Common examples include a boss “checking in” on you then checking out when you respond, or someone who schedules regular meetings without having much to say. There are many examples of companies that love to run culture surveys to get staff’s feedback, then never follow up or act on any of the results.
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The key to understanding performative management is to watch someone’s actions, not just their words. At first glance, there is nothing inherently wrong with the question Musk has proposed.
Accountability at work is healthy and required, and every worker should be able to point to things they’ve recently been doing. In fact, this is a perfectly legitimate question for a boss to ask an employee, and something that is shared naturally in a well-functioning business.
However, it’s not the text of the request that’s the issue here, it’s the subtext. Musk doesn’t care about whatever work they may have done, the implication is that it’s still not enough, and it’s delivered with intentional intimidation.
A job comprises intricate components to achieve set goals that develop over time between workers and management, departments and executive teams. Simplifying that into five bullet points to send to an anonymous email address under duress pierces any of the remaining trust that is integral to a healthy workplace.
If Musk and his team actually cared about the tasks those 3 million people did last week, they’d spend time inside each department trying to understand their jobs and processes, and then implement cuts in a responsible, targeted and sustainable way.
Instead, he’s focused on making it appear like he’s performing the role of cutting efficiencies by lobbing 35-word grenades that have the potential of exploding right back at him.
Tim Duggan is the author of Work Backwards: The Revolutionary Method to Work Smarter and Live Better. He writes a regular newsletter at timduggan.substack.com
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