“Just Trying To Be Helpful”: Worker Reprimanded For Running Company Errands Over Lunch

Veteran employees often tell younger workers to perhaps avoid going the extra mile, as the corporate overlords will not appreciate it or perhaps not even notice. And in rare, unfortunate cases, they will actually penalize you for it.

This is what happened to one employee who would use their lunch break to run work errands when needed. Instead of praise, they were reprimanded for taking “long lunches” and ordered to stop. So in the grand spirit of malicious compliance stories, OP did as they were instructed. Soon, project after project stalled, as vital resources stopped arriving at the office.

Offices need constant upkeep

Image credits: Tim Gouw (not the actual image)

But one employee was called out by their boss for running work-related errands over lunch

Image credits: Yan Krukau (not the actual image)

Image credits: Isabeau56

Often, bosses don’t know how to recognize that a worker goes above and beyond

The dynamics of how work actually gets done can be mysterious. For example, in OP’s story, simply stopping a few supply runs ends up disrupting the entire chain of operations. However, some analysis of organizational behavior has found that many employees spend less than half of their time actually working. It is important to point out that definitions of work can and do vary. While a boss might want to see the employee nose down and typing away from 9 to 5, this is pretty far removed from how work is actually done.

In most offices, the work does not resemble an assembly line, people have to take pauses and think about what they are typing, whether it’s code or text. In some cases, “work” can simply look like sitting and thinking for hours until a good idea comes around. More importantly, those little “breaks” aren’t breaks at all, but moments for the mind to recharge between instances of work. However, many managers’ obsession with “productivity” ends up being counterproductive.

Because even when there are good metrics available, some bosses will overvalue the appearance of productivity, over real, effective work. Bored Panda has covered similar stories previously, for example, a worker who was called out for being faster than her coworkers, who, similar to OP, was forced to maliciously comply with a bad idea and simply ended up doing less work.

Many managers try to hide their incompetence with a “tough” demeanor

In OP’s case, the mismanagement from the higher-ups was even worse, as this “small drop in productivity” ended up causing a myriad of issues down the line. The fact that the manager hasn’t even identified what is causing the issues is quite telling since it reveals just how little this person knows about their own organization. This is unfortunately common with the sort of person who ends up in malignant roles, as the inflated ego often makes it hard to take in new information.

Instead, the person assumes that their new role is a clear, unbiased indicator that they are simply better than everyone else, which leads to overestimation of self. Doesn’t take an expert to know that once a person truly believes they are always right, they will cease to make good choices. On the other hand, there is some evidence that many people in leadership positions actually struggle and simply make toxic decisions to mask their own incompetence. Either way, it’s not good for the company as a whole.

Of course, OP is in a strange position where they are not at all suffering, as they have been told to do less work. The results are terrible for the organization, but it seems that lessons can only be learned by showing, not telling. Hopefully, in the inevitable fallout, management will learn an important lesson and OP will be recognized for their disproportionate impact on operations as a whole.