work habits

From how fast you respond to email to being the office grump, your work habits affect how people see you. Here’s advice on mastering the right habits.

let’s discuss weaponized incompetence

Let’s discuss weaponized incompetence: when someone pretends not to know how to do a task well so that they won’t be asked to do it (also known as “strategic incompetence”). Sometimes this is used for ill (like the classic example of men who can’t seem to figure out how to do their own admin work) […]

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can I ask my boss for feedback about how I’m doing?

A reader writes: I am fairly new to the workforce. I’ve been at my current job for close to two years and I cannot shake the feeling that I’m bad at it. Rationally I think there are parts of it that I am indeed not-so-great at; rationally I think there are parts that I’m decent […]

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is it ever bad to reply to an email too quickly?

A reader writes: I work in municipal government, and often we get requests that we need to say “no” to. In this case, a constituent asked for a bus stop outside of her building. This wouldn’t be unreasonable, except there is no bus route on the street in question. This kind of confusion happens sometimes, […]

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what weird habits have you picked up from your job?

We all pick up weird habits from our jobs that we carry into the rest of our lives. Maybe you still fight the instinct to yell “NO RUNNING” at kids because you used to lifeguard … or you’re an ER nurse who checks out everyone’s arms to see what size IV you’d put in … […]

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how to professionally say “I told you so”

A reader writes: I work at a small-ish company in a creative industry that has a lot of issues with changing/inconsistent expectations and management that isn’t in the habit of really listening to employee feedback. My direct manager and grandboss also have a habit of saying one thing in team trainings and then doing the […]

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how can I avoid talking shop outside of work?

A reader writes: I have a colleague who I am sharing a few really challenging, long-term projects with. They’re great to work with and we’re getting a lot done. The only problem is that we live in the same part of town and frequently bump into each other on the way in — which in […]

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