Is Your Workplace Toxic?

How do you avoid being the type of supervisor you hated when you started out? How do you know if you have a toxic work environment (and whether it's your own fault)? How do you deal with the folks who are TOO helpful? In this live stream excerpt, Adam Savage answers these questions from Tested members @monkeycircus509, @SuzyRevenge and @Vickie-Bligh, whom we thank for their support and questions. What are YOUR toxic workplace stories?
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[@tested]

With thanks to Tested members @monkeycircus509, @SuzyRevenge and @Vickie-Bligh for their support and questions. Is your workplace toxic now, or have you ever worked in a toxic environment?

[@willhutton1516]

So I’m recently and currently dealing with between-shift managers not really communicating. I run multiple machines, and one machine has a stack that you work through (top-to-bottom, unless something’s on your desk with a note on it, yada yada), but the other machine, people often drop off work with unclear or missing information. I.E. no highlighted dimensions, routing to me with no notes, etc. me and a co-worker have been discussing it for a little while now, and we’ve discerned it’s either that they don’t care because every man for themselves, or it’s because they are getting old and they just don’t give a d anymore. I’m a recently graduated tool & die maker and I love what I do! Just annoying how they seem to refuse to communicate between shifts. Most of the time, no-one says anything to me about any of my parts. Just get em done and move em on. Because of this situation, at one point, I was “split between 3 masters” so to speak. I was running 4 machines at once, all across the shop. A CNC mill, CNC lathe, waterjet, and surface grinder, all at once. In fact, one of the parts I’m working on rn, the manager who told me about them, said “don’t mess them up” and that assumes that I am taking all dimensions to final size. A few days later, I’m told that our Jig grinder will be doing those dimensions. I was able to use the CNC mill and kept the dimensions within +- .0005. Even though the tolerance is +0-.0002. My co-worker said he ran them to the previous dimension before and they said they were good.

[@Bibibosh]

Not that the workplace is toxic, but some certain individuals who make the workplace tangy! Yes tangy like a tangy fruit, like a fermented off tangy fruit.

[@bananatree2527]

I have at our current job. We are quite understaffed and being understaffed fuels toxic behaviour. Different people have different ways of coping with their stress and some of them release it through racist humour or bullying or punching down, and even when that behaviour gets severe higher ups are hesitant to step in because we are already understaffed (and laying them off makes that worse). The result tends to be that the lower ranks often leave quickly which exacerbates the issue in the long term.

[@typerightseesight]

straight coming.

[@njones420]

I've worked for 20 years in a company with a "blameless" culture, which is a great system when everyone is fully-invested...That's all changed over the last year with new management, and the new system is more "name and shame". We've had around 50% of the staff leave or replaced, and it's created a toxic environment with people pushing each-other under the bus, rather than the old way of looking for solutions. It's sad, but I think it's becoming very common.

[@s.crawford12]

I once had a boss that never took me aside when I got things wrong. I even once asked him why he never chewed me out over mistakes. He honestly told me "Crawford, I have chewed out many employees I have managed over the years. But you I never needed to. I could tell you felt bad for your mistakes. I saw you asked for help to improve. I saw you kicking yourself harder than I ever could and on your own you improved, you took the extra effort to avoid future mistakes and i never had to say a word. You took responsibility and you managed yourself. I knew if you needed my help, you would have asked. The only job I had to do is keep upper management out of your way so you could grow".....To this day, he was the best boss i ever had.

[@1bootliz]

Until my current position, I never had a supervisor who truly saw my potential and had that same kind of attitude. I never realized it was possible to feel so valued and validated at a job, and I feel so very lucky!

[@applepie9806]

I'm crying, I need a manager like this, my current workplace is horrible. People kept blaming me for no goddamn reason and even when actually it's their own bloody fault. Where do I sign up to work with this guy?

[@s.crawford12]

@@applepie9806 Honestly I lucked out. and he was retired, lost his wife and came back to work just to stay busy. He came from the generation where the job took care of it's employees in exchange for hard work and job loyalty. That's definitely not the job scene today where we barely earn what we make and we get treated so poorly (overall) that job loyalty is just stupid. He was also the type that worked his way up so he did the jobs he was later managing. He knew what it took to do the job he had us doing. Me and him had very different views politically and had no matching interests but unlike most people nowadays he never held that against you. He respected diversity and different views of thought and he believed it made his team stronger. I deeply respected him and would work for him again in a heartbeat. I don't think I will ever work for anyone like that again and I'm not sure upper management even allows managers like that to even exist anymore. It feels they are not allowed to protect and grow who they manage anymore.

[@bobb7918]

Wish I could copy this.

[@vampiresgrave]

legendary boss

[@AaronCederberg]

“Companies don’t like to fire a bunch of people at once because it hurts the stock, so instead the fire people consistently throughout the year and tank company culture to the point that nobody can make decisions” is the kind of unexpected nuggets of life/business/philosophical advice/thinking that makes this channel one of the best.

[@vailpcs4040]

This hit a little too close to home.

[@TheGreatAtario]

Unfortunately, a lot of companies have learned that announcing a big splashy layoff can _boost_ the stock, because a bunch of people think nothing but "cost cutting is GOOD!"

[@userJohnSmith]

Yeah, nature of corporate. If you find a privately owned business and people have been there for decades, and the pay is good-that's the Holy Grail my friend.

[@AnonymousAnarchist2]

​@@TheGreatAtarioKnowing that it oscillates between the two depending on how the stock market is currently responding is all anyone needs to know... About the stock market, and its value to humanity

[@Mozart1220]

I worked for a HUGE company in Utah. JUST Before "profit sharing" time, they would announce that they "found" some marijuana someplace and now everyone must be drug tested. Immediately a bunch of people would up and quit. That left more money for the rest of us, but it was still a crappy way to "lay people off" so they didn't have to pay unemployment. Oh, and to my knowledge, NO ONE EVER got paid workman's comp for being hurt at that job. If you were hurt you just "failed a drug test" and were fired for cause with no actual testing. Try and fight that in court. They automatically don;t take you seriously because "you are on drugs".

[@krisCrashTV]

As my mechanic once said (after assembling my bicycle wrong), it's the people who DO the WORK that MAKE the MISTAKES and then we both laughed and he fixed it. so if you fire the people who make mistakes you probably fire the people who are more productive, and then you get new people who make the same mistake. The same person doesn't often repeat a mistake, after all.

[@quasar.nebula]

I love this anecdote. It's self-admitting in a subversive way: "I make the mistakes, and I'm proud of it! I'm going to fix my mistake now!! And then keep goin' and make some more mistakes!!" There's no shame to that and there _shouldn't_ be. Working is making mistakes and fixing your mistakes (or catching them early) is learning, and learning is good! Everyone makes mistakes with consequences, even on other people and the project and so on, so don't go beating yourself too badly about it.

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

Ooh, that's a good point!

[@VorpalSlade]

This is in the same vein as the old chestnut of "lazier people get the job done more efficiently" (and all the discussion which comes with how you interpret or whether you agree with that!)

