Taking it at face value makes it good advice and interpreting it as CYA hedging makes it bad advice. My bet is the author intended the good advice they actually said rather than the bad faith guess to what they meant that makes it bad advice.
And there are plenty of things that are your job, but you would like the boss in the loop on without actually making it their job.
You say if it's your job then do it, and that's roughly what the advice given here is. The only place you're in disagreement is that you don't see any room for nuance when something is your job but worth notifying the boss about in advance.
> The only place you're in disagreement is that you don't see any room for nuance when something is your job but worth notifying the boss about in advance.
You read a different article.
FTA:
> ”Hey, boss, I am going to install action X, which should solve the XYZ problems we’ve been having. Will take care of this on Monday unless I hear differently from you.”
The parent's point is that lighting a fuse and saying you'll do something when the fuse runs out regardless of the boss' approval in a situation where you want to run something by them...is career suicide.
FTA:
> When you have something you want to do and that you feel is in scope for your position, but you want a bit of reassurance or to let the boss know what you are up to, it’s common to reach out and ask them for permission. Don’t. Don’t ask for a yes. Instead, offer a chance to say no, but with a deadline.
The qualifiers of "needing reassurance" and "asking for permission" combined with a notification on a fuse is way different framing than "notifying the boss about it in advance."
> The parent's point is that lighting a fuse and saying you'll do something when the fuse runs out regardless of the boss' approval in a situation where you want to run something by them...is career suicide.
It's not, if that action is a part of your job, something you COULD do just on your own but "you want a bit of reassurance or to let the boss know what you are up to".
It's not really a notification on a fuse, that's a framing you've put on it. It's giving sufficient advanced notice.
You left out:
> ask them for permission
I humbly submit you're still glossing over this. This framing is subtle. There's a difference between getting a peer review from your boss and asking your boss for permission when you think you might need it. Trust your gut.
Compare that to situations where you just want peer review/re-assurance. I agree with you on those situations to just pull the trigger.
The article is saying don't ask for permission! They're not really recommending anything different than what I see you saying throughout this thread.
They are saying it's common to ask permission in cases where you shouldn't, because it's actually your job and you only want a bit of reassurance / to give advanced notice.
Maybe you haven't run across people who do that, but that is what the author is responding to.
I agree directionally and appreciate your effort. I might just be misunderstanding and wrong, which forgive me if you feel like that's the case.
I just don't find the author's point consistent or nuanced about when to apply this (e.g., the size of the changes, the interface with your manager, the supervision/trust relationship).
Look at the closing sentence of the article.
"Offering a chance for feedback" when you're confident that "you don't need feedback" is weird. This is like some paradox. And doesn't match the phrasing of his initial example. This is bad advice that is way overdoing it.
> Again, pursue this approach [...] when you want to offer a chance for feedback, but you are confident enough in the course of action that you don’t need feedback.