In season one, episode three of AMC’s series “Halt and Catch Fire,” Brian Braswell (Will Greenberg) was driving home and giving a ride to his manager, Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy). A frustrated Brian was ranting about how the project they were working on, how everything was “impossible,” and suggested giving up innovation in favor of using a basic circuit board.

Paying more attention to the conversation than to the road, they came to an intersection and got into an accident with another car that was crossing. Gordon bumped his head quite hard, busted his right eyebrow, and had some blood on his face.

Enraged by the accident and the non-stop complaints, Gordon impulsively fires Brian, gets out of the car, and walks the rest of the way back home.

The series plot

“Halt and Catch Fire” is a TV series set in the 1980s and tells the story of a group of entrepreneurs who are trying to build a new computer.

As the story unfolds, Gordon is tasked with handpicking the most talented engineers for developing the electronics of the computer. Among them, Brian was chosen for his technical acumen. For all intents and purposes, he brought a lot to the table.

The feedback that never was

Brian’s character was portrayed to be a downer and to cause mild antipathy. As he was being fired, viewers had some sense of satisfaction.

Considering that it is a TV show, the dramatic situation is understandable; it was designed to evoke a strong reaction.

Noticeably absent from the episode was Gordon giving any form of feedback or communicating how he expected the team to operate. Like a pressure cooker without a vent pipe, he internalized dissatisfaction until it reached a boiling point, and the situation went from frustration to pink slip faster than a supercar accelerates from 0 to 60 mph.

Impulsiveness and unintended consequences

Pessimism can be contagious, and Brian’s behavior was affecting Gordon and the rest of the team. As a leader, you need to not only cut the oxygen to unmitigated negativity but also care about the longevity of the team. Gordon made grave mistakes by communicating poorly, forgoing setting expectations, and skipping hard feedback conversations.

Brian may have been unaware of his pessimism and the impact it was having on everyone. Gordon should have told him how his attitude wasn’t helping and that he was expecting a change in stance. That would have given Brian a chance to at least try to improve. Instead, the first feedback given to Brian was termination. What could he possibly have learned from that situation?

If after the feedback and a chance to adjust his attitude the problem continued, then it would be more than appropriate to fire Brian.

What happened in the episode was a lesson in bad management. In addition to the damages discussed thus far, there is a less visible unintended consequence: innovation would die.

Fearing being fired themselves; the remaining members of the team would not dare to speak or take any initiative that could upset Gordon. Creativity would be the first casualty, followed by the loss of feedback for error correction, and at the first opportunity, the best engineers will leave. The product would ultimately fail.

A better framework

Several lessons in bad management can be drawn from the episode. Rather than repeating those mistakes in real life, here is a better framework for you to be an effective leader:

1. Set expectations: Talk to the team and be clear about the mission, what is to be accomplished, the attitude tackling problems, and your expectations for the project to be successful.
2. Culture of criticism: All systems need a mechanism for error correction. Criticism is not to be confused with complaints. Criticism is calling things as they are and working together to get the intended outcome, even if you don’t know what the solution is going to be yet.
3. Manage negativity: Address it by learning where the person is coming from and the source of their frustration, rather than by trying to eliminate it. Debate is healthy but avoid dwelling on it. Cut the oxygen when the conversation is no longer adding value, otherwise you are in for an endless discussion that will lead to nowhere.
4. Watch your behavior and don’t react impulsively: Actions have consequences, and you want to be able to stand by your actions.

In “Halt and Catch Fire,” Gordon’s handling of the situation with Brian serves as a cautionary tale of how not to manage a situation and gives us the opportunity to learn a valuable lesson and use a better framework. In this case, life doesn’t have to imitate art.