Originally Posted by GUWonder
A key indicator of good management is that the disappearance of a single individual or few persons does not lead to collapse or (more apparent) stagnation/delay. Things run fine with me or without me. That they run well without me is a positive indicator.
I view it as even more flattering if the system and infrastructure I left behind me remains functional for a certain period of time because it was built well and fully documented. Then incompetent people start changing things, because let's face it - business environments changes.
Small modifications are fine. They can extrapolate from what was left in place. But more drastic changes start de-stabilizing the system. A year later, the system and infrastructure no longer works as it should and the company is now using 50% more manpower to run a function which is only 70% as efficient.
That's when you know that
a) you did a good job
b) you did it better than those who replaced you
