Member-only story
We’ve all had some variation of the hair-trigger boss. What’s that, you ask? Let’s see if this situation resonates with you.
You’re working on a project. Your boss used one of the managerial tricks of the trade — “sense of urgency!” — and so you’re half-rushing, but trying to focus to make sure it gets done in the right time. (“I needed this yesterday,” he told you earlier.) You also understand that process is sacrosanct to your boss, so you’re trying to make sure you hit all your process targets along the way too. (“I gotta make sure this is in Dropbox and Basecamp,” you repeat to yourself.) You work pretty hard on this project and feel good about it. You also realize this is a first go-round, and things will change, tweak, and evolve. That’s the nature of how business is done, right?
You send it over to your boss. Within about 2 minutes, you get a reply. You assume it’s going to be “Got it, thx” because I mean, what can someone really evaluate in 120 seconds? You open the e-mail expecting the passive reply noted above, and …
“Why are headers in Arial?”
You don’t understand. Headers? Arial? Were there specific fonts that you needed to follow? Oh God.
As your stomach turns, another e-mail comes in. Oh God. You’re gonna vomit.
