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Researcher Allows Annoying Ph.D. Student To Set Herself Up For Failure Before Committee Meeting
There’s nothing wrong with asking your colleagues for help. That’s one of the benefits of working with other people — you can share knowledge and foster a collaborative environment that promotes learning and professional growth.
So when Reddit user Incandescent-aioli, who works in academic research, was approached by one of their teammates asking to fix her code, they happily obliged.
However, the woman wasn’t happy that they over-delivered and was too stubborn to see that her script needed the extra touch. So Incandescent-aioli allowed her to set herself up for failure at the upcoming committee meeting.
Continue scrolling to read their post on the subreddit ‘Malicious Compliance‘ to learn how it all unfolded.
RELATED:
This person went above and beyond to help a Ph.D. student fix her code before an important committee meeting
Image credits: Árpád Czapp (not the actual photo)
But she didn’t like that they over-delivered
Image credits: Incandescent-aioli
Image credits: Zhivko Minkov (not the actual photo)
Instead of using our coworkers, we benefit more from getting along with them
According to leadership expert Scott Steinberg, generally, when colleagues ask you for help, it’s a compliment. Most likely, they consider you to be good at the job.
But as this story shows, exceling at it can be a blessing and a curse. So you need to learn how to establish and enforce boundaries in order not to get taken advantage of.
“Doing so doesn’t always come naturally to those of us who aim to please and be liked,” Steinberg wrote. “Certainly, we all want to help our colleagues out. But it’s important to remember that we are all operating with limited time and resources. Actively encouraging peers to be more proactive is a must in the modern working world, especially if you’re playing with a tight schedule.”
Before telling them ‘no’, you can still offer the coworker some guidance by asking them questions such as:
- Have you tried X/Y/Z, by chance? (Googling it, checking this market research report, checking in with the IT, team, etc.)
- What do you think the best solution is? (You might offer additional prompts as needed, including, “Is this something HR might be able to help out with,” or “You might find answers to this on our online employee learning portal”)
- Have you tried running it by [insert individual, department, or team name here] yet?
- What is the client/team suggesting?
I hope it goes without saying that you shouldn’t rely on manipulating your colleagues in order to get through your own assignments. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Minnesota confirmed that close friendships increase workplace productivity, mainly because buddies are more committed, communicate better, and encourage each other. Plus, according to a global study by the International Social Survey Program (ISSP), interpersonal work relationships have a sizeable and significant positive effect on job satisfaction of the average employee as a whole, as relationships rank first out of 12 domains of workplace quality.
So it’s in your own best interest not to annoy everyone around you. Hopefully, the Ph.D. student will soon realize this.
Image credits: Redd F (not the actual photo)
As their story went viral, the original poster (OP) joined the discussion it started
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MR 2 years ago
These are students. Doing the work for them is problematic. And when grades are involved, touching someone else's work is especially troublesome. I appreciate that OP is just trying to be helpful, but in this situation, you call out that the output looks wrong, potentially point out the problem section, and move on. You don't re-write it for them. Even when they appreciate the assistance, they don't learn anything from it beyond they did it wrong. At most, you offer to help or walk them through it.
Lost Penny 2 years ago
So you were supposed to fix 1 single line that had to do with colours, and instead, you'd written an entirely different work? Without even contacting her & letting her know what was going on? And then SHE is the horrible and entitled one who didn't even thank you? My dude, you're so full of it!
Jay McGuigan 2 years ago
Exactly, my man definitely thought he was gonna get laid for "fixing" her code and when she was rightfully pissed he had to have a reddit moment about it.
Load More Replies...
Pewpie Diaper 2 years ago
This is 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt, cheating! Why is she being tolerated, and as a PHD candidate no less? I once took a zero on a major C++ assignment in my second year because a friend helped me to understand a task that I was trying to code, and my results ended up looking a bit too similar to his during grading. I was told that because I was honest and took full blame that I wasn't reported to the dean.
