I am the IT manager for my employer, a small office of about 15 people. My boss is not proficient with networking, websites, or anything technical past skimming an article or something his "friend" has. He doesn't have a technical background in any sense of the word.
Some examples:
Adds/plugs in, moves, or disconnects things from the networking equipment, leaving the office in an unusable state for days.
He has a limited understanding of websites and SEO and expects unrealistic results. (Views from nothing)
Won't take my advice on equipment and other items to buy so everything is constantly breaking or not right for the office environment.
Literally everything he overrides me on ends up breaking in the worst way or being completely ineffective. At which point I have to spend more time fixing stuff.
Every time I try to point him in the right direction and why that won't work he falls back on, "He has a friend that does it this way", or his incorrect/broken way is "More Intuitive". I've thought about the analogy of him ripping wires out of his car in front the mechanics, then complaining his car doesn't work. It's getting to the point where I feel disrespected. Yeah he is paying me, but I also feel like he is wasting my time using me as an undo button while he tries to learn IT stuff.
How can I kindly talk to my boss about leaving the technical stuff alone in the office and online?