Un-Open Open-Door Policy

Have you ever noticed how corporate-speak can completely rot a manager's mind when they start to believe their own words? The oxymorons and contradictions just start to grow as fast as kudzu. One of my colleagues recently met with his new manager and hastily scribbled down the following quote:

"I have an open-door policy ... but just because my door is open doesn't mean it's OK to come in and talk to me. Schedule an appointment, first."

Of course, this same manager's calendar is always blacked out as "busy" throughout the whole day. It's like the fellow just switches on the "auto-cliche" mode when he walks into the door in the morning. Worse yet, he only has 6 direct reports and he has aspirations of injecting some agility into the SDLC. Clearly a classic example of management-by-in-flight-magazine (mbifm) or hamburger management.