Not too long ago, Bored Panda covered a story of that one typical sequence of events and surrounding factors whereby fresh meat of a superior arrives and starts “changing things” without any knowledge of the complexities of how things were and the repercussions of the changes. Because both the complexities and repercussions were a thing.
Well, it happened again, in another part of the world. There was a natural change in supervisors whereby the next super in line decided to mess with some very delicate piece of machinery and then blame it on the guy operating said piece of delicate machinery when it damaged the product. Oh, and malicious compliance is somewhere in there.
More Info: Reddit
You gotta appreciate karma as a concept as it seems like the only tool still capable of teaching poor management a lesson on... management
Image credits: ThisIsEngineering (not the actual photo)
This one’s a quickie (not that kind), but a goody. A sibling of a machinist shared a story of malicious compliance. Back in 2010s Australia, said brother worked for a small engineering company. While the pay was not ideal, the work made it well worth it as they produced everything from custom parts for racing cars to bigger jobs for the military.
The brother was actually a floor lead among around 50 other employees, and reported back to the floor supervisor who reported to the owners. However, the current supervisor retired, and the brother tried his luck. They didn’t pick him up, but they did pick someone else. And, oh boy, this one was an oof.
And this one manager had it coming, starting with asking an employee to do as he was told, and then suddenly shifting the blame
Image credits: littlewasknown
OP described the new super as a “tyrant.” On the super’s first day, he started being just plain mean by harassing the brother for not getting the job. “And that he is the new boss now so get used to it.” Wow, just wow. That’s the sort of crud we’re dealing with…
Some time later, the brother was asked to run a CNC machine (whatever this is), but at a faster pace. 20% faster, to be precise. The brother pointed out that that is not the best idea, but the supervisor wished to commit career suicide in the fastest way possible, i.e. he insisted on it. And so, the brother obliged—quite likely with “get used to it” in mind.
Too bad dumping the blame on someone else didn't work out, but malicious compliance surely did and it started his 6-week demise
Image credits: littlewasknown
Image credits: Mandiri Abadi (not the actual photo)
Cue malicious compliance. The machine was set to work 20% faster, and sure enough, within mere minutes, the alloy they were working on was obliterated. Maybe. Definitely damaged.
A wild owner appeared in a matter of seconds, asking the brother what happened. A wild super also appeared, pointing fingers at the brother, but all his bros at the factory stepped in to back his story of who had actually decided to do the whole 20% faster thing.
Well, the owners went ballistic on the supervisor, as it was expected given the context and how things were handled. But, in the long run, it signified the start of what ended up being a 6-week continuous downfall. The brother was not there to see it unravel, though, as he had found another job, a better one, and quit.
Nearly 7,000 people applauded the machinist, and the comment section was full of people poking fun at the manager and sharing stories
6 weeks later, though, he got a phone call. It was the owners. They explained that the super had been sacked for “poor work standards”, and so they wanted the brother to come to replace him. He declined.
Image credits: Anamul Rezwan (not the actual photo)
Folks online applauded OP’s brother in the form of nearly 7,000 upvotes (97% approval rate). Despite this sort of deal happening quite often, people still seemed surprised that managers like this still exist. But maybe this sort of karma is also what they need to make change happen.
Others shared stories of bad management, and how others screwed up their machinery to a higher degree. And of course the floor was the first to blame. Oh, and you gotta appreciate that one commenter’s wordplay: “Sounds like the biggest tool in the firm was that new supervisor.”
Do check out the original post in context here, but not without sharing your thoughts, stories, or what you ate for lunch today in the comment section below!