Working with stupid people.

lazygal

Have you ever worked with someone who is just stupid? And wondered how they got the job at all? I've had a few different jobs in my time, in the public and private sector, and each time I've come across a colleague who is so blatantly stupid I wonder how they even managed applying for jobs in the first place.

Here's a short list:
The retail manager who couldn't use a printer to print off information signs, she left it all up to me 'because you're a whizz on computers'.
A classroom assistant who misspelled potatoes. Spelled it potatos.
A current colleague who can't (or won't) work with an IT upgrade, so her work has to be edited every time its submitted as its not compatible with everyone else's.
A colleague I have some interaction with (thank goodness not on a daily basis) who works on a switch board and can't transfer people's calls, instead he cuts them off. Every time.

AngryBollix

everyone is stupid

Mr Benevolent

But you're perfect, right?

lazygal

Confab wrote: »

But you're perfect, right?

Yes. It's good to be me.

ThinkAboutIt

I once worked with this Gal, she was very lazy, we used to call her LazyGal, and daaaayum she was stupid.

Babybuff

I can't do the fone thing either.

dulpit

My manager is properly stupid, she doesn't follow the processes she sets out but murders everyone else for not following them (she "forgets"). Oh and she can't spell, but sends out emails to important clients without using a spellchecker.

I have no idea how she got her job, I should probably ask her brother, the managing director, to see if he knows...

Gee Bag

50% of the worlds population are below average intelligence. Try as you might one of them is going to cross your path at some point

Revolution9

ThinkAboutIt wrote: »

I once worked with this Gal, she was very lazy, we used to call her LazyGal, and daaaayum she was stupid.

If you ThinkAboutIt you'll realise who he is talking about.

dulpit

Oh and our finance girl manages to break the printer at least twice a week... And can't use our phones...

Seachmall

lazygal wrote: »

A colleague I have some interaction with (thank goodness not on a daily basis) who works on a switch board and can't transfer people's calls, instead he cuts them off. Every time.

Same thing happens in my office.

Press the button once to ring, twice to transfer.

Not that fucking hard.

Gee Bag wrote: »

50% of the worlds population are below average intelligence. Try as you might one of them is going to cross your path at some point

*49%

Sky King

I have said it before, but I would literally scrub toilets before I would work with handicaps.

I don't know how people do it.

Plazaman

I think this is an urban myth but a guy I used to work ("John") with swears it happened to him.

John was leaving the Office late one evening when he sees his bosses boss standing beside the shredder. He asks John does he know how to work "this infernal machine". John takes the page he was holding and feeds in into the shredder. As he's about to walk off, the bosses boss says "Ah good man, will ya make me two copies of it".

FatherLen

Sky King wrote: »

I have said it before, but I would literally scrub toilets before I would work with handicaps.

I don't know how people do it.

i am not usually involved in the P.C. argument but........... wow

foxyboxer

The company runs training courses for external people at times.
One of the regular staff joined in on the course for the week.

Gave the door codes to the externals who came in early the following day.

Cue, the alarm going ballistic.

Stupid is as Stupid does.

Fizgig Bandicoot

Sky King wrote: »

I have said it before, but I would literally scrub toilets before I would work with handicaps.

I don't know how people do it.

Yes, i'd say they'd hate to be working with a stupid person such as yourself.

BizzyC

We had a woman in our office who gave out that she wasn't able to connect to the office from home with her RSA token.

As it turned out she didn't have an internet connection. She thought she could magically connect to the work network and proceeded to give out to the tech guys cause the process was stupid.

Latchy

From my own expierences , some of the dumbest people I've ever worked with were managers who had no idea of how to ' manage people ' but then you realise it was for their nasty personality , not their brains they were given the job in the first place .

Ficheall

Seachmall wrote: »

Gee Bag wrote: »

50% of the worlds population are below average intelligence. Try as you might one of them is going to cross your path at some point

*49%

*50%

(unless you're claiming that you're using some complicated weighted method based on IQ or somesuch, in which case I couldn't be bothered arguing with you.)

