The Whip Cracker
Recently, our department was working extremely long hours to produce a proposal before a looming
deadline. We were issued a memo saying that the department was instituting "mandatory" seven-day
workweeks until the proposal went out the door. After working several long days (7 a.m. one day
until 8 a.m. the next day, non-stop) a co-worker was taking a fifteen-minute break outside, and using
the time to unwind by reading a book. The newly-appointed president of our large, multi-national
company, who apparently had nothing better to do, happened to walk by my friend as he was reading -
on his break. The next day we received an emailed memo from the president stating that there was to
be "no reading of personal matter while on breaks." He also berated another hardworking colleague
for "keeping her desk too clean." He reasoned that if her desk was clean, then she wasn't working
hard enough, because his desk was never clean, and he worked hard (or so he thought). This is a
classic case of someone letting power go to his head.
Do you have a bad boss? Have you ever had one? Would you like to earn $10? If you'd like to tell the world
about your experience, e-mail us at thelab@busreslab.com. If we
like the story, we'll print it here on these pages. If we print it, we'll pay you ten dollars. Please include
your name and address for the purposes of mailing a check if we use your story . . . rest assured that we won't
include either in the web site.
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