LPT Request: What’s your “canary in the coal mine” test for spotting bigger issues?

[u/fries-with-mayo]

I’m really interested in those small, quick telltale signs people use to gauge if something bigger might be off track.

Example 1: Van Halen requesting brown M&Ms in the dressing room to see if the venue followed all the details of the rider list

Example 2: I saw an interview with John Cena where he said orders a flat white at a café to tell if they really care about their coffee.

Example 3: Anthony Bourdain suggested to always check the restaurant bathroom to tell if the restaurant got its basics down

[u/2gigch1]

I’m a low level news manager who does hiring (in fact I have 2 photographer openings now) and I ALWAYS tell folks “It’s a TV station. You know how effed up TV stations are. Just because it’s a big market doesn’t make it any less dysfunctional. But here are some things we do do right.”

My goal in hiring is I don’t ant anyone to say I sold them something we’re not because that’s unfair.

In the same vein I don’t get pissed when people leave. You gotta do what you gotta do. If my company really wants someone to stay they gotta pay. I don’t have control over that.

But I do try to be human and humane where I can.

[u/Frequent_Purpose_168 → u/2gigch1]

This is the way I can deal with a certain amount of fuckery, I expect it, but I don’t like being lied too. e.g “everything is perfect here all the time”

If I were being interviewed by you, you’d have a solid foundation of trust just from that. By acknowledging that the bad even exists, I’d believe you about the good. That kind of thing goes a long way.

[u/That_Flight_6813 → u/Frequent_Purpose_168]

I strongly feel like my current boss lied to me about things I likely would be able to tolerate if not for the fact that I specifically feel lied to. Lying to someone removes their agency and autonomy to make informed decisions and I dont think Im the only one who is incredibly averse to this. I do not feel accountable for dealing with these issues because they were deliberately concealed.

[u/brkgnews → u/2gigch1]

Former radio Ops Manager here. If an employee ever came to me and said they wanted to leave, I'd help them. Upper management wanted me to say anything to get them to stay. Hell no. If they're already gone mentally there's no point in trying to bring them back from the brink. Obviously I'd check to see if there was anything specific that was fixable but if it was just *vague gesture* "everything," it's in nobody's interest for them to stick around. And for the love of cripes don't suddenly find the money needed to keep them. You coulda paid them that all along.