(ag glacadh leis nach bhfuil tú ag baint úsáid as modh casta éigin le meacháin bunaithe ar IQ nó rud éigin mar sin. Sa chás sin, ní bheadh aon suim agam argóint leat.)

Fizman

Temp girl that started here about 2 months ago. When it's her round for a cuppa.......EVERY time I give her my mug (it's black, and quite large), I get back a completely different one (white, and regular size)!

It makes me so mad, sometimes I just feel like pjlaefrh-9874rt-wetfgh[[se087=08=87rwq3rfQAWFPOHSAGDFO-HASRGF-Hdaw

mackg

Sky King wrote: »

I have said it before, but I would literally scrub toilets before I would work with handicaps.

I don't know how people do it.

mikemac1

BizzyC wrote: »

We had a woman in our office who gave out that she wasn't able to connect to the office from home with her RSA token.

As it turned out she didn't have an internet connection. She thought she could magically connect to the work network and proceeded to give out to the tech guys cause the process was stupid.

I must be stupid also
What is RSA?

edit, I'll find out, not requesting a technical explanation of RSA here

But I don't think that's so stupid,
If you're not in a technical role then you expect things to work, it's not for you to understand how they work

Teyla Emmagan

foxyboxer wrote: »

The company runs training courses for external people at times.
One of the regular staff joined in on the course for the week.

Gave the door codes to the externals who came in early the following day.

Cue, the fire alarms going ballistic in the city centre.

Stupid is as Stupid does.

I don't get this. Why were the FIRE alarms going off?

Stark

mikemac1 wrote: »

I must be stupid also
What is RSA?

This yoke: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SecurID

Susie_Q

This is the communications system in the office where my friend works:

Emails come in for the director. Each email is printed off by the secretary and left on his desk. Director reads the emails and HAND WRITES a reply to each one. Secretary collects papers back, types emails and sends replies.

This usually takes a full day, if not more, depending on the volume of email.

mikemac1

Michael O'Leary?

He doesn't use emails

He's right too, people are too fond of them.

foxyboxer

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

I don't get this. Why were the FIRE alarms going off?

Mea culpa. Fixed.

superstoner90

Sky King wrote: »

I have said it before, but I would literally scrub toilets before I would work with handicaps.

I don't know how people do it.

"handicaps" as you call them, acually refers to a person with a disability.
I know a person with a disability, hes one of the smartest people I know.
I think you mean stupid people.

Now that reply wasent very smart? Was it? :rolleyes:

Genghiz Cohen

Ficheall wrote: »

*50%

(unless you're claiming that you're using some complicated weighted method based on IQ or somesuch, in which case I couldn't be bothered arguing with you.)

(ag glacadh leis nach bhfuil tú ag baint úsáid as modh casta éigin le meacháin bunaithe ar IQ nó rud éigin mar sin. Sa chás sin, ní bheadh aon suim agam argóint leat.)

0-49 below average.
50 average.
51-100 above average.

Also, what I love is the Dunning Kruger effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyOHJa5Vj5Y

Bit based in religion but the main point is fantastic.

charlemont

The useless people seem to get away with being slack in work, Those of us who show initiative and competence in work have more expected of us. :mad:

westcoast66

Plazaman wrote: »

I think this is an urban myth but a guy I used to work ("John") with swears it happened to him.

John was leaving the Office late one evening when he sees his bosses boss standing beside the shredder. He asks John does he know how to work "this infernal machine". John takes the page he was holding and feeds in into the shredder. As he's about to walk off, the bosses boss says "Ah good man, will ya make me two copies of it".

I was working in a place where the boss asked me to network the shredder. No idea why....

mikemac1

Four years in college, did your technical certs and all you ever tell me to do is turn it off and turn it on again

marketty

mikemac1 wrote: »

Four years in college, did your technical certs and all you ever tell me to do is turn it off and turn it on again

I bet it fixes it though

mikemac1

Yes, works in pretty much all cases

Ficheall

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

0-49 below average.
50 average.
51-100 above average.

Suppose you have four individuals, listed in order of decreasing "intelligence": A,B,C,D whose intelligence placings, shall we say, are A_i,B_j,C_k,D_l respectively.
Their average position then is (A_i+B_j+C_k+D_l)/4.
A_i and B_j are above this placing and C_k and D_l are below it. 50% and 50% respectively.
That's the clear-cut case where one has an even number of individuals.

