It's hard to escape the conversation surrounding AI and the growing likelihood that we may soon find our jobs replaced by it. Yet, while some have attempted it, most seem to be falling short of success. While AI is proven to be effective at handling superfluous and repetitive work, it doesn't yet understand the subtlety and nuance of specific tasks, often lacking necessary details or fabricating information and then confidently reporting it as fact. So, at the very least, even where there is ef…

"The customer is always right" is an attitude that is purveyed throughout customer service... People will love to remind you at this point that one full attribution of the original quote is also reported as being “The customer is always right in matters of taste” meaning that or that customer service representatives should seek “to satisfy the customer regardless of whether the customer is right or wrong.” Both lend to the idea that the customer is not necessarily right about all things, just a…

Unless the issues being raised are completely out of left field and hold no water, an organization should always treat them seriously. Even purely as a means of covering themselves from any legal or operational vulnerabilities. Being dismissive or even retaliatory against a complainant might make the headache or “problem” of them calling attention to it go away, but there's a good chance that their fears coming to fruition and the ensuing grievance will be much more of a headache than dealing w…

One day, you're going to quit your job—and that's a fact… Whether it's over a disagreement, for relocation, for growth—or because you're leaving the workforce for good. When that time comes, it will be up to you (mostly) on what terms you want to leave on. Do you want to leave on good terms, possibly even despite long-held grudges? Or do you want to set the world ablaze—full scorched earth policy—burning every bridge behind you as you go? This worker shared the resignation they were planning on…

Oftentimes, a little push is the only thing it takes to topple the facade of power presented by someone abusing it. They want you to think there's nothing you can do to circumvent their authority, but they forget that they're just managing an IT department at a medical center, and their authority really isn't all that far-reaching at all. So that one little push (or notifying their boss) is all it takes to reveal the man behind the curtain. This IT worker was responsible for issuing equipment t…

Normally, you might expect that being the best at something means that you'll be effectively the first selected, akin to it being a race, and by being simply being undisputed best, you would, of course, be the one to win. Well, that's not how races or any competitions work, and it's the reason they're held in the first place, and the prize isn't just awarded to the person who currently holds whatever record is most relevant… There are so many other factors and things that can happen on the day…

While it might be tempting to wait out an impending layoff or quit rather than stomach unfair treatment or the foul nature of your egotistical boss… Without a doubt, the best time to find a new job is when you're still employed. You'll be undoubtably less stressed due to more financial stability allowing you to be more selective and find the right role. During interviews this feeling of security allows you to come across more confidently, which apart from making you more likely to get another r…

One of the most respected ways to lead is from the front. Of course, you may be the first one to catch an arrow or a spear to the throat—dooming everyone who was relying on your command and is now floundering, leaderless. But, if you pull it off and make it through the battle unscathed you can sure as heck bet that the troops will love you far more than they would had you been in your command tent at the back of the field. The difference here and the limitation of this anecdote is that there ar…

Being faced with the brutal decision of whether or not you'll take a demotion or be fired is not easy and it's an even harder choice to make. It would be easy to just want to up and walk away rather than face the humiliation demotion. But, unless you're in a secure financial position and have a lot of connections in your industry, you'll probably want to consider taking the demotion while you quietly go about looking for another job. After all, there's no better time to look for a job than when…

Micromanagers usually come in two shapes; the first is a recently promoted technical worker with a deep understanding of the work but with poor interpersonal skills and a deep drive for perfectionism who can't bear to let go of the fact they're no longer doing the work themselves anymore, they cling to their methods depriving their workers of agency and limiting their ability to produce. The second is an externally hired career manager who has no understanding of the actual work and compensates…

There's nothing worse than having the serenity of a good (or at least tolerable) job disrupted by a terrible new boss, whether it's an external hire who doesn't seek to understand the organization and it's processes before changing them or an internal promotion who has a chip on their shoulder and a grudge against their former colleagues. There's not much you can do when faced with them except grin and bear it—or you can do what this worker did and walk off the job rather than tolerating your b…

When working with a manager who is both incompetent and egotistical, it's probably a good idea to be cautious and take defensive measures… like maintaining a paper trail that can easily disprove any trumped up charges laid against you. It's always best to be on your toes and have a backup prepared, as they could turn on you at any moment should you question one of their decisions or even be too proficient and simply become too much of a threat. This means ensuring that your paper trail could st…

The next generation of workers is sparking a lot of conversation online, and for good reason. In this post, a man praises a minimum-wage trainee who told her boss she wouldn't be attending an after-hours, 3-hour-long meeting since she wasn't being paid to go. The man said he praises this next generation of workers who have the guts to stand up for themselves in the workplace, something he said took him many years to learn. Several other employees agreed, saying they are proud of this next gener…

Appearance is important when it comes to your working life—well, really any time you're relying heavily on first impressions and social perception. It's an unfortunate fact that remains one all the same: The book is often judged by its cover. This extends past basic aesthetics of dress and into body language and the way we communicate, giving others a wholly inaccurate impression of our trustworthiness and competency for a role or task. To make matters worse, everyone has their own understandin…

Mistakes and bad decisions happen, it's just a part of the decision making process. As Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, famously said, “'I have not failed, but found 1000 ways to not make a light bulb." The quote and attribution varies, but it's usually something along those lines. And that remains true, you don't know and can't learn until you pick a direction and try, but where this becomes an issue is when people and organizations obstinately refuse to course correct, refusing t…

“The worst they can say is no.” A piece of advice oft given to someone teetering on the precipice of uncertainty, deciding whether or not to make a request of someone from whom rejection is almost certain. It's the sort of tip that a friend gives you when you're agonizing about whether or not to ask out your crush who is way out of your league; they probably know you have no shot but the point is the fact that you're going to be rejected isn't reason enough to not ask at all…