Handy tips

Someone has put up some signs around the office which give helpful tips on how to be efficient. It includes the usual things like ‘arrive at meetings on time’, ‘stick to deadlines’ and so forth. You know, that sort of blindingly obvious best-intentions rubbish that everyone knows, but noone follows. About as helpful as health advice of ‘eat your veges and get lots of exercise’.

But even meaningless clap-trap like ‘work as a team’ looks like a work of Shakespearean genius compared to this gem:

Be pro-active.

That’s it. Be pro-active. Not even ‘be pro-active about [something]’. Just be pro-active. In general. I’ll be sure to write that into my next performance agreement.

What makes it even worse though, is that I can just see my colleagues walking past this sign, pausing to read it, then nodding solemnly in agreement.