It’s Always More Complicated Than It Sounds

Another person and I were running a blog site similar to Not Always Right. It was a labor of love for us to share stories from employees in various jobs.

However, one member got a magnificently “brilliant” idea in their head and wrote to me, suggesting a new section of the website.

Member: “It should be called ‘Ask HR,’ and you give advice to people who send in job-related questions. Basically, if someone is having trouble at work, you research what the employee can do about it.”

Me: “I’m afraid that’s not possible for us to do right now. Even ignoring the possible legal troubles we could get into, that would be an insane amount of work. Keep in mind that we would need to be knowledgeable about laws in all fifty states, to say nothing about other countries. There’re only two of us doing this, you know.”

Member: “Not so much work. Just answer a single question once a week or something. That gives you all the rest of the week to do the rest of the site.”

Me: “Again, no, there are too many complications and obstructions to add something like that to the website.”

Member: “That’s why you only do it once a week. That gives you the other six days to research and handle the complications. Or you can just get someone else on board to handle it full time.”

I decided to switch gears.

Me: “You know what? That sounds like a great idea! Since it’s your idea, I’m sure you’ve done your research on the matter. Thank you for volunteering to handle this project! I look forward to receiving emails from you on a weekly basis with example questions and example answers to get the project off the ground. It is, of course, entirely voluntary and you won’t be paid for any of your work.”

The member abruptly had a change of heart, messaged a half-hearted excuse about not being able to commit to the task, and stopped pestering me about incorporating their idea into the site.

Apparently, it wasn’t such a good idea once it became clear that THEY had to actually do all the work. I just had to shake my head.