“No Exceptions”: Boss’s New Rule Lasts Exactly One Day After He Didn’t Think Things Through

Once a company or really any organization grows to a certain size, the folks in charge can get so disconnected from how things actually work that their input is, at best, useless. However, sometimes managers pass such poorly thought out rules that they manage to produce disasters of their own making.

A netizen shared their story of malicious compliance when their boss passed a “no phones at work” rule without thinking of the consequences. So when servers went down, suddenly a minor problem became a larger mess. We reached out to the IT worker who posted the story via private message and will update the article when they get back to us.

Sometimes managers create rules that don’t really make sense

Manager focusing on computer work in modern office with phone ban during work hours for compliance.

Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

So one IT worker maliciously complied with an office phone ban during a server outage

Text excerpt showing a manager banning phones during work hours leading to a malicious compliance in IT support.

Text excerpt showing a manager bans phones during work hours with strict no exceptions policy.

Text describing a manager banning phones during work hours and the issue of using personal phones for work communication.

Text describing a manager dealing with a server issue while following a phone ban during work hours and practicing malicious compliance.

Young man smiling while using his phone in a car, illustrating manager bans phones during work hours concept.

Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Text excerpt showing missed calls and panic from manager after phones were banned during work hours, depicting malicious compliance.

Text excerpt detailing an employee reminding a furious manager about the no phones policy during work hours for compliance.

Text message about phones at work desks for emergency use, depicting manager bans phones work hours malicious compliance.

Image credits: Mother_Soraka

Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Sometimes the folks upstairs feel a compilation to make bad rules

There is that strange phenomenon that happens when an individual gets promoted to a manager job: he or she is suddenly overcome by the otherworldly urge to author rules. Not problem-solution rules, of course, those would be too practical. No, too many managers seem to author rules that look as though they were dreamed up while napping with a power snooze after lunch, not necessarily for productivity but just for the purpose of informing everybody who the boss is.

Consider, for instance, the policy that no one can work at home on Fridays because “team spirit” is essential, never mind that half the team works Fridays playing a game of looking busy while actually Googling vacation rentals. Or the policy that one needs three different forms, two signatures, and a blood oath to place an order for a box of pens. Nothing increases productivity like waiting two weeks to be able to write things down.

The irony is that the majority of these regulations themselves will go on and do the very opposite of what they were intended to accomplish. The goal could be to spur structure, but instead, they get in the way, irk employees, and create brand-new problems that never before existed. Now, the employees end up spending more time trying to navigate how to circumvent the “system” than actually doing their real work.

Image credits: SEO Galaxy / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Not all companies promote based on merit

Why is this? Partly because power is accompanied by a poisonous mix of ego and stress. Managers think that they must look as if they’re *managing*, so they tamper with that which didn’t need to be tampered with. It’s the furniture rearrangement in a burning house. Yes, the sofa is wonderful by the window, but shouldn’t we first do something about the fire?

And once such a poorly conceived policy has been implemented, it acquires a momentum of its own. Nobody is eager to be the one to question it, for fear of being labeled “not a team player.” The policy is soon memorialized in the company manual, inscribed into corporate stone tablets, and granted the kind of reverential awe generally reserved for venerable proverbs.

Ultimately, most dumb management rules don’t come from malice, they come from a weird set of desires to control, to take credit, and to be important. Too bad it has the effect of creating rules that make workers roll their eyes so hard they risk straining something. And thus, companies become bogged down not by competition, nor external threat, but by Karen in middle management insisting that all e-mails must now be composed using “Comic Sans for clarity”.

Readers thought the situation was pretty amusing

Comment on a forum about manager banning phones during work hours, showing a sarcastic response in a casual text format.

Comment discussing issues with manager bans phones during work hours and the need for company phones and on-call bonuses.

Comment highlighting malicious compliance when a manager bans phones during work hours, requesting company phone and pay.

Comment discussing work phone policies and server issues in the context of manager bans phones work hours malicious compliance.

Text post showing a user’s complaint about manager phone ban at work hours with malicious compliance tone.

Text comment discussing cautious phone use at work due to manager bans phones work hours malicious compliance policy.

Comment about using a personal device for work, highlighting frustration with manager bans on phones during work hours.

Comment about leaving phone in car during work hours, illustrating manager bans phones work hours malicious compliance issue.

Comment text showing an employee joking about forgetting their phone due to a manager banning phones during work hours.

Screenshot of a user comment illustrating malicious compliance with manager bans on phones during work hours.

Comment about refusing business calls on personal devices related to manager bans phones work hours malicious compliance.

Screenshot of a forum comment discussing phone use at work related to manager bans and malicious compliance.

Text comment about company phone allowance, illustrating manager bans phones during work hours with malicious compliance.

Text of a Reddit comment describing a manager banning phones during work hours leading to malicious compliance by deleting required work apps.

Others shared similar stories

Screenshot of a forum post sharing a story about a manager banning phones during work hours and malicious compliance.

Text comment discussing a hospital manager banning phones during work hours causing complaints and policy reversal.

Text post sharing a story about manager bans on phones during work hours and a case of malicious compliance.

Text post of a truck driver sharing a story about manager bans phones work hours and malicious compliance.

A few thought the story had some gaps

Comment questioning if the manager bans phones during work hours affecting communication between boss and employees.

Screenshot of a forum comment discussing manager bans on phones during work hours and related malicious compliance issues.

Comment discussing MFA challenges and mobile device restrictions related to manager bans on phones during work hours.

Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing a major server issue relating to phones during work hours in the context of manager bans.

Comment discussing a major server issue and a manager bans phones during work hours leading to malicious compliance.

Screenshot of a comment discussing work hours and job completion related to manager bans phones work hours malicious compliance.

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