MALICIOUS OBEDIENCE

When the Robots Take Over

By J. N. Halm
The expression on her face was so stern, it looked unnatural. There had to be something amiss,
I thought to myself. I was bent on finding out why all her colleagues were so excited and
exuberant while she just sat there with that look. The opportunity came during the snack break.
I saw her together with another colleague standing in the corner of the foyer so I approached to
engage them in a chit-chat.
I asked if she was feeling alright. She said she was, with that same look and without as much as
looking in my direction. It was obvious that this lady was not going to make my job easy.
Normally, I would have just walked away but something told me to go, stay and get to the
bottom of this ladys behaviour. I proceeded to ask her more welcoming colleague what the
problem was. Thankfully, that was when I had my break. After sizing me up to ensure that I
could be trusted, this colleague went ahead and told me an interesting story about her friend.
Apparently, this stern-looking lady was supposed to be the most exciting person among her
colleagues. I could not believe thatnot from her behaviour that morning. I was told that from
the very beginning of her joining the company, she was the life of the party. She was also the
best employee on a number of fronts, including customer satisfaction and sales. However, a
few months before our encounter, an incident had occurred in the office and she had been
unfairly penalised. She was even suspended as part of the punishment.

She came back from that suspension as the lady I had encountered that morningtaciturn,
reserved and worst of all, she had begun to abide by the rules to the letter. Since she returned
from the suspension, she does EXACTLY and ONLY what she is told to donothing more,
nothing less. She comes to work at exactly the time she is supposed to and leaves at just the
time she is supposed to. She is said to follow every instruction literallywithout as much as
adding her own unique understanding to the directive. In short, the Management of the
organization had successfully converted one of its most productive staff into a fine human
robot! The lady had come back with a vengeance and that was her way of showing it.
There is a term for the ladys behaviour and it is MALICIOUS OBEDIENCE.
Malicious obedience is a decision to obey ones superiors to the letter even if this comes at the
expense of ones sense of judgment and even if ones actions might lead to failure.
In my experience, this ladys case was not unusual. In many organisations all over this country,
there are many employees who are secretly harbouring ill-feelings and anger against the
Management of the organisations but are obeying every rule and directive. These sorts of
behaviours can go undetected for long periods of time as they eat away at the core of the
organisation.
It is wrong to assume that these employees lack motivation because they are very motivated
motivated by a sense of revenge. As a matter of fact, people resort to malicious obedience with
the hope that something will go wrong for which the blame will rest squarely on the shoulders
of the superior who gave the directive or instructions. The malicious complier is prepared to
use the I-was-just-following-orders argument when things go wrong. He or she is not
prepared to accept any responsibility. The subordinate hopes that by carrying out the

instructions to the letter, another superior who is above the one who originally gave the
directive, will find out. This will then put the first superior into hot waters.
Some people do not mind if the entire organisation suffers a loss as a result of their malicious
obedience. They will callously go about following the instructions knowing very well that in the
end there is bound to be trouble for someone. Their aim is to teach the organisation a lesson.
This is the malice behind the obedience.
One thing I have noticed about this unhealthy behaviour is that it can occur at every level of the
organisation. I once witnessed a manager of a firm who was using this very tactic to send a
message across to his Chief Executive. His beef was that a system that he had helped create
was being undermined by some new managers who did not have an idea of how the old system
came to being.
He felt when he raised the issue, the Chief Executive should have supported him but because
the CEO did not support him, this manager was ready to go with what the new managers were
proposing. He knew the new system was going to cost the organisation some money but he
could not be bothered. In a given month no sale was made of one of the organisations
products because of this managers insistence on a strict adherence to the new managers
system. The firm lost money running into thousands of cedis because of his malicious
obedience. That is how destructive this phenomenon can be.
Perceived unfair treatment is one of the main causes of this type of behaviour. When
employees feel that they have not been given a fair hearing and that the punishment meted
out to them would not have been meted out to the next person, there is a tendency for these

sorts of behaviour. When people feel they have been singled out to be dealt harshly with, they
might resort to malicious obedience after that.
Another potential cause of such behaviour is when superiors and subordinates do not agree on
an issue and go about without finding common ground. Disagreements are bound to occur but
when they do, one expects a common ground to be found. However, many superiors would use
their positions to bully their way through without any regard for the view of the subordinate.
When a superior has to borrow power from his or her position to ensure that something gets
done, that superior is preparing the grounds for malicious obedience.
A lack of respect for the views of ones subordinates can also elicit malicious obedience. People,
regardless of their position on the organisational ladder, appreciate it when their views are
consideredeven when those views are not going to be implemented. By asking for the views
of others and factoring those in ones ultimate decision, the one is paying respect to those
whose views were sought. However, when a superior portrays himself as the know-it-all,
there is the tendency for people to want to show the one that he is not omniscient. When
subordinates have and harbour objections about a directive but cannot voice the objections out
in front of a superior, it is a sure recipe for malicious obedience.
When superiors become too engrossed with systems and structures and are not ready to be
flexible, they might initiate tendencies for malicious obedience. If the means becomes an end
on itself, there are bound to be problems. If a subordinate comes up with an idea on how to
make the system better, it is important that the idea is taken into consideration. Brushing the
idea aside with the this-is-how-it-has-always-been-done mantra will generate unnecessary

strife. The subordinate, who in most cases, would be the one who is at the forefront of the
issue, will go back and strictly adhere to the old systemeven if it is going to cause problems.
Finally, in my experience, there are some people who are just like that. They are simply
troublemakers who lack the requisite teamwork skills. For such individuals, there is pretty little
that can be done for them. They must just be shown the exit. Thankfully, these individuals are
few and far between. Majority of those I have come across who engage in malicious obedience
are actually good workers who were aggrieved but had not been given the opportunity to voice
out their views. They feel trapped and the only way out, for them, is through malicious
obedience.
To tackle malicious obedience, Management would need to take a look at the above causes and
nip any potential for such behaviours in the bud. A major way to tackle malicious obedience
would be to put structures in place that empower employees. Employees who are regularly in
direct contact with customers should be given a listening ear when they complain about
something concerning customers. These employees are the frontline and therefore in the firing
line. When they have something to say, superiors must do their best to listen. Subordinates
must be made to feel that their views also matter in the running of the organisation.
Make no mistake, malicious obedience can bring an organisation down. It can really have an
effect on the quality of customer service, both for internal and external customers. In
circumstances which involve the malicious complier having to serve customers, it becomes
obvious to customers that this person is not giving off their best. The excitement, passion and
enthusiasm that should go with giving customers excellent service would be missing. If the front

line staff is into sales, they would only tell not sell. They would make no attempt to cross-sell or
upsell.
If instances of malicious obedience are not properly handled, they can start a negative spiral
within the organisation with dire consequences. One malicious complier can poison the entire
atmosphere if not handled quickly and properly. This is why it is important that superiors do
their best to always be on the ground to know what is happening. Holing up in your office will
do you, your business and your customers no good, if all you have on the shop floor are a bunch
of robots with malicious intent, simply following orders.