ask the readers

Looking for crowdsourced wisdom? Here are reader discussions about life at work.

let’s talk about out-of-touch company executives

Earlier this month, we heard from someone whose CEO shared photos of his recent family vacation at a town hall after announcing budget cuts, no bonuses, and increased health insurance costs. And we’ve heard about plenty of other out-of-touch executives before — like the company that quizzed employees on the new boss’s horses, family, and […]

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let’s discuss jerks getting their comeuppance

Little is more satisfying than seeing a jerk get a well-deserved comeuppance. For example, some satisfying stories shared here in the past: •   •   • “I worked with a horrid VP of Sales – arrogant, obnoxious, just a nightmare. We were in an internal meeting and he used the phrase ‘get in a […]

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let’s discuss malicious compliance

Let’s talk about malicious compliance — times when someone purposely exposed the absurdity of a rule by doing exactly what they were told to do. For example: “I had a boss who needed to know via email every. single. time. we stepped away from our computers (we were all fully remote). So I decided to […]

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did a haircut ever change the way you were treated at work?

It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I’m a woman job hunting right now and desperately want to buzz my hair. It’s a pretty strong look, and I think it would have the same effect on my search as a bold hair color. I’ll probably do it. But it got me thinking […]

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