‘Work Under Scrutiny. Other Typologies, the Ones that Suffer and Communication Solutions’ – Emilia Muller

(Please read the English translation below)

I'm working on the sequel to "The Corporation. Typologies and survival guide". 

In the June issue of the Argeș Magazine, an excerpt from this sequel was published. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! If you want to browse through it (it's only in Romanian), find the link here.

Find here and here other excerpts from ‘Work Under Scrutiny. Other Typologies, the Ones that Suffer and Communication Solutions' that have been posted on the blog.

The ‘I'm tellin’ the missus' colleague

 

The ‘I'm tellin’ the missus' colleague could pass for a whistle-blower and it wouldn't be totally untrue. He clearly lacks backbone, respect and common sense, but he knows that shutting up is not a valued quality at work.

Like many other categories I've encountered, the ‘I'm tellin’ the missus' coworker is a big baby. And, sadly, there are many others who don't seem to have made it past kindergarten level. I have often wondered in recent years how I find so few adults in the workplace. To explain, by adult I mean a person capable of responsibility, honesty, pragmatism and a willingness to work well together. How many adults do you manage to work with?

Another quality of the ‘I'm telling the lady’ colleague is the art of throwing the dead cat in someone else's yard. As I wrote at the beginning, if you keep quiet you lose ground; so they will speak up to show how much they want to work and how many difficulties they find on their way.

 

Let's see Aglaia at work. Here's a dialogue between boss and employee.

BOSS: Do you still send out the monthly email to remind people they can submit content?

EMPLOYEE: No.

BOSS: Why?

EMPLOYEE: I've sent it five months in a row and no one has ever responded. Then, everyone knows they can contact me if they have content, and since people keep complaining about getting too many emails, I figured there's no point in me keep sending it.

CHIEF: Well, it's not exactly nonsense. Aglaia claims that because the reminder email wasn't sent, she stopped sending content.

EMPLOYEE: Okay, but the newsletter is still being sent. She didn't think we were dreaming that content! In addition, a while ago she asked me what she should do if she had content and I assured her that she was free to send it to me at any time, then seeing if we fit to get in that newsletter or the next one.

BOSS: That's irrelevant. Aglaia told the boss that's why she didn't send it because she didn't get your email.

EMPLOYEE: Okay, but that's a childish approach, she just threw the blame around, when she knew very well that she could contact me anytime, with or without that monthly reminder email.

BOSS: We need to have our backs, thus just send it, and that's it.

EMPLOYEE: OK, if that's what you think is best.

BOSS: Yes, that's the best.

I wrote at the beginning that I find it hard to find adults at work. Some behave childishly, but what is really worrying is that they are also encouraged to behave that way. Disempowering some people seems to be a new fashionable procedure, while others are not only responsible for their tasks, but also for these infantilized people. Again, I find it worrying that I constantly hear managers complaining that people are not responsibile, that they indulge in kindergarten-like behavior, passing the task from one to another, without admitting that they are partly to blame for encouraging or failing to sanction such childish behavior. Foolishly sending an email to remind people what they already know is not only counterproductive, but demotivating. And thus the kind reminder specialist, which I'll write about later, appears.

 

It is sad to discover that you have a boss who encourages the ‘I'm tellin’ the missus' behavior. I've always thought that, as adults, we will take responsibility for our own actions, but it's already clear to me when I look around that this is true in few cases. I detest childish behaviors that try to dribble responsibility and, just as much, that encourage childishness in some, by which I mean bosses who pat some people on the head to act like children to whom the rest of us are obliged to show understanding. It really annoys me when I'm told to send a monthly email with 99.99% identical text just to remind some people that they can do something and thus infantilizing them, while I'm able to take care of all my tasks without the benefit of any kind reminder email. It's the double standards game that I dislike, but also the totally unproductive approach of some managers who want responsible subordinates but treat them like children.

