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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/AlienAnimaReleased on 2025-10-20 05:22:38+00:00.
A couple of years ago, I got shuffled out of the business side and into IT during a re-org. The official reason was “better alignment with software delivery.” The real reason? I’m expensive, I don’t do sales, and IT has a bigger budget. Also, and this is educated speculation, I kept not approving IT’s builds for not meeting specs — which, apparently, makes me “difficult” and not “solution oriented.”
So now I report to the executive I had previously challenged over the quality of his team’s work.
Since joining IT, everything has to be a ticket. Doesn’t matter if it’s a question, a clarification, or divine revelation — no ticket, no work. PMs handle ticket creation and prioritization, which sounds fine in theory, except my actual job is to consult with business analysts and developers. I know more about the rules, regulations, and use cases of our software than anyone in the company and my work doesn’t easily fall into a ticket as it’s more of a problem solving role for existing tickets.
Still, no ticket = no work. Bureaucracy over brains.
Clients — especially senior ones — tend to reach out to me directly because I can actually answer their questions. Normally, I’d just respond and, if needed, make a ticket afterward for tracking.
But management didn’t like that.
After one particularly “spirited discussion,” over delays to close low priority tickets in leu of responding to high priority client emails, my boss told me to stop responding to client emails altogether. I was to forward them to PMs, who would create, prioritize, and assign tickets.
I explained, patiently, that these emails often come from executives and need quick turnaround.
Boss’s response?
“Follow the process or we won’t know how overworked you are.”
Okay then, boss. Let’s follow the process.
A week later, I get an email from the CFO of one of our biggest clients asking for details about a customized build. Normally I’d get an estimate out in a couple of hours. Instead, I cc’d my boss and PM, confirmed I’d received the request, and politely asked them to create and assign a ticket.
A few days later, the CFO followed up: “We need this by Friday.”
I replied again — cc’ing everyone — apologizing for the delay and asking that the assigned resource take note of the urgency. (Knowing full well no one had assigned the ticket.)
Behind the scenes, I had already done the estimate and informed the client what was happening. Spoiler: nothing.
Suddenly, my boss is frantically pinging me:
“Why haven’t you gotten back to the CFO?!”
I calmly reminded him that:
- He told me to only work on assigned tickets.
- He was cc’d on every email.
- He’d have to ask the PM for a status update.
There was a long, delicious silence before he finally replied:
“Okay… you don’t need a ticket for everything. In the future, if it’s from an executive, just respond and make a ticket afterward.”
Sure thing, boss. Glad we cleared that up.
I sent the estimate, everyone was happy, and peace was restored. And better yet, management now puts results over process.
Well the first part anyway, but peace and results? Well, that’s a malicious compliance story for another day.