Quick Brown Foxes and Lazy Dogs

We all know the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog but it sure would have been easier if that dog had just got out of your way in the first place.  You can find lazy dogs in almost every workplace. Ideally, they won’t stick around for long, but what if you’re not so lucky?

A friend of mine has a problem with a lazy employee. He won’t do anything unless it’s in his job description. Heaven forbid you should ask him to empty a wastepaper basket! He takes an inordinately long time to complete the simplest of tasks, is always first out the door at knocking off time and ask him to do some overtime? Forget it!  Another friend is plagued by a lazy colleague. Ask her to do anything out of the ordinary and she does it so slowly, so poorly and with such bad grace that you wish you’d never asked her in the first place.

Not all lazy dogs do it deliberately, sometimes they just seem lazy because they don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing. They’re uninformed and/or unknowledgeable which makes them fearful of making mistakes and that leads them to inaction. A lot like deer caught in the headlights, they freeze when they really should be moving.  

Others are lazy because they’re uninspired and unmotivated. If you can find their hot button, that thing that lights them up, then you have hope of effecting change. The ones that are most difficult to change are those lazy dogs who firmly believe the world owes them a living just because they were born. They have such an ingrained sense of entitlement that any efforts to change them do about as much good as spitting into the wind. Then there are those charming lazy dogs who exasperate you so much you end up doing their work for them. It’s not fair, after all they’re being paid for work that you’re doing.  

So, how do you deal with someone who is clearly not interested in putting 100% effort into their work?

The answer to that has very little to do with them and everything to do with how you feel about yourself and your work.  If you’re fully charged up with positive energy it’s a lot easier to ignore the shortcomings of others.  If you’re enthused about what you do then taking on a bit more work just to get the job done is a worthy challenge and makes the reward of a job well done that much sweeter.  

Of course, habitually doing someone else’s job because they can’t or won’t do it themselves is not doing you or them any favours long term, so what can you do to address this?  You don’t need to be shy and retiring about picking up the slack, but you don’t need to be mean and vindictive about it either. “Sarah, I noticed that your shelves aren’t restocked,” you mention, possibly (but not necessarily) within earshot of the boss. “Would you like me to give you a hand with that?”  Make sure you keep your tone positive and enthusiastic and when you do help them with their work, do it with enthusiasm.

Lazy dogs have lousy attitudes to their job, possibly even to their life and themselves. We all know lousy attitudes are contagious, so stay as far away from their bad attitude as possible and the best way to do that is to amp up your own positive attitude. It’s a cunning plan because just as lousy attitudes are contagious, so are positive ones! Keep pumping up the positive until it either rubs off on them or annoys them so much they have to get away from you. Either way it’s a win.

Ask a lazy dog “John, where are those inserts you were preparing for the Webber Proposal?  You promised me you’d have them ready yesterday and now I’m out of time!” and you’re asking for trouble.  Don’t ever give lazy dogs the opportunity to sabotage you, because in making you look bad, they unjustly elevate themselves.  Often, it’s a carefully calculated strategy on their part – they’ve learned that doing this is the only way they can get ahead.  If you know you’re dealing with a lazy dog, avoid giving them the power of sabotage. Either ask someone else to do the task or do it yourself.   Look upon their laziness as an opportunity for you to shine. How many brownie points can you accumulate by picking up their slack?

There will always be lazy dogs. As soon as you get rid of one, another comes along to take his place. This is not necessarily a bad thing, after all lazy dogs give all of us quick foxes an opportunity to stretch our legs and jump ahead.