworkers in a conference room.
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  • A businessman presents to a team of coworkers in a conference room.
  • cream_pie_king Yay now you'll spend 25% of your time validating or disproving your bosses every whim instead of having a relationship built on trust and respect for your experience. Sounds agonizing.
  • Own-Investment4655 Original Poster's Reply It definitely is agonizing. I won't sugarcoat it. But here is the reality I faced: Arguing with him was draining 50% of my energy and destroying the relationship anyway. I viewed this as an 'upfront tax.' After about 3 months of consistently showing him the data/results, he finally realized I knew my stuff and backed off. I had to do the extra work initially to 'buy' his trust. Now, I don't have to run the tests anymore.
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  • Wide-Yesterday-318 The flip side of this from your bosses perspective is that you finally stopped talking about it and started "doing". Talk is meaningless in business and most CEOs know this. If you have a good idea sometimes it takes some effort to get it played, but that effort has to come from the person who owns the idea. I've seen many people fail at work because they don't execute, they just talk.
  • Own-Investment4655 Original Poster's Reply Spot on. I realized that to them, my 'logic' just sounded like 'friction' or 'hesitation.' By shifting to execution (even on ideas I disagreed with), I stopped being a bottleneck and started being an asset in their eyes. Results really are the only universal language in business.
  • ChoppyOfficial Career subreddits are getting flooded with bots. It just mostly complaints of having to work for 40 years and not provided solutions and complaining for karma. It is that way because of politics. Want better working conditions, vote. And mostly Al slop posts on reddit lately. How to deal with a micromanager, you just agree, keep your mouth shut, and do your job and leave and go to a manager who appreciates you.
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  • Own-Investment4655 Original Poster's Reply I agree with the 'leave' part-that is always the end goal. But most people can't quit instantly. You still have to survive the 6 months it takes to find a new job without going crazy. That is what this advice is for-survival while you plan your exit.
  • These Gas9381 LinkedIn has to be the most performative social media platform there is.
  • Own-Investment4655 Original Poster's Reply 100%. It feels like a parallel universe where nobody ever has a bad day, just 'humbling learning opportunities.' That level of toxic positivity is exhausting. I prefer the blunt honesty here
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  • CandidComfort3948 bruh same heer, i'm curious how it played out. did they start trusting your ideas more after seeing the results! lol
  • Own-Investment4655 Original Poster's Reply Yes, absolutely. That was the biggest ROI. Once he realized I wasn't just being 'difficult' or 'lazy, but that my pushback was actually grounded in reality, he started asking for my input before he finalized his plans. It took about 3-4 of these 'demonstrations,' but eventually, he stopped needing to see the mock- ups and just trusted my word. Action builds trust way faster than words.

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