Managers sometimes believe they know the job better than you do.
In many workplaces, there is a common struggle between long-term employees and new managers, who may lack hands-on experience. This can cause tension and conflict because managers may believe they know the job better than employees who have been in the position for years.
Understanding and effectively managing this dynamic is critical to fostering a positive and productive work environment. And, while it is the manager’s responsibility to maintain open communication, most are too preoccupied with their power trip to accomplish anything meaningful. We’ve all heard stories about new managers coming in with new ideas that they believe all employees should implement without first learning about the actual day-to-day operations or challenges that the employees face. This is exactly what is happening in this story as well.
Scroll down to read the full story for yourself.
Source: Reddit
Some managers have weird priorities.
OP worked for a small AV company for a long time, and the work was fine, though he did do a lot more than his job description.
Things were normal enough until the company hired a new manager, and Martin decided to employ new rules.
Martin apparently only cared about polystyrene being cut up into small species to save a few bucks.
Martin wasn’t understanding that OP had other stuff to do, even when he explained it, so OP decided to maliciously comply.
Via Reddit
OP only did what he was told and stopped doing everything that was not under his job description.
In only two days, he had cut up a lot of polystyrene, but everything else was on the back burner.
The other higher-ups were too happy with the delay and set up a meeting with the OP, who wanted more time.
OP collected every written proof for his work and against the higher-ups that they could for the disciplinary meeting.
He laid out all the documents that they had collected for the higher-ups, and they were quite surprised.
Via Reddit
The managers didn’t know how to respond and gave the age-old excuse that they would get back to him later on.
Martin was also fired soon after, which wasn’t a surprise to anyone.
As it turns out, the company also had to hire three people to replace OP, who did it all himself.
This new manager appears to be obsessed with saving money on polystyrene cutting. If he had a little more experience in the field, he would have realised that the cost and benefit didn’t quite match up. However, I believe that what happened to OP was a positive outcome in a roundabout way. After all, if this hadn’t happened, the upper management would have never realised just how important OP was to the company. I’m not sure if he ever received a raise, but he definitely deserved it.
However, he no longer works there, which is probably a good thing.
That would have been quite funny, but this isn’t Minecraft.
It seems like a lot of work to cut it up every time.
Via Reddit
I am sure they never apologised.
The higher-ups don’t usually have a lot of foresight in matters like these.
We will never know if he ever received a raise.
To be fair, he doesn’t work at that place anymore, so that’s good for him!
I am sure they were quite small, or it wouldn’t have taken this long.
Via Reddit
What are our thoughts on OP’s malicious compliance? Have you ever used a similar method to get back at a boss who thinks they know more than you? If so, how did it turn out for you? Did they fire you, or did you get a raise afterwards? Please let us know in the comments section below, and remember to share this story with your friends so they can share their own similar experiences.