[@whyyes6428]

I'm a bicycle mechanic and it was cool to read your comment. My advice is if you're a manager, you need to employ career mechanics who have grown up alongside bikes from a young age. There's a reason why that might be. The best mechanics who I've worked with over 10 years have a form of autism, generally aspergers and fixing bikes it their 'it' thing. You won't get better mechanics than those guys.

[@alexanderboehm7473]

So true - I feel I am running into that issue myself right now at work.

[@TheVagolfer]

Adam, I've run a construction company for 40 years, and you give a lot of good advice here. I've found the 3 most valuable things I have learned to say are "I apologize,"..."It was my fault,"..."I'll take care of it." This is the first step to being a good manager.

[@jrkorman]

Thank you - I have NEVER thought less of a supervisor who was willing to admit that they had made a mistake.

[@dillonhounshell9786]

As a manager, I've made a point to apologize if I screw up. We all do it. Accountability shows that you can be trusted.

[@TheJols]

​@@geraldstiling3735but he did abuse children

[@thechumpsbeendumped.7797]

@@geraldstiling3735 Interesting. Then, not “than²”

[@spankyjeffro5320]

Depends if it's actually your fault. Never take blame or fame for something you didn't do.

[@philopharynx7910]

The best bosses I've had have considered their job to be the guy who cleans the highway. They get the obstacles out of the way so that you can do your job as efficiently as possible.

[@nicholaslogan5185]

I like the way you/they put that. I always approve of managers who remember that they are there to make it easier for their team to get the job done. Workers aren't children who need a babysitter, and if they do then fire them

[@SingularityPoint384]

"You cannot demand respect unless you give it. You can only demand respect if you give it." I love it.

[@cibriosis]

unless your a doctor or similar profession...

[@PaulScott_]

Yes, but often we forget that it goes both ways, that is, up and down. Many employees demand respect from their supervisors but never give it, ever. We must also remember that we ALL have bad days, whether an employee or supervisor.

[@Sojoez]

Respect is earned, not given.

[@PaulScott_]

@@andywest5773 No one stated that it is not possible. You have assumed something that has not been stated. "rather than giving respect" therefore means that you should be disrespectful? If so then your statement is false because now everyone, including you is not respectable and you have lowered your standards to theirs - not good.

[@morbidmanmusic]

you've never heard that before?

[@ChrisMcCarroll]

The company I work for had a major system failure today. I did what I could do to resolve the issue. An hour before I leave this happens. Other people have to deal with the repercussions overnight. Other people have to deal with the repercussions tomorrow when I’m not there. So I sent an email explaining, what happened. What I was doing to resolve it. The owner of the company called mad that I communicated and fired me. Later found out the system failure was because he didn’t pay the bills. I am freaking out right now. I have no job prospect and I have no way to pay my bills next month because I am paycheck to paycheck. But I’ve also been in the most ridiculously toxic environment by one of the most horrific human beings on this planet. And right now, I cannot be any happier to be out of that environment. But it’s funny that such a wonderful video about toxic workplace came out today. It helped inspire me to walk out and take control

[@Kleinage]

Hang in there Chris. You sound like an exemplary employee. A good manager would love to have someone so conscientious and thoughtful, thinking of fellow workers and the function of the company as a whole, during a crisis. You’ve got big shoes to fill. I hope that gets recognized at a much healthier place when you interview.

[@ChrisMcCarroll]

@@Kleinage thank you so much

[@sheaross3124]

Hello Mr. McCarroll. you strike me as a man Who takes care of people, and personally I like taking care of people who take that path. I wonder what your skills are, what kind of expertise you have. I'm a real estate executive And although my company is a young one We are looking for good people. If you still need a job, or if you're interested to know more please reach out. you have a wonderful day and God bless you sir.

[@thepeacefulenemy4026]

Funny thing-the owner is almost always the most useless person in any business. Maybe we as a civilization should put the ownership of workplaces in the hands of the people who, you know, actually do the work…

[@ChrisMcCarroll]

@@thepeacefulenemy4026 there are companies out there who do that. They are almost always, very successful companies.

[@RjWolf3000]

Complaining with moderation is one of the best team building exercises. Work places that treat complaints as betrayal are toxic as hell.

[@s.crawford12]

Almost every work related complaint was a "I can't do the job as well as I wanted to because of X,Y or Z" They just wanted to do better at their job but circumstances were preventing their best efforts. Damn near every other employee I ever met wanted to do a good job but couldn't. Management seldom listened and would always complain about the production rate not being as good as it should. They always just labeled everyone was lazy/entitled and not listening to the employees on issues in the workplace slowing down production.

[@robertpaulson4960]

@@s.crawford12 This has been a problem at every single Job i've worked at, every single one. The company will have some rule in place made by someone that has never worked the job with the rule in place...

[@poetryflynn3712]

@@s.crawford12 The more wealthy and old someone is, the more and more they have to be convinced they're wrong about how they perceive other people.

[@dustman96]

Yes, we should be free to express our issues, because real communication makes things better in the long run. We had an awesome meeting at work back in the day called a bitch and brew. We would all sit around and have a couple beers, some snacks, and talk about things that were bothering us, things we could do to improve the quality and efficiency of our work, safety issues, or whatever else. Pretty much the most productive meeting i have ever attended.

[@GoopyGum]

I was fired because I was struggling very deeply with preventing a particular type of mistake in my workplace. My supervisor was a power hungry rat race type of dude and he had maybe one or two meetings with me to try and prevent my mistake from occuring, it mostly had to do with memory issues and making sure the thing that needs to get signed wasn't signed etc. He told me to make a list to make sure that I check said thing every single time I finish a room. Long story short, I messed up again and because I was going to school and cutting my hours at work he decided that they were just going to kick me after a year of service. He blamed me and he got into unemployment court specifically to try and make sure that I did not get unemployment. Dude was just a supervisor. Freak.

[@bobbyjoedill]

My mom taught me one thing about being a leader in a company (or owner), "Being fired should never be a surprise".

[@ItsKrispyKev]

I constantly got into trouble from my work peers for working to fast. Unfortunately for me my manager never rewarded me for working my ass off but instead would give me everyone else's jobs to do as well. No pay rise but triple the work load. I soon got tired of that thought and just decided to stop working so fast. I would always make sure I was the last one finished any job. I hated that place. Its what made me make the leap to being self employed.

[@safetysandals]

Sounds like my aunt and, at her previous job, my mother. Practically runs the department she's in, and for all she does she's underpaid and essentially can't take time off. Bless her heart, my aunt still works for that hospital, but we really wonder why. My dad was an inch away from suing the hospital my mom worked for over PTO before she was conveniently laid off.

[@NitaKerns]

Ughh I had a boss who would micro-manage and then not manage at all. They wanted to be a part of every single tiny decision (that the rest of the staff were completely capable of handling), but when bigger decisions needed to be made... they were out of the office and not taking calls (or acting annoyed when we did get a hold of them). It was absolutely frustrating, even though I loved the company and the work.

[@ToothAchesRCool]

Worked in a Dental practice with a practice owner that acted the EXACT same. Its a very stressful and aggrevating enviorment to be in. Bosses like these people think they deserve to be in a leadership role, but dont actually want the responsibility of it.