MR 2 years ago
That's pretty ridiculous. There are only so many ways to write code, you're going to have overlap and duplication. Especially depending on how teaches you what.
Load More Replies... Jay McGuigan 2 years ago
Why is this guy assuming she doesn't know her code is bonkers? Maybe it's intentional, maybe she's using the code to show the PHD department how things can be improved. There's a million reasons why this code could be the way it is and this pompous mansplaining jerk just assumes bad it's because "she cries" and "wants someone else to fix it" but when he does without her permission she tells him not to. So that CLEARLY isn't the reason. If you're that convinced she's cheating, take it to the ethics board and her professor, don't HELP HER and then COMPLAIN she doesn't want your help cheating. What a pretentious d******d.
Marnie 2 years ago (edited)
ESH. The OP was doing the work for the woman when the woman should be failing out of the program before she gets her PhD and is hired based on work that is not her own and ends up doing harm to society. Although her reasons and approaches for wanting only the one line fixed is wrong, that is in fact all that the OP should have done. It wasn't "being nice" to society at large and all the other students who do all their own work, to do all that other work for her.
Seb Benson 2 years ago
I see what you're saying Marnie, and I agree with you in principle to a degree, but given that OP says that they wrote comments for multiple steps in the analysis, it reads to me much more like an attempt at a teachable moment, as opposed to your interpretation of covering up incompetence leading to the partial downfall of society.
Load More Replies... MR 2 years ago
These are students. Doing the work for them is problematic. And when grades are involved, touching someone else's work is especially troublesome. I appreciate that OP is just trying to be helpful, but in this situation, you call out that the output looks wrong, potentially point out the problem section, and move on. You don't re-write it for them. Even when they appreciate the assistance, they don't learn anything from it beyond they did it wrong. At most, you offer to help or walk them through it.
Lost Penny 2 years ago
So you were supposed to fix 1 single line that had to do with colours, and instead, you'd written an entirely different work? Without even contacting her & letting her know what was going on? And then SHE is the horrible and entitled one who didn't even thank you? My dude, you're so full of it!
Jay McGuigan 2 years ago
Exactly, my man definitely thought he was gonna get laid for "fixing" her code and when she was rightfully pissed he had to have a reddit moment about it.
Load More Replies... Pewpie Diaper 2 years ago
This is 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt, cheating! Why is she being tolerated, and as a PHD candidate no less? I once took a zero on a major C++ assignment in my second year because a friend helped me to understand a task that I was trying to code, and my results ended up looking a bit too similar to his during grading. I was told that because I was honest and took full blame that I wasn't reported to the dean.
MR 2 years ago
That's pretty ridiculous. There are only so many ways to write code, you're going to have overlap and duplication. Especially depending on how teaches you what.
Load More Replies... Jay McGuigan 2 years ago
Why is this guy assuming she doesn't know her code is bonkers? Maybe it's intentional, maybe she's using the code to show the PHD department how things can be improved. There's a million reasons why this code could be the way it is and this pompous mansplaining jerk just assumes bad it's because "she cries" and "wants someone else to fix it" but when he does without her permission she tells him not to. So that CLEARLY isn't the reason. If you're that convinced she's cheating, take it to the ethics board and her professor, don't HELP HER and then COMPLAIN she doesn't want your help cheating. What a pretentious d******d.
Marnie 2 years ago (edited)
ESH. The OP was doing the work for the woman when the woman should be failing out of the program before she gets her PhD and is hired based on work that is not her own and ends up doing harm to society. Although her reasons and approaches for wanting only the one line fixed is wrong, that is in fact all that the OP should have done. It wasn't "being nice" to society at large and all the other students who do all their own work, to do all that other work for her.
Seb Benson 2 years ago
I see what you're saying Marnie, and I agree with you in principle to a degree, but given that OP says that they wrote comments for multiple steps in the analysis, it reads to me much more like an attempt at a teachable moment, as opposed to your interpretation of covering up incompetence leading to the partial downfall of society.
Load More Replies...
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