Manager to A: “Should I hire B or C?” A has no clue who B or C are.
Manager to A: “Do you think it would be OK if I hired E for X, then when they came in switched them to Y?”
Manager to A, who’s a student with 3 exams and < 1 year of experience: “I’m thinking of taking [FCAS] and switching them from doing Y to doing Z - do you think that’s a good idea? Do you think they’ll object?”
Manager: “I saw a resume for A [ACAS] and I really, really want to hire them so I don’t have to do any work - but B [no exams] down in Claims expressed in doing this, and I hate telling people no … can I just have B do this job instead? Can I hire A but have them report to B, because B has been here for a while [2 years] and knows the company and can get A up to speed?”
I guess I would consult with the key person(s) on my team on bringing someone new in to confirm that they would be a good fit and give them a chance to bring up any concerns since there is a good chance that they would eventually take over my role if I did something different. That’s obviously someone fairly experienced and not a newer student like in your examples.
I also hate when my manager wants to do something I heartily disagree with, but they ask me my opinion and then 1) either lash out at me when I state disagreement or 2) once I’ve learned they lash out, I say I’m okay even when I’m not.
I had a manager like that and it really messed me up. They would pretend to ask my opinion and stupid me, I thought they were really asking the first few times, not just trying to get a rubber stamp.
I’m not working for that manager anymore. If I was, I think I would try option 3) “I think you know best.” Or maybe option 4 if I’m brave that day: “I don’t think you should do it, but you’re the boss and I’ll work with whatever decision you make.”
I guess my question is though, in these scenarios, what happens when you say you don’t have enough information to have an opinion? Do they lash out or do they take that as reasonable? Or do you get the feeling they are asking you just to hear that you don’t know the answer? (People do this, I don’t know why, it makes their miserable lives feel better maybe?)
Everyone’s a critic. When I say, why don’t you implement this (meaning, take ownership)? Crickets.
Teddy Roosevelt put it better
The funniest thing is that when I say why don’t you implement it, they demur, but say they’ll keep looking for more items to critique. Like why not just pick the one you asked about and actually do the work. Nope, they can only find things for other people to do.
… Sorry, I’m not in a great mood here, but I think I have the right thread for this.
smelled like there was a dead animal in my front yard. was sitting on the steps after a run and then saw the flies swarming from under my daughter’s car. moved the cars and yup, that’s it! had to pour some bleach water on it to get control of the winged pests. but it is down to like a thin layer of hair. was a bunny
, 
(a small family, by the looks of it), opossum.