[@Johnny-Joseph]

The most toxic person I ever worked with was a professional victim who was convinced the world was out to get her. The day she was fired was the happiest of my professional life

[@larrybud]

Geez, were we co-workers? lol Had the same experience with my manager.

[@SimuLord]

I see you've met my ex-wife. You should've heard her when she got home after she got canned.

[@charlesperkins7746]

I currently work with one such individual.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

I once told my co-workers, (all but one) that the day that one person got fired I would buy everybody a round at the pizza place that night. Not even a couple months later I walked in to work and everybody was lined up in front of me with big smiles. Immediately I knew what had happened. It was a good day for all of us, (all but one).

[@Jesses001]

The worst part is, that person will just blame it on everyone being against them. They will not realize it was a self fulfilling prophecy.

[@batlrar]

I really like the part about the guy you worked with having a sudden epiphany and turning his life around. It reminds me of something my dad once told me about how he was turning his life around because he got home and saw a message on the answering machine, and when he played it, he heard his own voice yelling empty threats about what he would do if the chores weren't done when he got home, laden with swear words. This was the first time he had heard that side of himself directed towards him, and he just sat there thinking about what things look like from a third person perspective. It's hard to think of yourself as the bad guy because every choice you make is what you think is right in the moment, so sometimes you need to take the time to think of things in a more objective way to really turn your life around.

[@studioheathco]

Damn, it’s one thing to post videos and view the curated content later for fun. It’s completely different catching yourself on a hot mic or an unscripted, candid moment that was aimed at someone specific. It’s powerful to have the opportunity to see (or hear) yourself the way other people see you.

[@RPKGameVids]

Sometimes when I play a video back that I've made I've heard myself getting pissed off and shouting because of something going wrong, and hate the way I come across, it makes me try to not be like that.

[@1bootliz]

Legitimately the best thing that happened to me at my current workplace was when, 3 weeks into my time there I was called into my team lead's office to have a talk about my superior attitude and how difficult I was to work with. She was very kind about it, but it was the incredible wake-up call I needed. I had NO IDEA that's how me using my knowledge and previous experience to try and be "helpful" was coming across at all. I've been there 3.5 years now and I still occasionally thank her for that. I've since learned to ask people to tell me if they want more details rather than info-dumping them to death!

[@sigh_bold8192]

What I find facinating is how much of this applies to parenting as well. Punching down, giving respect to ask for respect, taking blame ect.

[@dillonhounshell9786]

I mean, you're basically managing your kids, to a degree. Training them to be good people.

[@GC12345]

Managing and parenting are two sides of the same coin. Everyone wants to be in a stable, authentic, and ethical environment where they feel like they matter and are treated with dignity and respect

[@_helmi]

I got depressed at work and received proper mental health treatment and 6 month paid sick leave. From this experience I realised once I understood the nuances/dynamics of relationship I had with my boss, I then pretty much understand the other relationships I have in my life. The common denominator of all relationships is self awareness.

[@jasoncoates1835]

I work alone as a sole proprietor... so yes, extremely toxic. I really need to speak with HR.

[@1bootliz]

Perhaps have a long talk with your manager too 😂

[@tumbleddry2887]

Agreed...I am a SP, too......my boss can be a real jack-wagon (as my son likes to say) sometimes. He usually calms down pretty quickly, though.😆

[@smilingeyes1938]

Used to work in an environment where the supervisor would sacrifice himself to make sure his crews got a fair shake. He was over custodial, security, and event staff, none of whom got the institutional respect they deserved. He was always bringing goodie boxes for his folks and doing little things to let them know how much he appreciated them. He made it a point to be an active part of the working crews, not just their supervisor. He would make sure they got to go home at a decent hour even if it meant he stayed all night to finish a setup. He would put himself on the line any time executive staff ever got in a huff about his crews. He was strict without being harsh and would always try to be the positive light, sometimes to the point of sitting in his office with the door closed and tears streaming down his face because he hated to be the bearer of bad news. He even wrote himself up for an infraction no one else saw or knew about because he was adamant he couldn't enforce rules on his crews that he wasn't willing to enforce on himself. He eventually took a much better position in a far-removed part of the organization, but to this day his crews still talk about him. More than once they've let him know a position had opened up and asking if he would please come back.

[@danchauvin9896]

I've always followed the rule "praise in public, discipline in private".

[@alobowithadhd6191]

That just makes you distrustful in my opinion.

[@njones420]

I'll just leave this comment from our CO today ... "I want people to go home sad and tired at the end of the day" No joke!

[@tested]

????!!!!

[@1bootliz]

😨

[@nereafcr]

&%#€% Why!!!! I mean, what on earth for?!?!? He/she sounds like a saddist who takes pleassure in other people suffering. So sad. 😢

[@njones420]

@@nereafcr I'm pretty convinced he's not right in the head ... thankfully i only ever have to deal with him via phone-calls. :)

[@davidfromkyushu6870]

CO, so I'm guessing Navy?

[@ChefSarah4104]

I've had bad bosses, and wonderful bosses. When I was in a management position I wouldn't ask my coworkers to do a job that I wouldn't do myself. Stay humble.

[@iFixJunk]

Amen!

[@rachelbrown989]

I think one of the key things that makes owning your mistakes possible is ensuring that the work culture isn't one based around blame and where it is OK to make mistakes. I constantly try to reinforce an attitude in everyone who works for and with me, that mistakes are an everyday part of working, nobody get's into trouble or get's grief for making mistakes, and fortunately my boss is exactly the same. You learn more from your mistakes and they improve your end result and processes going forwards.

[@JohnSmith-wj2wd]

Good point. I've worked at a place where if I owned up to my mistake, it would land me in much deeper trouble than if I simply denied any wrongdoing. And I'm not talking about trouble like having to fix said mistake. I mean trouble like people remembering it and slowly building a narrative where you're the source of all issues since they now have someone to throw blame at, since after all, I was the only one who admitted to messing up.

[@7r3v0r]

@@JohnSmith-wj2wd way too common that people who don't admit fault get promoted on the assumption they don't make mistakes.

[@modularcuriosity]

You sir, just gave a master class in leadership. In fact, I'm going to share this video with my team. I've had both types of managers and I try to be very self aware of how my interactions with my team affect everyone.

[@user-sq6hs1hz9u]

The tragedy of the human condition is that no one thinks of themselves as the bad guy! We are all the heroes of our own personal comic!

[@HeartFeltGesture]

Yes, my workplace is toxic. I am in the process of transitioning to other work. The manager / subordinate worker dynamic is very close to the parent / child dynamic. Bad managers double down on this dynamic and abuse it. Narcissists always try to find their way into management roles, this is where the problem lies, with bad managers. They are playing a self-indulgent game of asserting dominance rather than artfully and respectfully managing people and work-flow.

[@hedgeearthridge6807]

Dr. Deming, the "Father of Quality", spent very little time actually talking about quality control and mostly talked about eliminating fear and toxicity from the workplace. Because quality is ethics, and you can't have quality if you treat customers and employees unethically. Even productivity awards and ranking people is a form of toxicity; statistically it's no different than a random lottery, and you're just discouraging the people who worked hard but didn't get picked. He said to get rid of it and "replace it with nothing", and that to try to improve it is to "improve hell".

