The Workplace is a Construct
CEB data: 87% of managers report their technical input adds value. Engineer survey data: 71% report manager technical input delays decisions without improving them.
Who’s right?
Frames
Goffman (1974): humans operate through interpretive frames. We cannot perceive the frame we’re in.
Bolman and Deal (2017) identified four organizational frames:
Structural: roles, responsibilities, hierarchies
Human Resource: needs, relationships, development
Political: power, coalitions, competition
Symbolic: culture, meaning, ritual
The engineering manager spends three hours in architecture review. The manager operates in the HR frame (mentoring, developing talent, building relationships). Senior engineers operate in the political frame (territory establishment, relevance maintenance, influence demonstration). Junior engineers operate in the structural frame (technical learning, pattern absorption, skill acquisition). The organization operates in the symbolic frame (cultural transmission, ritual performance, meaning creation).
All four frames operating within the construct, simultaneously. All four correct.
Giddens (1984): practical consciousness (what people do) versus discursive consciousness (what people say they do). The space between them is where frames collide.
Neural Architecture
Keltner (2016): Power reduces mirror neuron activity 35-50% within weeks. Robertson (2012): Promotion triggers measurable brain changes—testosterone up, dopamine circuits rewired, cortisol suppression.
There’s a window—usually 2-6 weeks—where the newly promoted manager oscillates between frames. They can still access their engineering mindset Monday morning, lose it in the partner meeting Tuesday, glimpse it again during code review Wednesday.
“I lost sight of my sense of purpose and my added-value as an engineer in the company.” Source: https://enterpriseleague.com/blog/negative-effects-of-micromanagement/
The neural architecture changes within weeks. Technical skills persist longer—months or years—but become inaccessible through the changed frames.
Mirror neurons enable modeling others’ mental states. Without them, managers can’t conceptualize autonomous work.
“I am no longer allowed to manage my own time – it is constantly interrupted and all work must flow through her.” Source: https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-deal-with-a-micromanager/
The promotion creates this transformation. Predictably. Measurably. The construct produces exactly what it’s designed to produce.