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New Boss Forces 9-5 Work, Ends Up In A Costly No-Win Situation After Worker Maliciously Complies
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New Boss Forces 9-5 Work, Ends Up In A Costly No-Win Situation After Worker Maliciously Complies

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In a perfect world, management would understand the nature of the work their employees do before implementing rigid policies. But as Reddit user Alwaus‘s post on r/MaliciousCompliance shows, that’s not always the case.

In it, they recalled a time at a manufacturing facility after a change in leadership when the new higher-ups demanded adherence to a strict 9-to-5 schedule.

What followed was an expensive failure, where the insistence on clock-punching turned into a full day’s production shutdown.

A worker was instructed to follow a strict new schedule despite their position calling for different hours

Image credits: astakhovyaroslav (not the actual photo)

But things didn’t go to management’s plan

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Image credits: drazenphoto (not the actual photo)

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Image credits: alwaus

If you’ve worked at your company for years and are used to getting things done in a particular way, a new superior can add quite a bit of uncertainty

“Getting a new boss can shake up your world,” says Mary Abbajay, president of Careerstone Group and author of Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss. “You have to adjust to a new management style and personality, which is hard if this person is a micromanager, not as friendly as your old boss, or has different priorities. You’re starting from scratch.”

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As this story illustrates, problems arise when new bosses have a habit of micromanaging or making unnecessary changes just to stand out. This is, of course, irritating for longtime employees, but Abbajay points out that it’s important to remind yourself to look at things from their standpoint as well.

The boss might be nervous or they might be trying to prove themselves. “They’re also trying to learn their job,” she adds. This is where empathy comes into play. “Give them some grace and space to figure stuff out.”

They’ll likely relax as they settle into the new role and gain a better understanding of the broader organizational context. After all, they might be facing pressure to deliver results, drive cultural change, or deal with turnaround.

However, new leaders often feel like they need to be the smartest person in the room. If they fall into this mindset and become intimidated by someone with more experience in a specific part of the job, they can quickly damage their own career.

Image credits: Tiger Lily (not the actual photo)

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As the story went viral, its author provided more details about the situation in the comment section

People have had a lot to say about the entire ordeal

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Some even responded with their own similar experiences

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Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas Laurinavičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas Laurinavičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Justinas Keturka

Justinas Keturka

Author, BoredPanda staff

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I'm the Visual Editor at Bored Panda, responsible for ensuring that everything our audience sees is top-notch and well-researched. What I love most about my job? Discovering new things about the world and immersing myself in exceptional photography and art.

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Justinas Keturka

Justinas Keturka

Author, BoredPanda staff

I'm the Visual Editor at Bored Panda, responsible for ensuring that everything our audience sees is top-notch and well-researched. What I love most about my job? Discovering new things about the world and immersing myself in exceptional photography and art.

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Libstak
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The poll options are not representative of the issues, there should at the least be "its wrong to alter processes to save money before knowing what the cost of changes will be to productivity".

CanadianDimes
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Especially the first option “it’s necessary for productivity” - clearly NOT the case in this story!

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Momma Jess
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is part of why I had immediate respect for my boss when he hired on, they wanted him to come in and implement a bunch of new processes, and he was smart enough to wait and see how things went before making any changes AND involved us in the discussions to make sure it worked for everyone

CP
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The second comment in the story had me thinking. I have run CNC machines before and they weren't checked daily. I wish OP would've actually answered the question if it was an Aerospace requirement.

SuperNovaToiletClog
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It doesn't matter if it's an aerospace requirement if it's part of the company's process. They are certified on that process, whether it's ISO9001 or AS9100 or any of the other ones. They can be audited and have to prove that the process was done as written in their process plan. Since these parts are going into production type items (ie: vehicles, planes, etc) there are a ton more requirements that are more than just tightening some material in a vise or screwing it down to a table.

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Libstak
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The poll options are not representative of the issues, there should at the least be "its wrong to alter processes to save money before knowing what the cost of changes will be to productivity".

CanadianDimes
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Especially the first option “it’s necessary for productivity” - clearly NOT the case in this story!

Load More Replies...
Momma Jess
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is part of why I had immediate respect for my boss when he hired on, they wanted him to come in and implement a bunch of new processes, and he was smart enough to wait and see how things went before making any changes AND involved us in the discussions to make sure it worked for everyone

CP
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The second comment in the story had me thinking. I have run CNC machines before and they weren't checked daily. I wish OP would've actually answered the question if it was an Aerospace requirement.

SuperNovaToiletClog
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It doesn't matter if it's an aerospace requirement if it's part of the company's process. They are certified on that process, whether it's ISO9001 or AS9100 or any of the other ones. They can be audited and have to prove that the process was done as written in their process plan. Since these parts are going into production type items (ie: vehicles, planes, etc) there are a ton more requirements that are more than just tightening some material in a vise or screwing it down to a table.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
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