It is not my job

This has to be one of the best examples of "it is not my job" I have ever seen. "Not my job" is when people do stupid things, and they know it, but it is "not my job" to fix it, so it stays broken.

Here is a picture from a Danish city, where they recently turned a one-way street into a shopping street and closed it off at one end. Obviously they had to do something, so the city worker was told to set up a "dead-end" sign.

(photo credit: JP)

Now they got a one-way street with a dead-end...

The amazing thing is not that the city authorities made a mistake, but the attitude of the city worker. He actually put up the "dead-end" sign. He knew that it was stupid, but since it was "not his job to fix it" he just did it anyway.

This is something that should never happen. If you do something that you know is wrong - stop doing it.

Take a look at this excellent presentation by Seth Godin at Gel 2006 to see more examples.

Comments

G - Jul. 31, 2007

Does that mean that I should correct every single spelling and grammatical error in texts I receive from my clients when using them to publish their website?

It's a nice principle, but not always that practical... Especially if you're the last chain in the development and production of a product.

Telling people that they have made a mistake teaches them that you will act as their safety net.. You teach them that they don't have to be as diligent in checking their own work, because they know you'll do it for them.

The only way to teach them to do better is:

1. To let their mistake stand - they have to take the blame for it when discovered.

2. Punish them for making mistakes: stopping the production process and make it known they goofed up; make them pay you to redo the work after they fix their mistake; charge them for correcting their work; tell them beforehand that you will not work with them again if they keep delivering shoddy work.

There is theory and there is reality. Humans are real. Principles based on theory are unfortunately not always that realistic. One must always consider human psychology and nature in contexts like these.

Anonymous - Apr. 17, 2008

Your link to "this is broken" is broken. It is to a site selling boots and knives (which apear to be not broken).

Thank you.

Thomas Baekdal - Apr. 17, 2008

Link deleted - thanks