If one has an odd number:
Individuals are A,B,C,D,E; "intelligences" are A_i,B_j,C_k,D_l,E_m as before.
The average placing then is (A_i+B_j+C_k+D_l+E_m)/5.
C_k, here, we assume is the average placing.
Thus 40% are below the average placing, 40% are above and 20% are equal to the average placing.
(If there somehow exists some small quantity e greater than 0 such that C_k +/- e equals the average placing, then the division is into 60% and 40%).

When the size of this population increases to that of the world's population, if there is some single individual in the middle, they are negligibly small.

superstoner90

Ficheall wrote: »

Suppose you have four individuals, listed in order of decreasing "intelligence": A,B,C,D whose intelligence placings, shall we say, are A_i,B_i,C_i,D_i respectively.
Their average position then is (A_i+B_i+C_i+D_i)/4.
A_i and B_i are above this placing and C_i and D_i are below it. 50% and 50% respectively.
That's the clear-cut case where one has an even number of individuals.

If one has an odd number:
Individuals are A,B,C,D,E; "intelligences" are A_i,B_i,C_i,D_i,E_i as before.
The average placing then is (A_i+B_i+C_i+D_i+E_i)/5.
C_i, here, we assume is the average placing.
Thus 40% are below the average placing, 40% are above and 20% are equal to the average placing.
(If there somehow exists some epsilon greater than 0 such that C_i +/- epsilon equals the average placing, then the division is into 60% and 40%).

When the size of this population increases to that of the world's population, if there is some single individual in the middle, they are negligibly small.

For me to say, im confused would be the understatment of the year.

dulpit

superstoner90 wrote: »

For me to say, im confused would be the understatment of the year.

Now I feel stupid

ntlbell

BizzyC wrote: »

We had a woman in our office who gave out that she wasn't able to connect to the office from home with her RSA token.

As it turned out she didn't have an internet connection. She thought she could magically connect to the work network and proceeded to give out to the tech guys cause the process was stupid.

To be fair to the poor idiot, this day n age the RSA token should come with with a 10GB pipe on a USB dongle.

She's the clever one here imo

Ficheall

superstoner90 wrote: »

For me to say, im confused would be the understatment of the year.

Sorry

Try this way: pick 6 billion distinct numbers, put them in ascending order, and look at the one in the middle. Half of the other numbers will be bigger than it and the other half of the numbers will be smaller. The portion your middle number represents is so small we can ignore it.

ukonline

Ficheall wrote: »

Suppose you have four individuals, listed in order of decreasing "intelligence": A,B,C,D whose intelligence placings, shall we say, are A_i,B_i,C_i,D_i respectively.
Their average position then is (A_i+B_i+C_i+D_i)/4.
A_i and B_i are above this placing and C_i and D_i are below it. 50% and 50% respectively.
That's the clear-cut case where one has an even number of individuals.

If one has an odd number:
Individuals are A,B,C,D,E; "intelligences" are A_i,B_i,C_i,D_i,E_i as before.
The average placing then is (A_i+B_i+C_i+D_i+E_i)/5.
C_i, here, we assume is the average placing.
Thus 40% are below the average placing, 40% are above and 20% are equal to the average placing.
(If there somehow exists some epsilon greater than 0 such that C_i +/- epsilon equals the average placing, then the division is into 60% and 40%).

When the size of this population increases to that of the world's population, if there is some single individual in the middle, they are negligibly small.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsPheErBj8

Teyla Emmagan

Susie_Q wrote: »

This is the communications system in the office where my friend works:

Emails come in for the director. Each email is printed off by the secretary and left on his desk. Director reads the emails and HAND WRITES a reply to each one. Secretary collects papers back, types emails and sends replies.

This usually takes a full day, if not more, depending on the volume of email.

