There is a quote that is often attributed to the likes of Bill Gates and Walter Chrysler that goes something along the lines of “Always choose a lazy man to do a hard job because a lazy man will find an easy way to do it.” Whether or not either of them actually uttered this string of words (or was the first to do so) is up for debate. But the sentiment rings true in many instances that require innovation: Why hire the guy who is content to do things by the letter when you can hire the guy who w…

It's often said that you shouldn't meddle with things you don't understand and, by extension, you shouldn't mess with the people who handle the things that you don't understand either. If you've managed to get a contractor in to handle something you can't or aren't willing to do or understand, and they deliver on that product, you'd do your best to pay them the agreed price. After all, we've already established you don't understand that thing, so why are you so certain you've got the upper hand…

It's often said that when going for a job interview, you should be kind and courteous to everyone you meet; famous anecdotes about not holding the front door to the building open for the person who ended up being the hiring manager reinforce this idea. Why, then, don't we extrapolate this idea and apply it to our daily lives—both professional and personal? When one lives their life in this way, they negate the chance of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time, like this sor…

The ability to listen and follow directions is often important when it comes to your performance in the workplace. The last thing an employer wants is someone who is going to go rogue and take matters and process into their own hands. Of course, if your job is to be creative and think of new ideas, you'll usually be encouraged to do so, but I'm willing to bet there are still processes and guidelines to follow. The problem is that process is never ironclad unless you're building something like a…

It's not every day that you get a chance like this thrust upon you—a chance for everything wrong in your life to suddenly sing to the symphonic rhythm of poetic justice. Well, this tech guy got exactly that chance when their boss told them that they needed to increase their sales with “No Exceptions.” This tech guy was working for an internet service provider as tech support when, one day, their boss came in and bizarrely told them that they needed to get their sales figures up. The tech guy wa…

Once upon a time, in an age before the iPhone...

There are times in your life when you go out of your way to accommodate someone only to have them throw it back in your face and blame you for their stupid unrelated problems. It's like planning your birthday gathering at your favorite restaurant only to have that entitled friend complain that you're excluding them because they don't like that restaurant or have devised one of the dozens of other reasons to make your birthday about them. So, you let them pick the location for your birthday, onl…

Sometimes in life… the low road is the right one. This Karen brought a metaphorical knife to an actual nuclear arms race when she decided to go toe to toe with this IT guy and blamed him for all of her stupid nonexistent troubles. As readers have pointed out in the comments: It's never a good idea to pick a fight with the guy who writes code when your job is easily replaced by a single line of it — that's just begging for the unfortunate outcome that has occurred for Karen here. After the repea…

We all have a “Dave” in our life. The thing is — Dave can sometimes be wound a little too tight…

In this world, you get what you pay for.

Once in a while, something pops up online that is entirely unorthodox and a bit out of left field. This “avant-garde” take on a job interview description is exactly that. A little zany and unacceptable, it has defied our expectations of the performative qualities that a job interview normally offers. You'd usually expect a job interview to tediously lay out all of the things you might expect from a role but in a crap-coated manner of corporate speak that seeks to make light of all the terrible…

These are the types of "leaders" who will gladly tell you that "It's just business" when they're laying you off or refusing you a raise. Yet, when you find a better opportunity and give notice, they take it personally, acting as if you've betrayed them. Suddenly, "It's just business" isn't valid, and the employer wonders why all these employees end up "Turning against them," utterly blind to the fact that they are the common denominator.

When these engineers weren't invited by the CEO to the company party, they instead threw a party of their own with the help of the VP charging it all to the company card.

An IT Head saw fit to swipe a long-held email address which set off a domino effect that led to their excusal from their position. This has been one of the top stories that we have seen come out of Reddit's r/talesfromtechsupport subreddit this year and, as such, it was well worth a revisit. The thread was originally posted to Reddit's r/talesfromtechsupport subreddit by u/Lorix_In_Oz. They shared their story with the title “When a new IT department head steals the prestige e-mail address from…

This IT guy is retired but still contracts with his old employer, and he was called in to help one of their clients with their “ancient inventory system.” When the CEO of the client sauntered on in demanding a cup of joe from the IT guy, things were about to go very poorly. This lengthy tale was told by Redditor u/ShelLuser42 who shared their story to the r/Idontworkherelady subreddit, a growing subreddit where people share stories where they have been mistaken for an employee. Typically these…

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/maliciouscompliance subreddit by Redditor “'I can't approve overtime.' Then I strongly suggest you raise this issue with your boss and get the ability to approve overtime, or this will bite you in the a$$," said MadRocketScientist74. “He was always fighting that battle," responded the original poster. "To his credit, I worked for him 2 years or so after that, and he never questioned my timesheet again. I even have some stories where I helped him overcome oth…