Three daily scenes
- Every week starts with a new urgent escalation.
- The manager becomes the default reviewer and decoder.
- The team waits for the manager to make work move.
Problem page
Engineering Managers Stuck in Firefighting
The manager is spending more time rescuing work than building a system that can run without rescue.
What you probably tried
- Working harder and staying available longer.
- Delegating tasks instead of decision rights.
- Adding more process to keep the fire smaller.
Why it did not solve it
Firefighting persists when the team still depends on the manager to interpret, decide, and approve.
The Push diagnosis
This is the Player Trap: execution strength becomes a dependency problem.