[Guest]

This one comes from my own personal experience. My boss is known for never answering "Yes" or "No". I am teaching classes at college, and every semester I have classes overlapping work, one morning or one afternoon per week.

I have to ask the boss for permission, so that I can inform the University if I accept teaching those classes.

When faced with a direct question like: "Do you authorize me to give classes for the next 4 months every wednesday afternoon?"

He speaks for 20 minutes about productivity, motivation, equal treatment, etc.

In despair, I ask again: "But do you authorize me or not?" and yes, you guesses, I get another 20 minutes of B.S. (see tooltip)

Can you help me formulate a question that will require him to answer?

As you may have guessed, I want him to say yes; please refrain from using any "The Godfather" approach, including the "brains on the paper" and the "horse's head in the bed"

[Guest]

Give him a form, on paper or otherwise, asking your question. Have two boxes:

[ ]Yes

[ ]No

The instructions should say he must check one and sign his name.

I think that may work!

[Guest]

"with a one word answer, please tell me if you will authorize..."

[HoustonHokie]

tell him you're doing it unless he says exactly "no". Listen to the first word out of his mouth. If it's not "no", you have permission.

Edited June 6, 2008 by HoustonHokie

[EventHorizon]

"with a one word answer, please tell me if you will authorize..."

A one word answer huh....I guess it would have to be "Productivity."

[Guest]

I agree with Seventh Sage, basically, but take away the boxes. Just give him the form to sign; signing it indicates agreement for you to teach the classes.

[Guest]

This one comes from my own personal experience. My boss is known for never answering "Yes" or "No". I am teaching classes at college, and every semester I have classes overlapping work, one morning or one afternoon per week.

I have to ask the boss for permission, so that I can inform the University if I accept teaching those classes.

When faced with a direct question like: "Do you authorize me to give classes for the next 4 months every wednesday afternoon?"

He speaks for 20 minutes about productivity, motivation, equal treatment, etc.

In despair, I ask again: "But do you authorize me or not?" and yes, you guesses, I get another 20 minutes of B.S. (see tooltip)

Can you help me formulate a question that will require him to answer?

As you may have guessed, I want him to say yes; please refrain from using any "The Godfather" approach, including the "brains on the paper" and the "horse's head in the bed"

where do u work?

[Guest]

If I were to ask you the following question (blah, blah) what would you final answer be?

[Guest]

Now, being that people are people and asses are asses, no matter what question you ask he can answer with something only tangentally related to the question; but, assuming that he actually answers your question, try:

"Given that I have been teaching in the past, I assume that you will authorize me to teach X hours this semester. True?"

[Guest]

If you simply need an answer in writing, ask it in writing. Email is an effective way to do this too. Then you have a record of his authorization.

If you just want verbal authorization, just ask him like you have been. When he gives you all the "B.S." you might actually want to listen to what he is saying. He is obviously not comfortable with giving you authorization and wants you to acknowledge that you understand what he is doing for you. He also may need to get authorization from someone else, so he can't give you a direct answer on the spot. If you are a salaried employee, you are essentially taking time off and getting paid for it, then working another job and getting paid for that too. You are getting very special treatment and you are lucky your boss lets you get away with this.

So the bottom line is, instead of brushing off a question that has major implications as if it is something minor, perhaps you should give the question the consideration it deserves. Show him that you take it as seriously as he does, and use his wording. Tell your boss that you understand his productivity concerns and that you will make sure to make up the time during the rest of the week. Show him that you are motivated by coming up with specifics on how he can manage your responsibilities while you are away teaching. Explain that you don't want special treatment and that you understand that all employees should get equal treatment, and explain how you are going to make things fair. Explain how letting you take time off your job to teach will ultimately benefit him. Above all, show some appreciation for what he has been doing for you.

Bottom line: Make it clear that you understand things from his point of view and that you are grateful, then ask.

[Guest]

where do u work?

Government!

No, not really. This is from a small logistics company, whose boss is quite a character...

[Guest]

Hillarious! It's like passing a note in 3rd grade. But seriously, I think you are on to something, Sage. Rather than asking in person, send an email. You'll want to have the authorization in writing anyway, I would think. He might enjoy going on and on in person, but will likely reply Yes or No with little fanfare vie email.

