Sometimes, in some jobs, in some organizations… man, it can really feel like you're keeping the entire place running. Meanwhile, your boss thinks that it's their ideas and directives that are causing the continued success. Except you haven't done a thing they said in more than 2 years, if you had the company would have already gone under.
And, every time they tell you to just do your job again, you contemplate whether it's worth dropping everything extra that you're doing and just letting the whole place burn.
I think any of us who have cared a little bit too much have found ourselves right there... Yet again going above and beyond despite the fact that no one is going to notice or care. Or actively being admonished for taking the time to do things right. Why do we even do it to ourselves?
And even after being told "stay in your lane" or to stop "overstepping" you keep at it anyways. It's not even a misplaced attachment to the job that keeps you going, or a desire to be recognized for your work... It's the very fact that you simply can't stand to see everything you've worked so hard for fail and disappear.
The employee discusses her performance with her boss.
Licensed media supplied as editorial context.
When this employee's manager criticized them for taking too long to do their work because they were carefully going through every detail to catcah any mistakes, their manager told them they were working too slowly. And after they spotted an issue with an order in the form of an incorrect delivery address, the manager told them to stop thinking and just follow instructions.
They complied with their manager's request. When another order contained an error, the employee processed it without intervening, resulting in the customer receiving the wrong items. The manager demanded to know why the mistake had been missed or not fixed, and the employee reminded them of their earlier directive.
But, funnily enough, the boss learned something that day. From then on, he asked the employee for their opinion on important decisions.
In this account the employee shared their alleged version of the events. See their original post below, and keep reading for some of the key responses.
What should they have done in this situation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
My boss told me to “stop thinking and just follow instructions,” so I did exactly that.
Story / OkInteraction230
My manager was always complaining that I took too long to finish tasks because I kept double-checking things and pointing out problems before they happened. On Monday, I noticed an order had the wrong delivery address. I mentioned it to my manager, but he was already irritated and told me, “I don’t pay you to think. Just do what you’re told.”
So I said, “Okay.” A few hours later, I noticed another order had an obvious mistake. Normally, I would have stopped everything and asked someone to fix it. This time, I didn’t. I processed it exactly as it appeared on the paperwork. The customer received the wrong items and immediately complained.
The employee has a conversation with her manager about her role.
Model portrayal.
My manager came running over asking why I hadn’t caught the mistake. I reminded him, word for word, of what he’d told me earlier. He said, “You should have used common sense.” I replied, “I thought you wanted me to just follow instructions.”
He wasn’t amused. The funny part is that after that day, he started asking me for my opinion before making decisions. Would you have done the same thing, or was I being petty and deliberately setting him up to fail?
Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.