Alas, poor “Sophie”, we knew you well.
Sophie took a low-level management position in a large corporation with a branch near her city. They put her in a group office with several other people. She had a management title, but she didn’t actually manage anyone. She did, however, feel she should have her own office because “managers” have private offices.
She noticed many empty offices in the two-story building where she worked. She asked her manager, “Tom”, if she could have one, pointing out that there were many empty. The manager replied that he was aware of the empty offices, and to stay where she was.
She decided to move on up by showing them that she should have an office by sitting in one. A psychological trick I saw someone else play, to no avail. You know, “See it, be it.” So, one day for lunch she went and sat in one of the empty offices. Tom asked her what she was doing in there.
“I need a quiet place to eat lunch,” she replied.
“Eat in your own office,” he replied.
“It’s too noisy in that group office,” she said, “Everybody on the phone! I need a change of scenery. Who wants to sit in the same place all day?”
“Go eat in the cafeteria, then.”
“The cafeteria is just as bad! Too much noise!”
“Go back to your office,” he said. “This isn’t it.”
So she got up and moved, but tried it again in a few days.
“I thought I told you to stay in your office!” Tom snapped.
“I need a break!” she said. “What difference does it make? Nobody else is in here.”
“It’s not your office!” he replied. “I don’t want you in here!”
Here’s a tip, everyone: if your boss tells you to do something, do it.
But she did it again. This time, two important things happened:
- She wasn’t caught. Tom wasn’t around.
- She discovered that the phone in the office she was squatting in was live.
Now, she was encouraged: she could sit in the office, sending out the “promote me, I deserve to stay in the office reserved for those with higher titles” vibe, AND make personal phone calls.
And so, over and over, she would sit in there and make personal phone calls to her boyfriend. Whenever she heard someone coming, she’d hang up quickly, but never quickly enough. Over and over, she would sit in the vacant office, insisting the “peace and quiet” improved her productivity, and make surreptitious phone calls. Over and over, but not every time, because Tom had other things to do, she would be told to stop using the phone and using the office.
Of course, the temptation to make personal phone calls quickly overran “lunch” and she was ducking in different empty offices at every opportunity to talk to her boyfriend.
Guess what? She got fired.
If you’re told by someone who has the power to fire you not to go into an office that isn’t yours, don’t do it.
If you’re told by someone who has the power to fire you not to use a phone that is not assigned to you, don’t do it.
And don’t argue with someone who has the power to fire you. You will rarely win.