Maybe there is really something else he wants to say. Perhaps the first question is "do you feel that my teaching interfers with my duties here at work." The answer to that question could help you discover his reluctance to just say "yes, of course you can take the time to teach your classes."

[akaslickster]

Give him a big sandwich with lots of peanut butter. Then when his mouth is full, ask your question and he will nod yes or no.

[Guest]

The age old management discipline technique of putting him in your shoes might work. Try positing this scenario: "In the interest of being as efficient and productive as possible while not overburdening myself or my students I have decided to take classes on wednesday, yet I am unsure if this fits your agenda, what do you think?

Any answer other than No,you're not should do nicely.

[onetruth]

Give him a big sandwich with lots of peanut butter. Then when his mouth is full, ask your question and he will nod yes or no.

Be sure to hide the milk until you get a definitive answer!

[Guest]

Hi all, you're giving very creative ideas, and I guess all of them should do the trick, but still:

1. It's not a question of authority (he his GOD inside the company) and it'd be hard for him to argue that I haven't compensated the company (by compensating those hours, by working extra hours, by bringing one project from the University to the company for free).

2. It's not that he doesn't answer YES or NO to me, or to this question. Everybody complains that he is incapable of giving a straight, direct answer. Asking for that in writing (paper/email) would be... well... unfeasible.

3. I do want to give classes, so i don't want to antagonize him. In that sense, asking something like "If you don't say NO right now, I'll assume you mean YES" would likely be considered defiant on my part, and lower the chances of getting a YES.

Still, I use(d) a combination of some of your answers:

Upon entering, I would assume that there's no way I'd get a YES or NO answer. So, instead of a closed, direct question, I would phrase it something like:

Spoiler for Question:

"Assuming that you don't have a problem with me continuing to give classes, which in this semester will be on tuesday mornings, and knowing that the company obviously has to be compensated for that absense, what would you like me to do, besides obviously compensating with extra hours?"

I'm stating that I assume he doesn't see a problem with this, I propose to compensate him and ask what else he wants me to do. The general tone of the "question" is understanding and friendly, not defiant.

Then I take the next 20 minutes of B.S. with a smile, because "20 minutes BS" = "nothing", so I leave the office and tell my coleagues that "He saw no problem in me continuing to give classes, and all I have to do is compensate for those hours."

So, what are your comments on my approach? Does it make sense for you?

[Guest]

The age old management discipline technique of putting him in your shoes might work. Try positing this scenario: "In the interest of being as efficient and productive as possible while not overburdening myself or my students I have decided to take classes on wednesday, yet I am unsure if this fits your agenda, what do you think?

Any answer other than No,you're not should do nicely.

This is pretty much the approach that I used. I thought it was quite ingenious, and it proved to work every time (I used it 3-4 times with success).

[Guest]

Be sure to hide the milk until you get a definitive answer!

Hey! I'm guessing you and akaslickster know the guy! :-)

[Guest]

Okay, Gentlemen, and any ladies out there... seriously there is a couple very SIMPLE solutions to this. The most simplistic: "To continue improving the minds of our future employess, and to better myself by allowing them to offer 'out of the box' ideas, please allow me to commit to the schedule below:

<< Insert schedule of classes here >>"

The easiest one if he's half the character my bosses have been (assuming you both have work to do).... Remeber those speaches he gave you... then repeat EVERY SINGLE ONE, slightly twisted as to why you should go to these classes to teach. At some point he will stop you and ask "what are you getting at? What's your question?" And that's where you ask "will you authorize for me to ....." to which he will be so ready to get the conversation over, he will answer directly, or just pose a riddle-like question to you. And if he does that.... you're screwed.

[Guest]

Okay, Gentlemen, and any ladies out there... seriously there is a couple very SIMPLE solutions to this. The most simplistic: "To continue improving the minds of our future employess, and to better myself by allowing them to offer 'out of the box' ideas, please allow me to commit to the schedule below:

<< Insert schedule of classes here >>"

The easiest one if he's half the character my bosses have been (assuming you both have work to do).... Remeber those speaches he gave you... then repeat EVERY SINGLE ONE, slightly twisted as to why you should go to these classes to teach. At some point he will stop you and ask "what are you getting at? What's your question?" And that's where you ask "will you authorize for me to ....." to which he will be so ready to get the conversation over, he will answer directly, or just pose a riddle-like question to you. And if he does that.... you're screwed.

