Not Working Smarter OR Harder

A few of us get transferred to a new department. A few weeks in, I get a comment that I’m not as “keen” or as “enthusiastic ” as one of the other guys that moved over with me. Turns out [Coworker] is giving me a bad name by being on the ball, and I should take his lead, or else.

This shocks me as [Coworker] is, in fairness, an idiot. He is utterly useless and can’t manage some of the simple tasks. It isn’t his fault this job just isn’t suited for him.

I am surprised, embarrassed, and a little humiliated, but I suck it up and spend some time with him. Maybe he’s found his element and has some niche.

The next day, I stick with [Coworker]. He starts by spending thirty minutes trying to find the tools he put away yesterday — only to find them in his toolbox where he left them, where he always leaves them — and another thirty minutes deciding what to do first. He then spends two hours doing a job that should take twenty minutes and rewards himself with an extra-long tea break.

Me: “I’ve heard you’ve been doing really well.”

Coworker: “Really?”

Me: “Yeah. Apparently, [Department Head] thinks a lot of you.”

Coworker: “Oh, I know him. He asks me if I’m doing some job or another and I tell him that I’ll do it next.”

Me: “Do you… actually do it?”

Coworker: “Well, by the time I finish whatever I’m doing, someone else has picked it up and it’s normally done.”

Me: “So… as far as he knows, the jobs he’s asked about, you’ve done?”

Coworker: “Maybe. They don’t let me do the important jobs.”

Eventually, and after getting berated again and again for not being as good as the superstar [Coworker], I had to point out that, actually, I was working hard. Someone got the wrong end of the stick and [Coworker] was inadvertently taking credit for other people’s work.