When managers prioritize control over common sense, they sometimes create more problems than solutions.

When one employee was scolded for helping a coworker and told to “stick to the schedule”, they decided to follow their boss’ rules to the extreme.

It went exactly how you’d expect, but somehow the manager didn’t know what to expect!

Read on for the full story!

“You have to follow the schedule” okay, guess I’ll just sit here then

I used to work at a small retail store where the manager was obsessed with “sticking to the schedule.”

Like, no helping with tasks that weren’t written in your official hourly breakdown.

Even going above and beyond was frowned upon by this manager.

One day, I finished my assigned duties early, stocking a small section and organizing a shelf.

I saw a coworker struggling with a heavy delivery in the back and offered to help, like any normal human would.

The manager hounded the employee.

Manager saw me and stormed over: “What are you doing? That’s not your scheduled task.”

I explained I was just helping out since I was done early.

“Doesn’t matter. Follow your schedule exactly.”

Okay then.”

So the employee finished out the rest of their shift with a very different attitude.

So I went back to my area, which was spotless, and just… stood there.

For 2 full hours. Staring at the already-stocked shelves.

Customers asked for help?

“Sorry, not my department.”

Boxes were piling up in the back?

Not my task.

Now the manager is starting to reconsider her directive.

At the end of the shift, the manager gave me a weird look and said, “You didn’t do much today.”

And I just smiled and said, “I was following the schedule exactly like you asked.”

She never said that crap again.

Seems like she should have just stayed out of her employees’ way!

Let’s see how Reddit reacted.

Managers can really make or break a job.

If a bad manager starts playing games, sometimes you just have to play along.

Nothing makes time go by slower at work than having nothing to do.

Some managers should really think things through better.

Blindly following rules doesn’t always lead to better results.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.