Dear Bob ... I have an observation similar to that of Losing Steam's. Bosses like people who can put out fires and eliminate crises, so they reward the people who do that. Unfortunately people figure that out, so they make messes out of their projects (or allow them to become messes) so that they can then put out the fire and handle the crisis and receive their boss' commendation. So as Losing Steam asserts, th Dear Bob …I have an observation similar to that of Losing Steam’s. Bosses like people who can put out fires and eliminate crises, so they reward the people who do that. Unfortunately people figure that out, so they make messes out of their projects (or allow them to become messes) so that they can then put out the fire and handle the crisis and receive their boss’ commendation. So as Losing Steam asserts, the people who mess up their projects (and create a crisis to solve) get rewarded more than those who just manage projects well and prevent crises.Just my two cents. – SteamedDear Steamed …I honestly don’t think that’s the dynamic of what’s going on. I think many managers like to see a lot of energy and hard work from their staff. Where do you see more of it than a project team on a death march, or a sysadmin working into the wee hours rebuilding a dead server? Staff who do things by the numbers tend to be calm and unstressed. Some managers understand this means they’re in control and on top of the situation. Many see the same thing and figure the people aren’t working hard enough.– Bob ——– Technology Industry