[imajoredinecon]

It’s really about (a) the wording (b) the level of risk.

For something that isn’t risky, I trust my reports to make reasonable decisions and wouldn’t benefit from the “I’m going to do this tomorrow unless you say no” approach. Instead, they can just tell me they’re doing it (or let me know after the fact, or add/FYI me on the code review, or not even mention it, depending on what it is).

For a decision that is more important/higher risk, they should get affirmative agreement rather than just hoping that I see the ultimatum and silently approve.

That’s why I’m with the GP that the ultimatum-with-deadline doesn’t seem like the best choice in any situation.

[mooreds]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'd put the 'ultimatum-with-deadline' in between the two risk profiles you outline--something just on the edge of risk.

> Just hoping that I see the ultimatum and silently approve.

I never would have thought of this as an ultimatum--to me it's more like a 'default decision' that makes my manager's life easier while still looping them in and giving them control should they choose to exercise it.

But now I can definitely see how it might be seen as one, depending on the type of decision and the relationship between employee and manager. I should probably update the post to say that you need a degree of trust and alignment for this technique to work; you shouldn't roll this out on the first day.