[@d8l835]

Yes. New management in charge. They literally say 1 thing, very vaguely, than get mad at you when you do what they said. Always have to dress down the entire crew instead of the individual(s) responsible for w/e the problem is. Constantly. It's demoralizing. Accuse everyone of doing something wrong instead of the people who did it. They aren't willing to take accountability for any of the failures, but take credit for all the success

[@geoffreysahs7650]

I was watching this on my phone and I thought “how cool is it that his work table is a naval map/chart.” When I finished the video on my computer, I realized that it is just cut and scratched. But from the oblique angle of the camera it looks like a cool map. Thanks for such a great video with solid advice!

[@simonbennett9687]

I thought exactly the same!

[@nicholaslogan5185]

I read half ur comment and looked up at the video and was like, "oh that is cool," then read the rest of ur comment and lol'd. So u have spread this misconception now 🎉

[@geoffreysahs7650]

I seriously spent the first half of the video thinking about how I could have a chart top worktable myself before I realized it@@nicholaslogan5185

[@thisoldproperty]

Sitting here thinking the same thing. I don't own a TV so it's only a small mobile. The eyes are what it thinks it sees. Nice pick up.

[@scottbartlett4853]

Oh man did that resonate! I had someone tell me I was making him look bad because of the speed and efficiency I worked. I actually thought he was joking at first. He wasn't.

[@1bootliz]

I've had that happen to me too! I had a co-worker literally tell me I was making them look bad because I worked too well. I was like I'm sorry but I don't know any other way to work!

[@efleschner]

"are you adding or taking away work?" Great summary of workplace collaboration and clarity of responsibilities.

[@organfairy]

We had a really toxic workplace the last year on my former workplace. The problem was difference in culture. I worked at a Danish company where management structure traditionally is very 'flat' in the sense that managers are down-to-earth and everybody can talk to everybody. Things started to change when a new top manager from London was brought in. He practiced 'management by fear' and soon the whole company was a miserable place. He started to hire other British managers and started to close down Danish departments, and that's how I lost my job. I am still in contact with people who are still with the company, and they say that things have only got worse since I left.

[@yarnexpress]

Any workplace that even thinks/talks about blame is toxic!!! TEAMS make mistakes & TEAMS have successes not individuals. I worked as a software engineer for 30+ years & never encountered either blame or shame.

[@clueless_cutie]

I recently got my first IT job, and the change in culture gave me whiplash. The genuine team effort involved to keep things running is incredible compared to the "team effort" of my former position at Walmart (a big company that hires and fires regularly as Adam mentioned). When mistakes are made, we fix them. That's it. If it's a really big mistake, we make sure everyone understands what went wrong and how to not do it going forward. That's it. There's no dragging someone across the coals because everyone fucks up. Nothing is perfect in IT and neither are the people. If someone is having a performance issue, our supervisor works with them one to one to correct it. AND he doesn't gossip about it to the rest of the team. One of my coworkers came from a manufacturing company. We've lamented together the horrors of some workplaces, and how much nicer it is here. I know I got lucky, and it made me realize how easy it is to forget how bad a work environment is if you've been in it long enough.

[@jaceve98]

Thank you so much for posting this, could not have come at a better time. I followed my dreams and recently got hired into my first prop shop working for a master in his craft. Turns out he's an awful boss, an 84 year old bully who is constantly belittling, humiliating, and making fun of his employees. Freinds of his come by and tell the workers not to take it personally and that he fires people all the time. I find myself building at a poorer quality, constantly feeling like I'm dumb or not good enough, and having the joy stripped from the work for me. I'm looking for other work now while I stick this out, but I worry that I will just end up quitting or that he will fire me once the current project is done. It's good to hear your perspective in all of this as a young maker just getting his start, I wish we could all have a Savage boss

[@jaceve98]

Also I'm being paid as much as a McDonald's employee so it burns that much more

[@jackthompson6296]

You may not be learning the skills you wished for, but you are learning valuable life lessons from this man.

[@efpara1768]

Coincidentally to starting my first formal leadership position in the Army, I was introduced to "The Top 10 Mistakes Leaders Make." It helped me to articulate the positive and negative characteristics of leadership I had experienced as a follower. It's short, to the point, and doesn't require a biography on some historical figure. It provides sound reasoning and some practical steps. By adapting my leadership style, I was able to avoid the hierarchical, top-down approach normally associated with the military. Edit: Hans Finzel - author

[@cerneysmallengines]

I'm dealing with a very toxic workplace right now. One of my coworkers is an absolute snitch. If you did something she disagrees with, the boss will know. And the boss has become very toxic also. I am something of a completist. For context, I am a bus mechanic. When a job needing repair comes in, I'm the one who will go a little bit further to try to make my repair as best as it can be, my boss has been cracking down on this in very degrading ways. The one example that springs to mind is we have a shield that an external PA speaker is mounted on. The shield is not capable of holding the weight so it has a tendency to crack. I was tasked with repairing one of these. I removed the shield, which was 8 whole bolts, cleaned the surface and welded in a piece of angle iron to add support. I had painted it and let it dry overnight. I had maybe 2 hours into the repair. I come in the next day and my boss pulls me aside and accuses me of wasting time. Saying that he just welds it, hits it with the spray can and kicks it and that I'm going way overboard. Maybe I am, but I'm trying to do the best job I can be, not the fastest I can be. We are a fleet shop, not a flat rate shop. Let's fix it right. Now he's on a different bent. The shop provides all of our tools for us, however, the tools are unsatisfactory, and that's putting it politely. When I started there I was given tools that were 40 years old and worn out 20 years ago. I asked for some replacements and was critiqued that I was wasting money, so I bought some tools to supplement their tools. My boss decided this was inappropriate in some twisted way, shape or form. I wasn't asking for reimbursement. I wasn't announcing my tools to the rest of the shop, I was literally just picking up tools that I thought would help me do a better job. The tipping point for him apparently was a matco tool organizer that my tool guy practically gave to me for free. That's really what started the boiling over of my boss. That was one light piece of straw that broke his back. He's not making a mountain out of a mole hill, he's making an entire range out of that. He claims that its being disrespectful of him, and that I'm being insubordinate by disobeying his order to not bring in tools. Frankly, I don't think its his jurisdiction. If I'm at my hoist, doing work, what does it matter if I'm using my tools or the company tools.

[@reciprocating_popcorn_blade]

One of the things that stuck with me from a previous manager about keeping toxicity out of a workplace is that the ego is with the team, not with the individual. Teams do well, individuals contribute to the team doing well. But individuals don't own the ego. That's a huge frameshift for most work places, if the ego is with the team, suddenly when someone is giving you feedback, they're not criticizing you, they're improving the team's product. Introspection and collaboration instantly get better and easier. Everyone's pulling together because we all share the ego, instead of us all being individuals.

[@TomBrent]

this is brilliant!

