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Bookshop worker does their best to follow orders after supervisor demands they remain in a single section: 'Sorry, I'm busy'

Oftentimes in our lives, a weary, exasperated manager with sagging eyes will give us an order, desperate for us to follow it without asking questions. Depending on the dynamic of our relationship with that manager and the nature of the request, we might be more than happy to follow their direction—or we may, instead, choose to follow the literal meaning of that direction but not necessarily the intended purpose of the direction. This "malicious compliance" to their request will help balance the scales and hopefully show them the error of their ways.

It goes without saying that retail managers don't have easy jobs, being asked to accomplish a lot with very little and constantly being squeezed by the pressure of increasingly oppressive policy that is intended to be passed on to their staff. Still, there are two types of retail managers from this point: Those who pass on each directive unquestionably, making the lives of their workers miserable; and those who refuse to pass the directive on, taking the brunt of the wrath from their managers for not unquestionably doing what they were told. 

This manager was the former, and their worker predictably chose to follow their direction to the letter, even when other areas of the operation desperately needed their help.

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Posted by Brad Dickson
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workplace discussion workplace-stories toxic-manager jobs manager job malicious compliance work workplace workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace

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