This is a new issue here on Surviving the Workday: employees who make up problems and then solve them to look important. New! Not something I’ve read about!
In late 2005, the night manager of a suburban Atlanta restaurant called owner J.D. Clockdale to boast about how well she had handled an irate female customer. The customer “ranted and raved” about a botched order, but calmed down after the manager gave her a free meal, Mr. Clockdale recalls being told.
The problem: the tale was untrue — as Mr. Clockdale discovered by reviewing surveillance footage and phoning the customer, who was an acquaintance. He concluded the order mistake was minor and remedied without histrionics.
Mr. Clockdale confronted the night manager, who confessed that she invented the altercation to look good. “She wanted more responsibility,” he says.
Fascinating. And sometimes people do these sorts of things consciously, and sometimes it’s unconscious. In any case, it’s one of those issues that seems fairly prevalent, but hasn’t received a lot of attention.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:37 am
OMG. Aren’t there enough problems in the work place that we don’t need to make them up?
August 26th, 2008 at 11:38 am
You’d think so! But apparently they are making up problems and solving them in order to deal with other problems.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
My philosophy is if I have to toot my own horn, I’m not very good at my job. Either my manager should notice (and if he doesn’t, he’s not good at his job) or other people should be tooting it for me.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I’m not sure I’ve ever had a manager notice I was good at my job….
I can totally see how these scenarios evolve in the workplace, but I’m shocked how common it seems to be.
August 26th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I suppose people get bored if there isn’t any drama around, so they manufacture it to fill the void. I’ve known a few folks like that.
August 26th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Ms T., I’m seeing a little of this at my office since things have gotten slow. People make up an issue or blow it out of proportion and then offer to solve the issue. It keeps them employed, billable, and useful-looking in a time of now-and-again layoffs. As for tooting my own horn, I have no problem with it, but there’s a real difference between occasionally reminding my boss of what I’ve done and flat out lying about something.
August 27th, 2008 at 7:30 am
I wonder if it’s more prevalent during slow times, Mile High Pixie and Comrade Kevin.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I worked for a dm at friendly’s who frequently creates issues so he can fix them. He fires the gm then makes all types of false accusations about them and continues to do the same thing to the other employees. He even called hr to report he thought a 30 year old male manager was having an “innapropriate relationship” with a 16 year old kid. These people with maw are out of control. What gets me is that the people higher up always believe their bs. It is unbelievable.