Yeah, my Dad's business partner does this too. And not because he's stupid, just because he decided years ago that he couldn't be bothered with email. And you know what, he's the boss. And if he's happy to pay for the inefficiency, then that's how it goes. Probably much like your director..

branbee

I'm currently being trained in to a new job that I'm probably more qualified for compared to some of the others that work there, but I expected them to be better at the job due to their experience- not the case! the people training me are clueless and I dont want to be the snotty bitch who corrects them all the time so I pretend Im oblivious to their stupidity which just makes me look stupid! :pac:

although I'll admit I haven't a notion how to use the phone!

Shybookwormy

Absolutely hate working with people who simply do not know how to use their initiative. Worked with this girl once for a project in school and I swear I literally had to spell things out for her before she did them. Can't stand people who blatantly ignore work that needs to be done!!! Blaaaargggh!

token101

Babybuff wrote: »

I can't do the fone thing either.

To be fair, if you can't operate a switchboard, you don't belong in the workplace.

GetWithIt

branbee wrote: »

I'm currently being trained in to a new job that I'm probably more qualified for compared to some of the others that work there, but I expected them to be better at the job due to their experience- not the case! the people training me are clueless and I dont want to be the snotty bitch who corrects them all the time so I pretend Im oblivious to their stupidity which just makes me look stupid! :pac:

Turns out they're all doing the same.

branbee wrote: »

although I'll admit I haven't a notion how to use the phone!

Case in point.

Sinfonia

Ficheall wrote: »

Suppose you have four individuals, listed in order of decreasing "intelligence": A,B,C,D whose intelligence placings, shall we say, are A_i,B_j,C_k,D_l respectively.
Their average position then is (A_i+B_j+C_k+D_l)/4.
A_i and B_j are above this placing and C_k and D_l are below it. 50% and 50% respectively.
That's the clear-cut case where one has an even number of individuals.

That seems to fall apart when you introduce numerical measurement.

If we can attribute some numerical system to the level of intelligence, and then apply numbers arbitrarily to each person in the example thusly:

A_i = 100
B_j = 51
C_k = 50
D_l = 25

Thus average intelligence = (100+51+50+25)/4 = 56.5

Of the sample of four people, 75% are below average intelligence.

So what are you saying? M'head hurts!

Ficheall

Sinfonia wrote: »

That seems to fall apart when you introduce numerical measurement.

If we can attribute some numerical system to the level of intelligence, and then apply numbers arbitrarily to each person in the example thusly:

A_i = 100
B_j = 51
C_k = 50
D_l = 25

Thus average intelligence = (100+51+50+25)/4 = 56.5

Of the sample of four people, 75% are below average intelligence.

So what are you saying? M'head hurts!

Aye, that was the 'weighting' I was referring to when I said in my initial post that I wouldn't argue that point. Trying to assign a "number" to the intelligence of an individual is certainly beyond me - even saying one person is "more intelligent" than another is daunting. Theoretically possible though.
I don't think that's where any of the 49%ers were coming from, though. I could be wrong. Perhaps one of them will enlighten us.

MistyCheese

lazygal wrote: »

Have you ever worked with someone who is just stupid?

Yes.

lazygal wrote: »

And wondered how they got the job at all?

I did used to wonder. Until one of the cleaners told me that one night she was seen in the (married with kids) boss' office, sitting on his lap.

Sinfonia

Ficheall wrote: »

Aye, that was the 'weighting' I was referring to when I said in my initial post that I wouldn't argue that point.

Ah, sorry, missed that somehow!

Teyla Emmagan

token101 wrote: »

To be fair, if you can't operate a switchboard, you don't belong in the workplace.

I don't transfer calls either. I used to, but then I realised that when people couldn't get through to their intended recipient they would just ring me, and have me run around the office like a fool and then transfer the call to the phone nearest the person they were actually looking for. So I just gave up and dropped each call systematically after that. Worked out much better for me

Potential-Monke

Again, to echo others, how some people get the jobs they are in is beyond me. I suppose it's who you know and not what you know.

Working as a waiter, i used to wonder how some of the colleagues kept their jobs as they have about as much interest or aptitude to do the job as a dead rat. And then they'd complain that the tips were crap, and i had to share my sizeable tips (restaurant rules), which i put alot of effort into gaining, with a useless tw@.