mordant wit

On Scott Adams’ Dilbert website, there used to be a section where readers could submit their own stories of workplace foibles. One guy wrote in to talk about how he and four of his buddies managed to take at least one day a week off each. They worked for a big company and it was easy to get lost. Besides, they covered for each other.

If it was your day off, you were the “out guy” and you didn’t have to do anything but enjoy the day. But if not, you had a work to do.

The four guys who were working each had a task. One guy would go by the office of the “out guy” two or three times a day and post a note reading “be back in 15.” Another would fill a coffee cup halfway and leave it steaming on his desk. Someone would change the programs on his computer around. The fourth would shuffle papers and what-not around his desk.

The point was, anyone who came by would just assume they’d missed the “out guy” and check back later. The guy on the website claimed they’d pulled this off for years. These guys understood one important fact: It’s more important to look busy than be busy.

I’ve worked for a lot of companies. Most of them have been small startups, meaning that often everyone was very busy. There just weren’t enough people to do everything that needed done. But I’ve also worked for bigger companies and everyone acted just as busy there.