Sometimes employees are expected to follow the boss’s orders even if they’re vague at best. And quite often they try to, some led by malicious compliance.

The latter is exactly what drove redditor u/Ok-Fishing-6604 to be an exemplary employee and reach results even the boss couldn’t have seen coming. The superior told the OP to bake an undefined number of pies, which she did; but instead of bringing a smile to the boss’s face, it made her furious instead. Scroll down to find the full story in the OP’s own words.

Unclear instructions at work can end in some quite unexpected situations

Image credits: Wavebreakmedia (not the actual photo)

This bakery employee met unclear instructions with malicious compliance

Image credits: karandaev (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)

Image source: Ok-Fishing-6604

Proper communication is crucial for the well-being of both the employees and the business

Image credits: Canva Studio (not the actual photo)

Proper communication is important in any workplace, whether it’s a bakery or an IT business. It is important not only for employee morale or maintaining amicable interpersonal relationships but also for the profitability of the company itself.

The OP’s example showed that proper communication—or saying as little as one number, for that matter—could have saved the company money that was wasted on the surplus of pies. The 2022 State of Business Communication report revealed that miscommunication costs US businesses over 12,500 dollars per employee each year.

In addition to that, Forbes suggested that communication failure can disrupt a business on a fundamental level. It pointed out that it often becomes the cause of lack of focus and innovation, loss of purpose and credibility, and a drop in employee morale. Consequently, improper communication at a company can affect quite a few of its employees.

According to a 2023 survey, 49% of respondents believe poor communication negatively impacts their productivity. Moreover, roughly 50% say it affects their job satisfaction and an additional 42% admit it increases their levels of stress. The survey unveiled that only roughly one in ten employees don’t feel impacted by inadequate communication.

Quite a few people enjoy having pumpkin pie as part of their Thanksgiving meal

Image credits: Element5 Digital (not the actual photo)

In the OP’s situation, poor communication meant that the task was not clear, which led to unfavorable results. Unfavorable for the company, at least, as the employees likely didn’t mind coming home with a pie or two; especially right before Thanksgiving.

Director of marketing for ‘Legendary Baking’ in Denver, Colorado, Mark Van Iwaarden, told Baking Business that, “Pies have always been event-oriented or holiday-­oriented where people are buying them for a specific purpose to go to a specific event or family gathering.” He added that numbers show a consistent demand all year round, except for the sudden jump around the holidays.

Statista’s data showed that the majority of people enjoy having pumpkin pie as part of a Thanksgiving meal. According to a 2022 survey, as much as 70% of them either love or like it, while 24% feel less fond of it or hate it completely. (Only 6% couldn’t make up their minds about how they feel about pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.)

The OP seemed to love pumpkin pie herself, considering that she brought ten of them home and told her fellow redditors in the comments that it’s nice to have yummy leftovers. She also revealed that she comes from a big family, which is why the pies did not last long. Reddit users also shared their thoughts in the comment section.

The OP provided more details in the comments

People shared their reactions and applauded the OP’s way with words

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