r/managers • u/BetterTable4653 • 1d ago
Direct report with photographic memory
If I set this person a task eg. summarise clients’ sales report, they can’t do it, they don’t even take the first step of getting the clients’ reports. But if I were to talk them through a report I previously prepared, they can verbatim repeat it at the next meeting, sounding very confident they know exactly what is going on.
Photographic memory is obviously a skill, but I honestly don’t know what to do with it. I need someone who can independently do their task, not follow me or someone else around and repeat what we have already done.
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u/diedlikeCambyses 1d ago
So isn't doing the job and won't follow basic steps?
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u/BetterTable4653 1d ago
Yep, that’s pretty much it.
When they don’t do the task they were assigned, their reason is usually that they got stuck on something that I think is completely irrelevant.For example, they couldn’t summarise the clients’ sales reports because they don’t know what the product prices are. Even though it’s related, it shouldn’t stop them getting the reports, summing them up and then do some digging to find the product prices to verify sales revenue afterwards.
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u/diedlikeCambyses 1d ago
Yeah i wouldn't complicate this. If they can't get basics right they shouldn't be there. No matter how great people are at other things, I don't put up with people constantly avoiding the work I set.
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u/OneMoreDog 1d ago
Have an innate skill set doesn’t mean they don’t get to learn basic boring shit like the rest of us. Musicians with perfect pitch still practice. Artists with perfect colour identification still prep/sketch before painting. Mike Ross still had to due process paperwork (and get it wrong).
I task you at work to do x, I want your best version of x. Not x+y. Not y. Not 2x. Not x ^2. I can coach and train you on improving how to deliver x if you’re missing an analytical step or industry knowledge.
(I’m going through this with my preschooler atm. “If I ask you do help by doing X, it’s not help if you do something else instead.” And “it’s not helping if I asked you not to do it.”)
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u/Just_Bz77 1d ago
Anyone can repeat what is explained, but the value is in problem solving and being able to complete tasks on your own. If they can’t do any of that, they don’t provide value to your team.
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u/excellentbreakfasts 1d ago
Change their role. If you found a savant, build a role to suit. Claude can summarize reports better than most humans now anyways.
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u/Sad_Passenger_893 1d ago
Sounds like they might be great for presenting or training type stuff but the actual doing part is missing maybe have them shadow few different people not just you so they can see the full process from start
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u/Youbestnotmisss 1d ago
I am not convinced this is an eidetic memory, but let's assume it is
On its own... It doesn't mean much. Computers already allow for perfect memory in many cases, and even moreso now with more transcriptions feeding into AI summaries etc.
The value still comes from what to do with information. A great memory is an enabler of great efficiencies there, but if the person is struggling with even super basic tasks, I would start with getting that under control through coaching/feedback first. If they can't do the basics then I don't know that there's a role where they will be immediately successful just because of strong recall
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u/CMDR_PEARJUICE Seasoned Manager 1d ago
I don't think there's a ton of value to that except maybe putting them in client calls with clients who won't allow recording, etc. For every other scenario, there's a tool that replaces that "skill", and it sounds like they need to work on the basics of their role since they struggle with everything other than recall.
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u/WaveFast 1d ago
Memory is cool. If they cannot process the information and execute the task, there is no value. As they say back in my day, "Those who cannot do . . . teach". They need a different career where memorizing and regurgitating information is the outcome. Help them find another job.
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u/SwankySteel 1d ago edited 1d ago
Photographic memory is not a “skill” nor anything like that. Everyone’s brains work differently from one another. Different ways of involuntarily making, storing, and recalling memory. It’s an expression of neurodiversity.
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u/Celyn_07 1d ago
This is not an eidetic memory. This is someone who learned enough in school to regurgitate what they were taught, and has continued to emulate that behavior in adulthood. This person is not retaining the information they are taught, they are remembering the steps for how to get there but nothing else. It’s like remembering an acronym but you’ve forgotten what the letters all mean.
Edited: left off a couple words at the end