Hey Dan, I think your second approach is genious... Make him suffer... Make him sweat (well, maybe not sweat - his office is the only office in the company with Air Conditioning)... Make him beg for a question...

I did try a variation of that approach - asking him when I knew he was in quite a hurry, and use my body language to show that I had aaaalll the tiiiimeeee in the world. That din't work, because: "I'm in a hurry, we'll have to discuss that tomorrow."

"But I need to give them an answer right away!!"

"OK, but we'll have to discuss that later" (read... "When I',m not in a hurry")

Edited June 6, 2008 by samuelpt

[Guest]

Hey Dan, I think your second approach is genious... Make him suffer... Make him sweat (well, maybe not sweat - his office is the only office in the company with Air Conditioning)... Make him beg for a question...

I did try a variation of that approach - asking him when I knew he was in quite a hurry, and use my body language to show that I had aaaalll the tiiiimeeee in the world. That din't work, because: "I'm in a hurry, we'll have to discuss that tomorrow."

"But I need to give them an answer right away!!"

"OK, but we'll have to discuss that later" (read... "When I',m not in a hurry")

That is definitely a variation.... It's like the commiercials on TV... he knows he can change the channel if he's running late... but if you're in front of him, with no where to go, he probably doesn't want to spend 20 minutes hearing about why you want to teach some classes as it pertains to your work ethic, productivity, etc.... he wants to spend those 20 minutes surfing the line to realize that you've been posting your 'problem' on "Brain Teasers", and have a good laugh about it. Find him when he's not rushing, but when he has stuff he'd rather be doing. Or... you can always grab a nice glass of water, coffee, something to make it seem like you're ready and willing to be in his nice a/c'd office for a nice long time.

[Guest]

This one comes from my own personal experience. My boss is known for never answering "Yes" or "No". I am teaching classes at college, and every semester I have classes overlapping work, one morning or one afternoon per week.

I have to ask the boss for permission, so that I can inform the University if I accept teaching those classes.

When faced with a direct question like: "Do you authorize me to give classes for the next 4 months every wednesday afternoon?"

He speaks for 20 minutes about productivity, motivation, equal treatment, etc.

In despair, I ask again: "But do you authorize me or not?" and yes, you guesses, I get another 20 minutes of B.S. (see tooltip)

Can you help me formulate a question that will require him to answer?

As you may have guessed, I want him to say yes; please refrain from using any "The Godfather" approach, including the "brains on the paper" and the "horse's head in the bed"

Just ask him "Do I have permission Yes or No."

[Guest]

as far as i see this you have a boss that doesn't like to give direct answets so your best option is just to drop hints and wait for him to ask you to do what ever it is (of course this could take forever--it has for me-- but will work). but that realy doesnt answer the riddle so... i say that there is no question you can ask to get the "yes or no" responce.

[Guest]

as far as i see this you have a boss that doesn't like to give direct answets so your best option is just to drop hints and wait for him to ask you to do what ever it is (of course this could take forever--it has for me-- but will work). but that realy doesnt answer the riddle so... i say that there is no question you can ask to get the "yes or no" responce.

You're right, this is meant to be a brain teaser.

Obviously simply asking him "Please give me a straight answer", or asking "Can I assume you're OK with it?" would be the "decent" way to go.

In this concrete sittuation, the idea is to "outsmart the fox".

What I did was to ask him a question that clearly stated that I assumed it was OK with him for me to give those classes, and ask him how he'd feel compensated in terms of work for this absence.

Due to the fact that I clearly said that I assumed there was no objection, he's now required to give me a straigh NO. Everything else can be assumed to be a YES.

By the way, like I mentioned, his office was the only one with AC. What I did in summer, when it was particularly hot and I wasn't particularly busy, was to go to his office and ask him a couple of questions, knowing that those Q's would buy me 1/2 an hour of coolness. :-)