As someone who has previously worked for a very toxic company that was obsessed with control, I love a good revenge story where they are taught a lesson. I just never understood why they enjoyed making their employees’ lives so miserable.
Tell me I am not the only one, as I am sure many of you have experienced it too. Well, I was never smart enough to retaliate, but the original poster (OP) surely is. His team lead asked them to work like robots without thinking, and he complied maliciously. Read on to see the drama that followed!
More info: Reddit
The best revenge stories are the ones where toxic team leads are given a reality check by their employees
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster works in QA for games, and his team lead asked him to stick strictly to the test script, so he decided to comply maliciously
Image credits: Raja_The_Fat
Image credits: Rockstar Games (not the actual photo)
He did zero exploratory testing, which is quite important for QA, and simply "stuck to the script" as instructed
Image credits: Raja_The_Fat
Image credits: DC Studio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
A developer reported bugs, but the poster just showed him what the team lead had asked them to do
Image credits: Raja_The_Fat
Lesson learned by the lead, now the team was asked to "feel free to do exploratory testing"
In today’s story, Reddit user Raja_The_Fat tells us that he works in quality assurance for games. As cool as his job sounds, his team lead is not cool at all because he asked them to strictly stick to the test script. Basically, they are expected to follow what’s written blindly, without deviations, and without any exploratory testing.
Mind you, OP tells us that exploratory testing is a very important part of QA, so their lead’s demand sounds completely absurd, right? Anyway, our guy decided to comply maliciously and stuck to the script, even when he knew that some parts required testing. Soon enough, a developer reported bugs in the game and confronted the poster about it.
He just calmly showed him what the lead had said about sticking to the document. That, folks, worked like magic. They were soon in a meeting when the lead suddenly decided that they could do exploratory tests. How smart of him! The exhilarated poster shared his story online, and netizens were absolutely thrilled to read the story.
They quickly pointed out how there was no apology from the company’s side and how they just shirked responsibility. To better understand such a workplace environment, Bored Panda reached out to Apoorva Kale, an industrial and organizational psychology practitioner. She claimed that nothing kills motivation faster than being told, “Just follow the script and don’t think.”
Image credits: katemangostar / Freepik (not the actual photo)
“Of course, the best way to get great results from smart people, like those in QA, is to treat them like robots, right? Forget creativity, ownership, or critical thinking, just tick the boxes and move along. Turns out, when you treat employees like cogs in a machine, they stop trying to solve problems and start counting the minutes until lunch.”
“On the flip side, actually trusting people and involving them in decisions? That tends to boost engagement and results,” she added.
Apoorva believes that when employees are told to ignore their own judgment and just follow the rules no matter what, it’s pretty deflating. She noted that it can make people feel frustrated, stuck, and like their work has no real purpose. She also stressed that when there’s no room for autonomy and employees’ expertise is sidelined, it’s hard to stay confident or engaged at work.
We also spoke to Apoorva about how organizations can balance structure with autonomy. She elaborated in a humorous way that there should be just enough structure to keep things from catching fire, but not so much that people feel like robots.
“Think of it like this: use test scripts for the boring stuff (so nothing explodes), but let folks do some exploratory testing too (because that’s where the real magic, and bugs, happen). It’s a win-win! Important steps don’t get missed, and employees feel like their brains are actually being used. People stay motivated, bring fresh ideas to the table, and things just work better,” she concluded.
Well, that definitely sounds helpful, doesn’t it? What are your thoughts about it? Let us know in the comments!
Netizens were delighted by the revenge rightfully served, while many also shared similar experiences of toxic bosses