[@Blowinshiddup]

Just listening to this is giving me knots in my gut from thinking of some of the BS I've gone through in the workplace. "Frenemies" is a term I became quite aware of. They pretend to be your buddy...

[@theuglywolf2536]

I have a wonderful work environment, but a couple of toxic people in it. I've learned a lot in 26 years of employment and play a very fun game of making sure I'm immune to their influence. It's a combination of being kind, friendly, helpful, flexible, flirtatious to the right people, and humble - but it's not just being those things, it's all about making sure people know you are those things. It's saved my skin a few times when the toxic people tried to take me down, and has resulted in three people getting fired for their attempts. It's hard to learn, impossible to teach, but I strongly recommend people work it out and apply it as soon as they can in any new workplace.

[@drumzone5]

It's nice to hear you talk about these subjects as I recently left a job...a job that, going into I was quite sure I'd retire from (and I even turned down a slightly better offer just 6 months prior to leaving) but seemed to suddenly turn toxic toward me and my position mainly because my bosses' son needed steady work so they gave him my job and demoted me. Now looking back I can clearly see that my boss yelled at, belittled, talked down to and micromanaged me at every chance and yet continued to command respect all the while. The worst part to me is that my (former) boss is the same age as me and hired me because I have a skill set that he has absolutely NO clue about and relied completely on me for! I'm sooooo glad I had the clarity of mind to get the heck out of there before it got any worse!

[@dwbunloaf8245]

I was in a small fast food restaurant once and there was no vinegar on the table. I asked the only guy I could see, turned out he was the manager, if I could have some. He went into the kitchen and I could hear him screaming at he staff because people, he yelled, a customer had to ask for a basic condiment and there was none! He yelled and screamed, it was awful to listen too. I then realised there was no one there, he was yelling into the air. He came back to the table and said something like, you just can’t get the staff. I said, but you’re the only one here. He slinked back into the kitchen with a very red face.

[@charlesmidair]

"Are you creating work, or are you taking it away?" Wow... that is a great metric.

[@AmirTapir]

I just got laid off 2 weeks ago without any explanation, and they were the low-key toxic type. Nothing was over the top, but as you mentioned, they laid off people once in a while from every department. The only ones who stayed were the "indispensable" ones, people who knew the inner workings and would be more of a hassle to replace. Something I see as toxic is unreal expectations and "extra tasks". Most of my ex-employers used to give more tasks than the ones stipulated on the contract, and if I wasn't able to complete them, it was interpreted as "lack of motivation" or plain laziness. They knew they were asking more than they gave back, but since they had the power; you either comply or said goodbye... I hope everyone here has found at least a golden nugget of knowledge to find better opportunities and keep growing every day!!! Much love to all and a big thanks to Adam for also sharing his perspective and personal struggles!

[@r0llinguphill483]

Respect can only be earned. People conflate respect and decency. Respect is earned, decency is given. If you are indecent to others then expect others to be indecent to you. The are many ways to earn respect, and just as many ways to burn respect.

[@alewis8765]

I have so many thoughts on this subject, having worked for toxic companies. The worst part is seeing the problems, but not having any power to influence management to solve the problems. Paraphrasing someone I can't recall: 80% everyone in every field is incompetent. In my industry it's more like 95%.

[@ek-nz]

I live by the mantra “not everyone is good at their job” and it helps me make sense of a lot of life. Once you can make sense of something, the impact on you is lessened.

[@bobbressi5414]

Taking blame for things that are not your fault is a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, you do not want to be the person who calls out others for every little oversight. On the other hand you do not want to destroy your own reputation while coddling someone to the point that they never learn to improve. Some will appreciate you taking a metaphorical bullet for them, and work to be better. Others will allow you to keep taking blame for their errors. It is generally not too difficult determining which is which. Ive worked with plenty of both.

[@spankyjeffro5320]

It's never excusable to take fame or blame for something you didn't do. It's never acceptable to expect no punishment for making multiple mistakes.

[@Mordrevious]

@@spankyjeffro5320 I don't know if you've ever been in charge of other people but there are 100% times when it is correct to take blame for something you didn't do. If the people below me at my job make a mistake that causes a delay and the client gets mad about it, I'm not going to go put the angry client on the phone with my employee so they can get chewed out. It's my job as a manager to get a situation resolved and that means taking responsibility for what happens on my watch, it doesn't mean that the person responsible for the mistake gets off without a talking to from me so we can make sure the mistake doesn't happen again.

[@SpicyFPV]

I feel like "this is a toxic work environment" has been a growing phrase over the last several years. While I am sure some of them certainly are toxic work environments, I also feel like there has been a pretty negative culture shift and work ethic. I end up seeing these people that don't get their work done, don't have any initiative, or perform sub quality work; then when they are confronted about their performance, their first thought/response is that its a toxic work environment and their manager is out to get them. Nowhere does it enter their mind that it may be them that is causing the situation, and have the ability to rectify their own problem.

[@zenaku666]

Why is it that whenever a phrase comes up that perfectly describes a real problem in the world people like you come out of the wood work to complain they are overused? Perhaps the reason it seems common is because hitherto now we haven't had a phrase to describe the problem. And the problem is so common you fail to recognize it as a problem, and just assume it's an immovable fact of life. Working 60-100 hour weeks isn't normal. It's a sign you're overworked. You're not noble for working yourself to death. A person isn't lazy for setting boundaries between themselves and work.

[@SpicyFPV]

@@zenaku666 I never said working 60-100hrs a week is normal. If you happen to work in that situation, then by all means complain about it. However, for every one person that is in that situation, you have ten people that are putting in less than 20hrs a week and insisting that they are extremely overworked. A nurse pulling 16hr shifts on their feet all day is wildly different from some dude working the window at a fast food chain talking about how he is overworked while sitting on his phone. Yes, there are some toxic work environments. Yes, there are some jobs that are incredibly overworked. The issue though is that 'everyone' thinks they are being over worked, while obviously some of them actually are while most of them are just lazy.

[@SpicyFPV]

​@@zenaku666 Where did I say working 60-100hrs a week is normal or noble? If you do, then by all means complain, but that isn't the vast majority of people I hear use that phrase. I can return the favor. Why is it that any time you think a person is lazy for sitting around on their phone all day, pulling only 20hrs a week, demanding breaks every hour, that freedom fighters such as yourself immediately assume management is out to get them? A lot of people are simply lazy with no work ethic. Yes, you have nurses busting their ass for excessively long shifts and they deserve the world. Yes, you have factory workers doing hard labor that needs frequent breaks purely out of safety reasons if not mental sanity. I am not talking about those people. They are not the same as the kid working drive through at Taco Bell for 4hrs a night.

[@ek-nz]

If you watch the first couple of seasons of Mythbusters, you can occasionally see arms come in from behind the camera and pat Adam on the shoulder when he’s having a bit of a tanty. What great colleagues that can see, understand and tolerate a person who is maybe taking out their difficulties on others, and we can see here that the result is self-awareness and appreciation. Kindness and understanding has a lasting effect.

