Chef thinks he is teaching the kitchen “Runner” a lesson over a kitchen intrusion, but he’s the one who learns one thanks to the Runner’s malicious compliance: ‘Don’t want me to do the work? Ok, then do it yourself’ – FAIL Blog

Back to my own related experience.

Predictably, any time we got overwhelmed, there would be shortcomings on our service delivery, things that got overlooked, orders that couldn’t be fulfilled. Everything that went wrong took more time to go back and fix, but orders kept coming. The further behind we got, the worse the problem got. 

Like logs floating down a river, as soon as you end up with one stuck on a bridge piling, the others start to stack up behind it; pretty soon you have other logs you need to remove to even get to the original one. Soon you have a log jam brewing that is threatening to take out the entire bridge. 

I think anyone who has worked this type of retail role knows what I am getting at here.

This happens, of course, in other areas of customer service, like in the service industry (hospitality for those not in the US). But it comes in faster bursts in the form of daily rushes. (You get rushes in retail too, but that doesn’t help my point.)

The start of every rush is an opportunity to get things right. Getting into a flow where everyone knows what they’re doing and when is essential. But one misstep can disrupt the flow. Soon, everything has fallen on its face

Frontline workers often understand workflow best, it’s not something that can be directed top down, as much as managers might like to think otherwise. Sometimes you have to let the person do the job that they’re paid to do and happen to be really good at… without your input. 

But back to the point: Overwhelm can quickly create compounding issues in workplaces and cause stressed-out managers to behave in stress-driven ways that they wouldn’t normally. 

I have experience in this area. In a former life, circa 2020, I managed a bikeshop. Certain global events forced everyone to stay home, sidelining vacation plans and leaving those savings with nowhere to go

Everyone sitting around bored at home (so, everyone) took it upon themselves to take up a new hobby. 

A fair amount of people just desperately wanted any excuse to get out of their home and move around, and predictably, getting a bicycle was the answer.

As a result, the entire cycling industry was booming, heaving with orders we couldn’t possibly keep up with. The cycling industry always follows cycles of booms and busts, but this was unlike anything ever seen, akin to the inline staking craze of the mid-90s.