Thinking Outside The Box Versus Thinking Only About The Box
The ink in the company printer was low one day, so I went to the supply closet to get more. I reached for the first box and saw that it was open, but it was full of the right cartridges. So, I grabbed what I needed, went back to the printer, and swapped the cartridge. The printer went through the required testing and determined I had installed a cartridge with low ink.
Weird…so I went to get another one.
There were six boxes in the closet, and every single one was open. I finally found one that had the cartridge I needed, installed it, and printed. Then I went back to the closet and checked all the open boxes. The used cartridges didn’t make much sound when I shook them, and they were much lighter than their full counterparts.
After sorting through everything, I was left with one complete box and two partials. I took the empty cartridges and put them in the box labeled “USED INK CARTRIDGES GO HERE” on the same shelf.
A few months later, [Coworker] came to my desk holding a box of ink.
Coworker: “Why hasn’t anyone ordered ink?”
Me: “I’m not sure. Is the shelf empty?”
Coworker: “No.”
Me: “Then why order more?”
Coworker: *Shaking the box.* “They’re all empty!”
Me: “What? Why?”
Coworker: “I don’t know!”
Me: “You know, I went through this a few months ago. I think someone just put them all back.”
Coworker: “Yeah. How else are you gonna know they’re empty?”
Pause.
Me: “What?”
Coworker: “How are you going to know you need more if you don’t have the empty cartridges?”
Me: “…probably by seeing the empty shelf. Are you putting the used ones back in the boxes?”
Coworker: “Yeah. So you know they’re empty.”
Me: “Okay… so, for future reference, when you pull an empty cartridge, it goes in the box labeled USED INK CARTRIDGES GO HERE.”
Coworker: *Rolls her eyes.* “How will people know we need more, then?”
Me: “Because the shelf is empty!”
[Coworker] startles at my sudden outburst and recoils. Apparently, she went to management to complain that I was bullying her by pointing out that an empty shelf means we need more ink. I was not chastised for what I said, though SOMEONE keeps putting empty cartridges back in the boxes instead of in the USED INK box.