 

 

‘Work Under Scrutiny. Other Typologies, the Ones that Suffer and Communication Solutions’ is a book that I am currently working on and which adds to the typologies mentioned in the book ”The Corporation. Typologies and survival guide" (Paralela 45 Publishing House, 2024), and also presents the ones that suffer because of these typologies and tries to come up with communication solutions for all.

Ace Up My Sleeve

 

You haven’t understood it. Read it again!

After all this time, I can finally understand what the poor teachers were referring to when, somewhat bored or tired, they stopped us in our ramblings (often nonsense beside the point) with a You haven’t understood it. Read it again! .

At the time, I thought they were being insensitive or putting on airs of superiority. Because, after all, why was it so hard for them to correct us on the spot and show/give us the correct answer? I found out, rather belatedly, that by doing so, they were not letting us become helpless, perhaps not even victims of manipulation if you get to keep doing the thinking exercise with your own mind, and not keep waiting for the right answer from someone else.

Sometimes, I wish a teacher would come along and say to me and to others You haven’t understood it. Read it again!. I don't know why, but it no longer seems to me that what's going on today can be easily explained with a I'm in a hurry, I need the answer now.

It's a contest of the rested, for many years now, and I'm often afraid I'll end up explaining how and where to look up the definition of a word you don't know (I've already had to explain that 12 a.m. is not noon).

So, I don't arrogate anything to myself, I'm just sharing in the already growing fear (of others) and thanking (a bit late, admittedly) all the teachers who said You haven’t understood it. Read it again!. Kudos to you!

Do You Know?

 

Pulse – Julian Barnes

The wonderful Julian Barnes has delightful stories in this collection. Analyses of the soul made with rare finesse, testimonies, prejudices, expectations, disappointments, hopes.

Julian Barnes doesn't write, he brings the words together and sets the tone, and they are sensible to always find their place in our hearts.

 

A few excerpts to testify to the marvel of Barnes' talent.

‘Well,’ said Jane, trying to hide a sudden surge of jauntiness, I’ve always believed that writers get more out of things going wrong than things going right. It’s the only profession in which failure can be put to good use.’

…

‘Do you read those young men everyone’s going on about?’

‘No. I think they’ve got quite enough readers already, don’t you think?’

‘What about the young women everyone’s going on about?’

‘I suppose I pretend a little more to have read them than with the boys.’

‘So do I. Is that bad?’

‘No, I think it’s sisterly.’

 

A quote from him, but from another book - “Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't. I'm not surprised some people prefer books.”
― Julian Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot

Let's dance!

 

Ildiko's thoughts on Laura Rise - Detained and The Corporation. Typologies and survival guide

In May, Ildiko read my latest novel and my first non-fiction book. She gave them both ratings on goodreads, but also talked about them in a couple of videos posted on her YouTube channel.

 

Laura Rise – Detained

The novel was published by the Bookworm Publishing House in March 2025 and tells the story of an aspiring writer who decides to publish her work under a male pseudonym. When the man enjoys success instead of her, Laura plans revenge, blinded by frustration. If you've ever felt you had to play a different role in order to be successful, or were outraged by injustice, you might enjoy this novel. You can order it here.

Ildiko's impressions of the novel can be found in the videos below:

- from minute 9:50 to 13:00 – here

- from beginning until minute 9:20 and then again from minute 24:12 – here 

 

The Corporation. Typologies and survival guide

My first non-fiction book was published by Paralela 45 Publishing House in April 2024. The book centers on the typologies of bosses and colleagues that drain us of energy and motivation at work. It features stories from job interviews, resignations and dismissals, a Rom-English (a mix between Romanian and English) dictionary, and survival strategies for working with certain typologies.

Wondering if you're also a worker at the Labor-in-vain cooperative? If you've gone crazy or are there others who need clarity, strategy, communication and support? No, you're not crazy and you're not alone. There are many of us. And our stories are contained in this book. You can order it here.

Ildiko's impressions of the book can be found in the videos below:

- from minute 21:18 to 23:50 – here

- from minute 13:25 to 17:35  - here