[@Artorius19631]

I worked with a guy in a machine shop who was never at fault for anything (he was the nightshift foreman’s friend). It was either someone else’s fault or the machine he was operating caused the mistake. One day he and I were given a set of beryllium-copper castings, a hot job that the customer wanted yesterday (weld guns for robotic weld cells). We split up the set and each worked to finish them. Every part we completed we brought over to the WIP area. When they were all done they were sent over to Inspection and checked. The next day I was called into the office and proceeded to be read the Riot Act for screwing up the parts I ran. I asked how they determined it was me and I was told that my coworker said he has been working in the shop over 25 years and denied making any mistake. So I asked to also have him present in the office so the dayshift foreman (who was a brother of the nightshift foreman) had my coworker paged. When he came in I asked him why he didn’t tell the boss about the punch marks on the parts he ran. He said, “What punch marks? I didn’t make any punch marks!” And I said, “Exactly right. I did make punch marks on every part I machined.” Then I turned to the dayshift foreman and to the general manager who by that time just walked in and said, “If you go out and check all parts that passed inspection you’ll find a small punch mark at the bottom of the clevis throat area. I put those there and you just heard him deny doing it. Now, who was it again who ran all the scrap parts?” The boss started to say something but I turned around and walked out of the office, went back to my horizontal machining center and started on a new job like nothing happened.

[@SomeGuysGarage]

When something goes wrong, don't find the blame, find a fix...that's always where my mind goes when something goes wrong, even if it's my fault, how can we make this right.

[@SomeGuysGarage]

Self containment is bad, knowledge sharing is good. You can only do so much yourself but having your team help and learn might hurt the first time, but makes everyone more valuable next time around.

[@smartgorilla]

id work with you anyday matey

[@SomeGuysGarage]

@@smartgorillathanks! I lead software teams as my day job, with people from interns to those with more years of experience than me...continuous improvement is a must. The other thing I try to do is make sure they know I'm there to help "let me know what you need" is what I will often say and I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Sometimes this is just help solving a problem, sometimes this is getting an annoying customer out of the way, sometimes this is getting them a piece of hardware they want, and sometimes it's even helping them move to other teams to get new experiences (always hard losing good team members, but supporting their career choices is more important). I think it works out in the end, but I still know I'm not perfect.

[@riparianlife97701]

Unrelated: Please find, and if possible buy, the giant, Ace comb from Spaceballs. It's one of my favorite props of all time, and I'd love to know how it was made. If you don't find it, you can say "We ain't found s**t!"

[@megafan2000]

😂👍 I will 2nd this.

[@safetysandals]

It may be completely off topic, but scrolling through some depressing comments, a good laugh is appreciated

[@Doc_Hawk]

Toxic work environments can be completely unintentionally, but if people don't have personal accountability and make changes, it's a problem. Hostile work environments are 1000% intentional and deliberate. Those people need to be dealt with immediately

[@tylerhill1909]

Some of us dont get the opportunity to work how we want to work and thats takes a toll on our mental health

[@Infernostar18]

Oh yes. I've been down that road myself. I had a few coworkers, new guys, working under me as I showed them the ropes. At the time, I'd get mad and throw fits from time to time if things weren't going well. The same thing happened to me, my colleagues started to acclimate my mood and I started seeing them throw fits as well. That gave me a position of "outside looking in" on myself and made me realize how much of an ass I probably look like. Ever since then I started calming myself and not freak out all the time. I was able to draw some constructive observation from that.

[@projectbuild9784]

I often use the term "being helpful rather than useful". I have said it to people about myself occasionally. Sometimes being able to say "I think I am being helpful rather than useful. I'll let you do your thing but if you need me, let me know" is important. It doesn't mean you're useless - just that you aren't in your niche for that activity.

[@1bootliz]

As someone who has had to learn the hard way that my trying to be helpful is not, in fact, always helpful, I like that phrase! I'm going to add it to my self-reflection quote wall at work :)

[@SecretSquirrelFun]

I had a great manager several years ago, and one of the many qualities she had that I appreciated and admired was the support that she showed for each of us. If we had an issue at work, she had your back. She wasn’t perfect, but when it really mattered she was there to back you up.

[@narfbite5239]

This is probably one of my favorite videos. It reminds me of the advice I heard in the military (one of the most toxic work environments ever created) which was the military that you grew up in no longer exists (hazing, workplace etiquette, expectations) so stop trying to bring it back. Learn to adapt to the new environment and be the change that you always wanted when you were coming up.

[@jamespratt6499]

I used to work for a particular motorcycle manufacturer here in the states. It was the most toxic work environment I’ve ever experienced. I was working too fast, jobs got in the way of their sitting and socializing time, and so on. I’d gotten into arguments with people because I would tell them that they didn’t have to work there. Seriously, if they complained about their spouse as much as their job, they would’ve gotten divorced years ago. I eventually just had to do my best to ignore all of it.

[@ek-nz]

This is like one of those really good random conversations in the pub.

[@JasonTheFavorite]

Learning to accept blame was an eye-opening moment for me as a craftsman and a person

[@Threadsinger]

Great video. One great challenge and moment of revelation (cue G'Kar voice) was realizing I was both a recipient and a causative agent of a toxic environment when I was younger. I worked in environmental consulting, with long hours, abrasive clients and peers, and insufficent resources. It took my (nicer) peers finally pointing out to me, as gently as they could, that I was a good guy but really unpleasant under stress, and *especially* when on an energy drink. Once told, it became blindly obvious and I worked to correct those behaviors and be a positive contributor (and be seen as one). I am grateful to those former colleagues for providing that feedback, however much it stung when received, and I try to do the same (privately, with compassion) when I see it in others.

[@1bootliz]

I had a similar experience, only in my case it was my excessive desire to be "helpful" thst was causing the issues. It took only a gentle 30 min conversation with my team lead to completely open my eyes, and I worked on changing my behavior immediately. A few weeks later my supervisor mentioned how amazed he was at my transformation. I still thank that team lead from time to time for that wake-up call!

[@RedAntisocial]

I’m currently leaving a workplace after 23 years. It’s grown more toxic as time has passed, and getting out is a mixture of hope, and some guilt for the team I’m leaving behind. I hope they can all see their way clear too.

[@dennismclaurin1487]

I'll be 23 next month

[@herethere5637]

​@@dennismclaurin148723 years of being 23, here

[@wertacus]

The kitchen example got me good. I used to make the mistake of being too helpful and getting involved. A good rule of thumb is that if you see someone on the side of the road and the hood is up; keep driving. Offer to do the dishes!

[@leeh9420]

Where I work, there's a process called "Fu Pan", which is a term for "Re-playing the chess" - when done properly it is about finding out why things went wrong/what mistakes were made without the "blame" thing. The culture is generally empowered, and encourages a fast pace with a certain amount of understanding that you own your mistakes and learn from them. It can be pretty great (when done correctly... 🙂)

[@matthew7419]

One of the best things about the content you produce is that you openly share your experience. It's super important because most people don't.

[@Callsign-Blade_RunnerSG]

Workplace bullying is also VERY prevalent in Singapore. Unfortunately there are little to no recourse for employees there, much less protection from abuse from superiors.

