'You want to be in control? Fine!': Micromanager gets comeuppance after requiring approval for mandatory training programs, employee maliciously complies

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Oct 2, 2024 4:00 PM EDT

Micromanagers who want to see and approve every little thing are likely to regret that choice sooner rather than later. 

Here, we have a boss who disapproves of industry standards and ended up having to deal with the consequences of pressuring employees to comply with her outdated wishes. First, these industry standards were mandatory training programs that employees had to take every three years. It didn't matter if she felt they were pointless. She had to approve of them, but somehow, her work-forward mentality, coupled with her micromanaging tendencies, caused her to enforce a new policy that employees needed to request approval for every single detail regarding these programs. The result, of course, did not work out in her favor after this Redditor decided to prove said point via some well-deserved malicious compliance.

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from folks in the comments section. For more content like this, take a look at this post about a boss who wanted to receive text updates from her employee about their every move.

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  • 01
    1. Associa "Supervisor was a total control freak" 2. Ind brand colours should reflect your indus 3 circles total in the industries column industry or industries. O ircles across all colours - not 3 cin rd have the and Colours
    via 2H Media

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    You want to be in control? Fine! SOC Years ago, I worked for a public institution, where the supervisor was a total control freak. She was hardly able to delegate the most mundane tasks - and even when she did, she would monitor what her n°2 was doing and give him ○ if he dared to call a shot himself.
    via CLAGE929
  • 03
    Now, in my field, BY LAW everybody needs to follow 48 hours of mandatory continued training per 3 year span. The state offers a wide selection of different trainings you're free to pick from. If you need to get your training from any other agency and/or private company, you need a permission from your supervisor.
    via CLAGE929
  • 04
    Now my former supervisor thought that some of these trainings were frivolous - like yoga classes (meant to prevent burn- out) or first aids trainings (which according to her, you should/could do on your own time), so she decided that ALL trainings needed
    via CLAGE929
  • 05
    to be green-lighted by herself (which was obviously against the law). Most colleagues decided to ignore that order, since it was illegal - and we can't be written up or otherwise disciplined for not following an illegal order.
    via CLAGE929
  • 06
    I on the other hand thought it would be more fun to comply. So I designed a permission form, where I could copy-paste all information from the online curriculum within seconds and checked the training offer. I picked
    via CLAGE929
  • 07
    quite a number of 2-hours- trainings and introduced a form for each one of them - plus I sent my form out to all the colleagues (around 175 of them), to make
    via CLAGE929
  • 08
    asking for permission easier for them. Quite many picked up on the idea and introduced my form for their trainings as well - so that the control-freak supervisor was swamped with hundreds of forms within a simple week.
    via CLAGE929
  • 09
    We were quite quickly back to being allowed to follow any of the state's trainings freely.... ===Disclaimer: Not a native speaker!
    via CLAGE929
  • 10
    Plinted1991-076 3 hr. ago Wow, that sounds like a genius way to tackle a control-freak supervisor! The power of collaboration and uniting against unfair restrictions is truly impressive.
    via CLAGE929
  • 11
    camelslikesand. 2 hr. ago It's almost like collective action could create better working conditions. Crazy talk
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  • 12
    wotmate 3 hr. ago It's a pity that you didn't deliberately pick training that you knew she would deny, just so you could go over her head and report her for breaking the law.
    via CLAGE929
  • 13
    CLAGE929 OP. 2 hr. ago I had indeed planned on exactly that - but unfortunately at that precise point, there wasn't a yoga course scheduled!
    via CLAGE929
  • 14
    blackav3nger 2 hr. ago While I think that this was definitely malicious, I was indeed thinking that was going to be the very delicious outcome, I find myself
    via CLAGE929
  • 15
    a bit disappointed that your supervisor didn't break the law and get removed from the situation.
    via CLAGE929
  • 16
    CLAGE929 OP 30 min. ago Even if I could have reported her to her superiors for violating said law, she probably wouldn't have been removed, since she was known for rubbing shoulders with those in the highest positions.
    via CLAGE929
  • 17
    lapsteelguitar 2 hr. ago You complied with both the law and your idiot boss. All at once. That's pretty much genius level.
    via CLAGE929
  • 18
    quemvidistis 1 hr. ago Excellent! Throwing the natural consequences of her own bad rules back in her face!
    via CLAGE929
  • 19
    And, assuming that this was an online form, no trees would have been harmed in the production of this MC, although a few electrons may have been inconvenienced.
    via CLAGE929
  • 20
    Dear-Ad9314 - 3 min. ago Good call - nicely executed
    via CLAGE929

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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work malicious-compliance-reddit reddit thread Reddit company toxic-work-environment
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