Common Sense

This is something most workplaces simply can't run on. I've had more infuriating arguments with bosses than I could possibly remember, and in most of them, considered out of a certain broad context, I was right beyond any doubt. What makes these kinds of situations even worse, as you all know, is that usually the boss is, in a sense, arbitrary; your job isn't that great (restaurant serving in my case for several years), and the nincompoop in charge is just someone who's been at it longer than you and decided to make a career in the industry.

Let's use an example: At Denny's, there was a top-down policy that wrong orders (food cooked by mistake) can't be eaten by staff. This infuriated staff, because we all had to pay for our meals, and it made a lot more sense to simply put out the occasional wrong orders at the staff table for everyone to pick at family-style. Such orders were common and diverse enough that, over the course of a shift, everyone would get in a free meal's worth of food. Additionally, giving wrong orders to the staff wouldn't be a complete waste.


Now, if Denny's restaruants were staffed by mature grown adults who all exercised responsibility and common sense, giving wrong orders to staff would work well. But they aren't staffed by such people, and it only takes one or two cooks to start "accidentally" making wrong orders and turning a tiny amount of trust into a scheme for bilking the restaurant out of its food. Sadly, as the upper-level folk at Denny's know, this is exactly what would happen at most branches if the policy of throwing out wrong orders were overturned.

Take this simply as an example of the structure of many disagreements between employee and employer. There is often a regulation that, considered independently of its context, seems paternalistic and disrespectful, as though no employee can be trusted. People who are smart and responsible feel like they're getting no respect. They're right. But the company is also right, because the rule is really only meant to apply to those who would take advantage if given the chance. Unfortunately, a rule has to apply to everybody, and the larger a company is, the greater disconnect there is between those who write regulation and those who must follow it.

So, you'll see countless disagreements where the employee is right at that particular instance and context, but really it's just an example of the company enforcing a rule that serves greater good than harm in the big picture.

Some people see this conclusion as a reason to be less argumenetative with bosses, and others see it as a fundamental problem with any company large enough that the ownership loses touch with the employ.