[@user-uq6gc9kv7r]

Regarding drama, a wise person once explained it to me like this: "Many do not actually want your help, they just want an audience for their antics." I always like that.

[@Oddman1980]

"I've had supervisors tell me the thing I was going to do was stupid, and I was going to fail at it." I've reached a point in my life where I almost see that as encouragement.

[@otockian]

I got a job as a high level manager at a startup, and after a month on the job the owner pulled me to the side and said "I am disappointed in how your managing the team, the team needs to fear for their job, you need to use fear as your incentive to get them to work harder and do more". I straight up told him that's not my style, and if you want someone like that, it's not me so tell me now and I will find another job or we do things my way. He never pushed me on it after that, and things went great. I left anyways because he had other character flaws similar to that but that's another story.

[@KristiCCz]

Thank you. I worked for 37 years in an industry I wasn't well suited to, and am now retired. I still have lots of baggage from those times. Now I'm in a leadership role for a nonprofit, and I work really hard to do better than I was done to. You talk about people having to work around your moods, and I think that even the best bosses have their difficult times. When that happens, you have to hope that you've developed enough of a rapport with your colleagues that they can be patient with you. It's hard to know as a leader whether you're doing a good job, but I think if you see people helping each other accomplish a mutual goal, and that they seem to be comfortable in each others' company, it's a sign you're doing it well. Oh, I have to tell you about one of my former bosses. She smiled when she was mad. Yikes!

[@MrArcadia2009]

"Respect is earned, not given away." The sooner people accept this, the better off they'll be.

[@allisont.6878]

To a point, I agree... but I've found that it can't hurt to start new associations with a /medium/ amount of respect rather than none at all, and adjust up or down from there as needed. Regardless of the other person's gender, job, race, social status, physical appearance, etc. Starting interactions with someone new at "zero" respect and asking them to earn it, tends to close a LOT more doors than it opens.

[@MrArcadia2009]

To a certain degree, there might be a little wiggle room. But beyond that, I really don't agree. I suppose that's the reality of this day and age. But what I said is what I learned early on, and it was taken to heart, and it's still something I stand by.

[@Mtlmshr]

I was always told that when a person uses the word “but” in a sentence that it automatically negates everything that person said prior to that “but”

[@flapjack9495]

It makes me very happy to know that Adam reads /r/antiwork

[@georgetirebiter4343]

I once had a supervisor who was very passive aggressive and sardonic. I realized he was being a butthead in that way, but what I didn't know at the time was that he was miserable from being hammered on from above by a real jerk. Years later, he started his own company in his favorite technical specialty, and he was a man changed for the better.

[@brionl4741]

One thing about being in the US Army, they give you lots of training on how to be a good leader. Heck, one of the things they make you do above a certain rank is everybody has to take turns teaching something. Of course, some people don't pay attention in class...

[@joshuachristenson2014]

I love the great advice and perspective. One thing I would like to add, is that when looking at the reasons why employees get defensive (workplace may fire you etc), you can also think about if it's equivalent, to ask employees to take undeserved blame the way that managers do. I am not talking about differences in pay, or even differences in being expendable... Managers have authority to command. This is why they are accountable for mistakes their employee did and not themselves; they had the potential ability to have their employees not make a mistake. The employee on the other hand, may not have the power to command another; if the mistake was not an act of chance, but rather a different employee's fault, then it's even more toxic to ask that first employee to lie down on their own sword the way their manager sometimes does. Upper management also views managers taking blame, differently than employees taking blame; they have played the game, and know when someone is just being a bullet sponge. Yes, some employees can make excuses a lot and it can become a problem to not own errors; perhaps reframing the difference in relation to excuses makes your point clearer.

[@iamontda]

7:50 Constant complaining/ gossiping is honestly the most common way to spot that something (or someone) is off in the workplace. I work a seasonal job every year that's a lot of fun, but some years I'll work with a bad apple or two who brings down the environment (often dragging others down with them). It occurred this past year too, and unfortunately the bad apple decided that I would be the one they'd confide in the most. It essentially caused me to have a mental breakdown after a few weeks, after which I figured out how to distance myself more from them. It's not even the fact that they would complain about some things (we all have things we need to get off of our chest), it was the fact that they'd complain about *everything*.

[@1bootliz]

It really is amazing how fast a single person can bring down a whole team that way! I had one co-worker like this, and my whole team was grateful on the days this person worked at one of our other locations. Even though we were a person short, things flowed so much better and everything felt much more positive. I don't entirely blame them, they were dealing with a lot of difficult life stuff, but...we're your co-workers, not your therapists. 😑

[@_NoDrinkTheBleach]

One of the worst supervisors I ever worked for was frequently looking for things to blame on people. Our work was pretty straightforward, so things didn't actually go wrong all that often. I feel as though there are workplaces where the management are instructed to punch down, as a rule, to encourage turnover. Workplaces that are temp to hire are notorious for treating their workers like garbage.

[@00Skyfox]

So true about toxic places and the blame game. Where I work they have a "no blame" policy right in the company handbook. A couple of departments who I was in, on more than one occasion when a significant violation was found they responded with literal finger pointing and, "Did you do this? Did you do this?" On top of that there was major harassment and discriminationthe part of supervision and management that the higher ups did nothing about despite numerous formal written complaints. It was the most toxic workplace I've ever been a part of.

[@raybeauvais296]

Adam, thank you for sharing your experiences on this topic. Nearly every one of us has had a "Workplace environment" we've had to navigate. You make it clear that whatever specific activity takes place, the dynamics are the same. Yours being a rather 'out of the ordinary' activity helps with perspective. You show that we all have much more in common than we realize.

[@lloydjennett9063]

Admitted to one of my bosses once that I had significantly screwed up. He told me that the only people who don't make mistakes are the ones who are doing nothing !

[@JustaYeomanBowman]

I have these 2 employees that work under me at my company, and they're awful! Constantly sleeping on the job, walking around complaining amd asking for food, all while I'm trying to get work done. One even pooped in the floor! They're cats, its my cats, they're evil

[@glennac]

Ha! 😆 You had me all the way until the “poop” and even then I figured it was possible. 😂 As a cat person myself I completely understand. To a dog you’re a friend. To a cat you’re staff. 😅

[@njones420]

"In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this." Terry Pratchett.

[@bubblesculptor]

We must hire the same people! Lol

[@tested]

Three out of five of our team members have cats (two cats each, at that), so many of our Zoom calls feature tails and whiskers.

