The longer you do your job, the better you get at it and you may find out ways that save you time and make your days more efficient for the benefit of the company. However, not all companies appreciate it when you try new methods and demand their employees do as they’re told, even if that means a loss to the company.

Redditor Anony19087 got in a similar situation with a client who demanded that things be done their way, which meant they had to pay significantly more than if they’d followed the expert’s advice, though the redditor maliciously compiled and earned more by doing less.

More info: Reddit

Subcontractor tried to do his job more efficiently but the customer wanted things done the old way, which cost them going out of business

Image credits: Emmett Tullos (not the actual photo)

The Original Poster (OP) worked with ships and when this particular story took place, he was a tugboat captain. If you are not familiar with the term, a tugboat is a boat or a ship that pushes or tows other boats or ships. Anony19087 had two of them and 3 people who worked for him.

According to the tugboat captain, it was a difficult business. The main job they did was to do ship assist work, which means they piloted or guided ships to harbors or ports and they also shifted dead ships. It doesn’t mean they were wrecked, just without a crew.

The OP was a tugboat captain and worked for a big shipyard that didn’t have good inner communication

Image credits: Anony19087

That meant that the job they did would take a longer time and because the OP charged hourly, the customer would be charged a lot more

Image credits: Anony19087

One of Anony19087’s customers was a big shipyard, also known as a place where ships are built and repaired. They constantly moved vessels and required the tugboat captain’s services. The frustrating part was that nobody coordinated their actions with each other and that led to the processes taking way too long.

The OP tried to take matters into his own hands and communicated to others what he was planning on doing so the boat movement would make more sense. It also saved him time as his team was trying to do their job efficiently and be able to work for other customers as well.

Image credits: Anony19087

So the OP took on the role of the coordinator which made their job go a lot smoother and quicker

Image credits: Anony19087

The OP taking on the role of the coordinator seemed to work out just fine until the shipyard hired a new superintendent. He didn’t like that the OP was bossing people around and thought that he should go back to doing what he’s told.

The OP didn’t protest as he was expecting someone would notice how much the price of the service increased because he was paid by the hour and now he spent all day doing a job that could be done in a couple of hours.

Image credits: Anony19087

After a few years, a new superintendent of the shipyard screwed everything by telling the OP to follow orders without sticking his nose where he wasn’t supposed to

Image credits: Anony19087

That meant that a two-hour job would take all day and a significant increase of his work’s price

Image credits: Anony19087

Surprisingly, nobody did. Nobody cared that the shipyard was paying $900 an hour or $15 per minute for 2 tugboats that were doing absolutely nothing except for waiting until they could do their job. The OP’s team would wait for so long in their boats that they would just shut the engines and relax, knowing that they were earning money, but not using up any resources.

The OP broke down what goes into the price of their work n one of the comments: “Each boat was about $150/hr in labor, roughly that again in fuel, and by the time you add in insurance, maintenance, accounting, etc., you’re really not making much actual profit at all at $450/hr/boat.”

Image credits: Anony19087

The OP maliciously complied, expecting things go back to how he was doing them, because surely someone should have noticed the crazy prices

Image credits: Anony19087

But because they weren’t doing anything for several hours at a time, the business was able to earn a lot more. In another comment Anony19087 said, “Those two boats made such an ungodly amount of money just sitting there that I was able to buy two more, hire four more people, and keep servicing all the other customers.”

Even though this particular customer brought the team a lot of money, the OP mentioned that nobody liked working there, “My guys used to hate having to work at that yard though, just because it was so boring. They did all get a lot better at backgammon though, so it wasn’t a total loss.” He compared the job in that shipyard to being in detention, but at least other customers were more understanding.

Turns out, nobody noticed and it lasted for 15 years until the shipyard went out of business

Image credits: Anony19087

Image credits: Mark Hodson Photos (not the actual photo)

The OP maliciously complied with the superintendent’s order but had to wait for 15 years to see the outcome of his obedience when the shipyard went out of business.

He also added that he wouldn’t purposefully try to make more money by not doing anything, but in this case nobody even cared and didn’t want his help, so he decided he might as well make the most out of it.

Did you like this story? Do you think the OP should have tried to protest the superintendent? Let us know your thoughts and reactions in the comments!

Other redditors were amused by the malicious compliance and agreed that it was for the best to obey the stupid boss

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