Bree usually brings the Reddit stories and watches everyone else react, and she got a little jealous. So Lottie Bazley brought stories of her own, and the two of them ran a bracket to crown the biggest work jerk.

In this Reacting to Reddit at Work episode of Why Does It Feel So Wrong to Be Human at Work?, hosts Bree Bartos and Lottie Bazley trade four stories from Reddit's Am I the Jerk threads: a pregnant coworker who keeps eating OP's food, a manager who told her friend that her suspension was deserved, Goldfish George and his habit of snatching things out of people's hands, and a newly promoted manager who didn't show up to open the shop.

Along the way they get into managing a friend, why so many work problems are about food, the work version of you that the people at home rarely see, and spoon theory, with Bree explaining what it means and how she talks to her own manager about low-energy days.

In this episode, they discuss:
• A labeled tiramisu, a pregnant coworker, and "the baby really wanted tiramisu"
• Lottie's own stolen pudding story
• Why managing a friend muddies the water, and when to bring in a third party
• Goldfish George, the pen, and the bag of chips that split open in the break room
• Why people lose their manners around work food
• The work version of you, and Lottie's husband watching her host a town hall
• Why nobody tells the engagement person they're miserable
• Spoon theory, mental health days, and why you still need to send the text
• Crowning the biggest work jerk

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Have a story or question about work you want to hear the hosts discuss on the podcast? Write in to our subreddit: r/humanatwork

Watch full video episodes on YouTube.

Connect with Us
Bree Bartos – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Pinaki Kathiari – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Chris Lee – LinkedIn | Gallagher Communication

Lottie Bazley - LinkedIn
Edited by Dave Casto - Linkedin

Special thanks to digital communication agency Local Wisdom (www.localwisdom.com) for really believing in our mission and making this podcast possible.

If this episode made you think differently, laugh, or even yell out loud, we want to hear about it! Connect with us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to rate, review, and share – maybe with your work bestie… or even your boss if you're feeling bold.

When Bree's first job out of college went through a merger, she was in her early 20s, running video and social, and wondering whether there would still be a job for her on the other side. Her boss at the time, Mike Kline, was at the leadership table while the deal came together, and he was the one asked to sell it to the membership.

In the first episode of Humans That Work, a new series where guests tell the story of a major moment in their career, Bree Bartos and Pinaki Kathiari sit down with Mike Kline, founder and CEO of ThinkLab, Bree's very first boss, and her very first podcast co-host. Together they revisit the merger of two rival associations in the protective coatings industry, one marketed to staff as a merger of equals, from both sides of the org chart.

Mike shares what it was like to sell a deal he wasn't a fan of, why he felt people from the smaller organization were scattered and set up to fail, and what he'd tell leaders before the next one. Bree gets honest about the pay gap she discovered at a conference and the burnout that followed. And Pinaki makes the case for being honest about the job question first, even when you can't answer it yet.

In this episode, they discuss:
• Why putting people in silos is a mistake, and Bree's first taste of job crafting
• Hearing about a merger at the leadership table compared to hearing it in an all-staff meeting
• Selling a merger to the membership when you aren't a fan of it yourself
• Why the merger started to feel like an acquisition, and being outvoted ten to two
• Pay gaps, public Form 990s, and what happens when people find out
• Why trust can't be built without honesty
• Acknowledging that everyone's first question is "what happens to my job?"
• Letting two cultures coexist instead of smashing them into one
• Mike's work at ThinkLab helping people learn to build with AI

Thank you to Mike Kline for joining us! Connect with Mike here: LinkedIn

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Have a story or question about work you want to hear the hosts discuss on the podcast? Write in to our subreddit: r/humanatwork

Watch full video episodes on YouTube.

Connect with Us
Bree Bartos – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Pinaki Kathiari – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Chris Lee – LinkedIn | Gallagher Communication

Lottie Bazley - LinkedIn
Edited by Dave Casto - Linkedin

Special thanks to digital communication agency Local Wisdom (www.localwisdom.com) for really believing in our mission and making this podcast possible.

If this episode made you think differently, laugh, or even yell out loud, we want to hear about it! Connect with us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to rate, review, and share – maybe with your work bestie… or even your boss if you're feeling bold.

A VP tells the IT team they have to come into the office on the Fourth of July because, in her words, it's just IT and they don't have lives. So the team lead asks if he can throw an office party to make up for it. She says go wild, and suggests he use the company card. Brisket, pizza, pies, and a bill over $6,000 later, the CEO is yelling at the VP and the company has a brand new expense policy.

In this Reacting to Reddit at Work episode of Why Does It Feel So Wrong to Be Human at Work?, host Bree Bartos is joined by Pinaki Kathiari and Lottie Bazley to react to stories from r/MaliciousCompliance, a subreddit for people who follow the rules exactly as written and watch what happens. Bree reads a Hall of Fame post about that Fourth of July party, then a brand new one that was only hours old when she found it, about an IT guy who was asked to monitor employee productivity and wasn't told to leave management out.

Pinaki calls the first story benevolent compliance, Lottie explains why a rule with no reason attached makes people dig in, and Bree shares a quick tip for keeping your work and personal browsing separate. Two of the three hosts had never even heard the term malicious compliance before this recording.

In this episode, they discuss:
• What malicious compliance means, and why it feels like the work word for petty revenge
• A VP, an IT team, and a $6,000 Fourth of July party that changed a company's expense policy
• Why Pinaki thinks the first story is closer to benevolent compliance
• Why a rule with no reason behind it invites people to rebel
• A VP's job is to lead and grow people, so what if the first move is asking the team what they think?
• A founder who asked for browser history reports on everyone, and the list HR brought IT a few days later
• Why your browsing history and keystrokes can be tracked, and Bree's tip for a separate work browser profile
• The question to ask when a task makes no sense: what problem are we really trying to solve?
• Checking whether a thought you're having is a story you're telling yourself
• Whether internal communicators are guilty of malicious compliance too

The lesson everyone agrees on: be nice to IT. Pinaki also wants a part two on malicious compliance and petty revenge, so tell us if you do too.

Got a workplace story? Share it on our subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/humanatwork/

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Connect with Us

Pinaki Kathiari – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Chris Lee – LinkedIn | Gallagher Communication

Bree Bartos – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom
Lottie Bazley - LinkedIn
Edited by Dave Casto - LinkedIn

Special thanks to digital communication agency Local Wisdom (www.localwisdom.com) for really believing in our mission and making this podcast possible.

If this episode made you think differently, laugh, or even yell out loud, we want to hear about it! Connect with us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to rate, review, and share – maybe with your work bestie… or even your boss if you're feeling bold.

We also bring these important conversations to conferences and private workshops, creating space for real, meaningful change. Take the first step at www.whydoesitfeelsowrong.com.