Dear Bob ...I have bosses who are running projects into the ground. They have implemented wasteful processes that produced ineffective or even negative results. Should I simply go along with these bad decisions to keep my "relationships"?(Amazingly, even when projects failed, the people responsible still came out victorious. Is that the "relationship" you described in another recent column?) Are there ways for m Dear Bob …I have bosses who are running projects into the ground. They have implemented wasteful processes that produced ineffective or even negative results. Should I simply go along with these bad decisions to keep my “relationships”?(Amazingly, even when projects failed, the people responsible still came out victorious. Is that the “relationship” you described in another recent column?) Are there ways for me to tell the bosses “you are making poor decisions” and still maintain “relationships”? – Trying to manageDear Trying …If you have bosses who run projects into the ground, implement wasteful processes that produce ineffective or negative results, and are personally successful as a result, it implies a number of things. First of all, yes. The managers and executives in question have mastered the art of managing relationships. It’s the skill that powers their careers.Second, it tells me that the people they report to value getting along more than they value results. That’s a symptom of a company that will float along on the perception of success … sometimes for quite awhile … until it eventually implodes. You don’t want to work there, unless your primary skill is getting along. And from the sound of your letter, you don’t even want that to be the skill that drives your career.Are there ways to tell your bosses that they’re making poor choices? I don’t want to say no, because there are. All of them entail significant career risk to you and a low likelihood of success. You’ll be telling people who perceive themselves to be succeeding, and who most likely perceive themselves to be more important, successful, and smarter than you, that they’re doing things wrong. Think of it this way: The only people who are likely to be receptive to a message like this are the ones who already recognize that they have a problem. If you decide you want to stick your neck out this way, the starting point is to find one of the managers with whom you have a good relationship (there’s that word again) and who seems worried about how things are going.If the conversation seems to be going well, you can suggest, gently, that you know of a few techniques that might lead to better results.Just remember – even if you succeed, you’ll still be working in a company that values getting along more than it values results. – Bob Technology Industry