'He never questioned me [...] ever again': Manager demands employee follow their inferior process, experiences immediate regret

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Aug 25, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

We see stories all the time with new bosses coming in and shaking things up in order to make it look like they're going to be effective in their new jobs. But, the thing is, not everything needs changing or improvement. Often, the workers themselves have been doing their jobs for long enough that they have developed their own methods for handling tasks quickly, effectively, and efficiently. As long as important corners aren't being cut in these adapted processes, it stands to reason that the new manager could actually stand to learn a thing or two from their new subordinates. As Bill Gates is famously quoted as saying, "Choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it."

This new manager arrived and sought to make some changes, implementing strict adherence to company guidelines for all tasks—despite the fact that each branch did things differently to suit their delivery region. Unfortunately, this caused chaos and missed deliveries throughout the branch. After a heated discussion with the manager when this delivery driver refused to comply, the delivery driver gave up and began following the new guidelines… but the results were disastrous. The manager apologized and asked for the driver's help in understanding the complex delivery route, resulting in newfound respect and friendship between the two, and the manager never questioned the driver's expertise again.

There's something to be said here for this manager. In stories like this, the managers never learn and continue doing the same thing throughout their careers. We're all going to make mistakes, but it's learning from them that is important.