Boss demands IT employee follow process to the letter, stalling out a project with a major client and causing frantic messages from their boss: 'No ticket = no work. Bureaucracy over brains'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Oct 21, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

An employee found themselves pushed aside into another department where they were told to follow the process to the letter, even to the organization's folly.

You might think that the most important thing in any organization is finding the right answers to problems in order to improve things on the whole. But there you'd be wrong.

When it comes to profit-minded organizations where any cost and process are involved, the "correct" solution inexplicably isn't actually the right answer; it's the one that is the cheapest and follows the process, even if every other aspect of that "correct" solution is entirely nonsensical. 

If you find that you and you alone are the one pointing out that these solutions are flawed, you'll soon find yourself labeled as "negative" before being ignored and brushed aside—into another department or out of the organization completely. 

This is where this employee found themselves when they were shuffled off into the IT department because their salary was expensive and they weren't afraid to speak their mind and challenge decisions and workmanship that they didn't feel were up to snuff. Here, they found themselves limited by process, repeatedly being told to follow the process to the letter, no matter what unfortunate end that led to.

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    A man works on his laptop in a dimly lit room filled with programmers
    via Alex Kotliarskyi frantic

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    "IT wanted process over results. I gave them process — and panic."

    A couple of years ago, I got shuffled out of the business side and into IT during a re-org. The official reason was "better alignment with software delivery." The real reason? I'm expensive, I don't do sales, and IT has a bigger budget. Also, and this is educated speculation, I kept not approving IT's builds for not meeting specs which, apparently, makes me - "difficult" and not "solution oriented."
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 03
    So now I report to the executive I had previously challenged over the quality of his team's work. Since joining IT, everything has to be a ticket. Doesn't matter if it's a question, a clarification, or divine revelation — no ticket, no work. PMs handle ticket - creation and prioritization, which sounds fine in theory, except my actual job is to consult with business analysts and developers. I know more about the rules,
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 04
    regulations, and use cases of our software than anyone in the company and my work doesn't easily fall into a ticket as it's more of a problem solving role for existing tickets. Still, no ticket = no work. Bureaucracy over brains.
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 05
    Clients - especially senior ones - tend to reach out to me directly because I can actually answer their questions. Normally, I'd just respond and, if needed, make a ticket afterward for tracking. But management didn't like that.
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 06
    After one particularly "spirited discussion," over delays to close low priority tickets in leu of responding to high priority client emails, my boss told. me to stop responding to client emails. altogether. I was to forward them to PMs, who would create, prioritize, and assign tickets.
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 07
    An IT worker sits in on a project meeting
    via fran innocenti frani

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    I explained, patiently, that these emails often come from executives and need quick turnaround. Boss's response? "Follow the process or we won't know how overworked you are." Okay then, boss. Let's follow the process.
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 09
    A week later, I get an email from the CFO of one of our biggest clients asking for details about a customized build. Normally I'd get an estimate out in a couple of hours. Instead, I cc'd my boss and PM, confirmed I'd received the request, and politely asked them to create and assign a ticket.
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 10
    A few days later, the CFO followed up: "We need this by Friday." I replied again - cc'ing everyone - apologizing for the delay and asking that the assigned resource take note of the urgency. (Knowing full well no one had assigned the ticket.)
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 11
    Behind the scenes, I had already done the estimate and informed the client what was happening. Spoiler: nothing. Suddenly, my boss is frantically pinging. me: "Why haven't you gotten back to the CFO?!"
    via AlienAnimaReleased
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    I calmly reminded him that: 1. He told me to only work on assigned tickets. 2. He was cc'd on every email. 3. He'd have to ask the PM for a status update. There was a long, delicious silence before he finally replied: "Okay... you don't need a ticket for everything. In the future, if it's from an executive, just respond and make a ticket afterward."
    via AlienAnimaReleased
  • 13
    Sure thing, boss. Glad we cleared that up. I sent the estimate, everyone was happy, and peace was restored. And better yet, management now puts results over process. Well the first part anyway, but peace and results? Well, that's a malicious compliance story for another day.
    via AlienAnimaReleased

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