[@betmo]

lol

[@Mrnarutofan28]

I don't often comment, but I love watching you take questions so I always tune in when I see new videos. These topics resonate with me for the very topic discussed. I'm a licensed journey plumber, but this is only my 6th year (well, 6 years on the 17th of February, 2024) in Idaho. I have been blessed to be running jobs, and sometimes running small crews with the jobs if the work demands it. In the commercial field around here, the bigger jobs tend to get plated to the more experienced journeymen, which makes total sense to me, and I don't mind my remodels while they do new construction type projects involving equipment and much larger crews. That's all fine. What I have noticed, at least our here, there almost seems to be a mentality centered around "weeding out the weak" rather than "teaching them how you like things to get done" in a sense. To the point that when I first started, having never even used most power tools (portable bandsaws and sawzalls and the like) much less a pipe Threader, it felt like most of my upperclassmen and journeymen were actively placing bets against me and making me constantly second guess myself when it came to doing my work. I vowed to never do that to my apprentices, or anyone that would work under me, journeyman or not. It kinda stands in the face of the typical construction dude out here, but I hated dealing with it, and would hate spreading it even more. And it's nice to see the relieved faces of new guys when I don't come in screaming at them for mistakes, and rather apologize for not explaining my mission for them better, or not checking in on them when they had questions. I try to maintain the mindset that an asked question is a saved day of repairs or replacements, and I don't judge or chuckle at the basic ones that are now a lot more common sense to me, knowing that less then ten years ago, I felt intimidated enough to never ask the very same questions. I like to believe that I do a decent job, but you'd have to ask those I work with 😅

[@jackorlove4055]

I know exactly what you're talking about, in the trades there is definitely that culture of "weeding out the week", as if it's some necessary part of the job to endure mistreatment, horrible tempers, and border-line gas lighting. I feel like it's because they had to endure that, so they make others endure it too. It's unfortunate, and its probably made a lot of people with high potential leave the trades.

[@benkeegan9966]

Turns out ,a good memory and bad attitude are terrible,for workplace habitat,also most people are so demoralized, narcissistic,or depressed,that you can't even work,I just walked off a job,I had enough!

[@indigomer]

My only consistent boss has been my uncle, the only work I have done is construction side jobs. He has always been hard on me. Never outright embarrassed me in front of anyone but definitely made me feel small if I messed up. For a long time, I didn’t like it. I thought I wasn’t improving, and I imagine most people would consider it a bad work environment. I saw its true value when I first began working for some other people. They were impressed at how hard I worked, how skillful I was for the short time I had been learning, how I was made uncomfortable by my own mistakes and wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than my best work. My uncle was hard on me, and by extension made me stronger and I believe will make me a better working man than I would have been otherwise. For some people I’m sure it would have been a terrible work environment, but for me it was what I needed.

[@itsthevoiceman]

I've changed the "respect" axiom in my life: "Respect is automatic. Disrespect is earned." I will respect you until you give me reason not to do so.

[@vanepico]

I needed this discussion, I have been having realisations about my performance recently and how to work better. I developed something like PTSD from a previous manager that would micromanage and this lead to ineffective working ever since. They made me question whether I should just leave the engineering profession altogether because I felt completely incompetent, and unfortunately instead of picking my head up and trying something new my mood fell further and further until I really struggled to get up in the morning.

[@spankyjeffro5320]

This is a video, not a discussion.

[@oscardelarenta9647]

I once had an architecture professor tell me that not even a homeless person would want to move into the building I had designed. He was silent the whole review and ended it by saying this.

[@mynar_lenahan]

That John Belushi story came from that Steve Martin biography. I remember reading that when I was thirteen and it always stuck with me

[@rickyrodriguez5744]

The BEST ANALYSIS I HAVE EVER HEARD about the work place.

[@JairoEast]

Thank you for your advice, Adam. I am currently working at a small shop in Colorado where being the top tech with sales is the ultimate goal. Unfortunately that’s undefined, and gives our boss unhealthy expectations, so many of us push ourselves beyond our reasonable limits. It’s led to us realizing our individual true potential, but it comes with severe mental strain.

[@jacobsutton1745]

I feel that I worked in a steel shop in Conifer. The boss was an old school ironworker and, to his credit he passed a lot of knowledge onto me, but nothing was ever on him, if we built 20 rails and he only needed 15 it was our fault, if I missed a turn to a job site you would think I had just wrecked his business. It was incredibly toxic, and I stuck around for a few years until I realized that I deserved more respect considering all the responsibility he was putting on a 20 year old, and I wasn't getting it

[@sXeAndriex]

One thing I learned early on, and it's a lesson that stuck with me, is "am I communicating that I find this environment toxic or am I dwelling on it interally." It can be easy to assume everyone sees the problems you see, but (especially in larger projects) people can often just be ignorant of the details dragging things down. On multiple occasions, while I wasn't the problem, I realized I could solve the problem and that's more important than laying blame. Sometimes you have more power than your realize. Just sometimes though.

[@martindurand5492]

As a boss, I always said to my team that I'm the fan where sh*t dies. That's part of my job description. But, I need you to TELL ME when you know you screwed up! My people will all screw up something someday (as I and everybody will). I'll deal with it (not the regal "I" but the situation will be corrected by people I manage - including myself) and talk, in private, with the involved individual(s) if need be.

[@PMoney365]

Been in a leadership role for many years now. My basic philosophy: 1. Hire people smarter or more talented than you in their area of expertise. 2. Get inspired, and learn from them. 3. Enable their success.

[@GatesMondovics]

I had a similar experience working at Walmart. Once I switched departments in Walmart life was much better. Heard the manager was either transferred or fired after I left. Hope everyone is having a good day and take care of your mental health. End of Line.

[@IanZainea1990]

3:18 that's the way it should be! A note along these lines too is that gifts flow down the heirarchy, not up. Don't do office gifts for bosses. In fact, in general, don't give them anything. Maybe a card or handwritten note if you really have something to say to them in terms of gratitude. But not gifts.

[@EddyScbr]

I've recently been training to move my career towards a project lead position and I wanted to thank you and the Tested team for going for this topic, as not only does this make me reflect upon my work experiences thus far, but it also helps put things into perspective for my current career objectives - sadly it's not that common to get such candid takes on the actual reality of working with/as a project lead from people with such seniority in their field (even if it might not be the same as the one I intend to work in).

[@FredWallace18]

Adam, I knew from Mythbusters how smart, resourceful, and talented you are. Now after years of watching Tested, it's really clear how thoughtful you are too, and how that's the most important thing. I mean this in multiple senses: that you're kind and considerate, and also that you are always assessing situations, even internally. I'm so happy for your content because I know it will be entertaining, informative, and wholesome. Thank you.

[@BooN877]

I was on the edge of my seat to find out if I had boundary issues.

[@craigdvance]

I was recently, last few years, diagnosed with BPD and since then MOST of the work issues like these that Adam describes make complete sense. Being in a roles where I had to take blame for something or being a supervisor now and having to mentor people really take on a warped role when you had a bad past and deal with Border Line Personality Disorder, but also its those events that possibly made you a good artist and focused on being creative. It's kind of a mess, lol. But seeing what is happening in my brain has helped a lot to stop being destructive.

[@captlazer5509]

The fun thing about no longer working in an incompetent workplace is when you leave and it falls apart. Never cared or looked in the rear view but somehow if you work in a certain industry, you find out. Do a great job and be a great person.

[@wendlo1]

Years ago..a retail giant was opening a store locally.. a friend a single mother was constantly being chewed out by the store manager. She came out from the daily butt chewing and started to cry. The little old man next to her asked what was wrong. She started to vent on what was going on.. the little old man said oh honey he is not the quality fir this store chain. The man working beside her was the founder of the multi billion dollar chain..she just retired from the. Store.