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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Aggravating_Dot_5217 on 2025-05-15 15:00:15+00:00.
Here we have another IT story.
One of my many tasks is to create specific document templates that will be used by the company to show off achievements. For some unknown reason, those that are in the higher up suites decided to change the look of the certificates.
I am given a copy of the certificate and told to update the system that will do the printing. I start off by taking the existing certificate and try to match the new certificate to the template. After much frustration, I decide that I will have to start over and spend some time redesigning the document template from scratch. It takes a bit longer than I expected and when I did my first prints, the various field were out of line. This is tedious work as it means checking, move the elements by little increments.
I get every thing aligned except for the date and no matter what I try the date will not move up or down. I ask some of the guys in our development department and none of them can figure this one out. We are all stumped.
I do some research and discover that the problem is the renderer (the program that takes the template and inserts the data – for those non IT people) One of the issues that is raised is that the renderer has a bug that will move items around at random and unless placed in a fixed location will just keep on changing the template. The changes are very minute, probably no more than 1 or 2 millimetres.
I send the higher ups an email explaining all of this after. I had reached a serious point of frustration as this task should have taken about half a day and I have now been at it for two days. I send my boss an email explaining what the problem is and if they may know somebody that can help.
Next thing I am called into a Teams meeting with the higher ups and asked what the problem is. I explain everything. The higher up tells me to open the original template and we will redo that to match the new certificate. I follow instruction and keep adding my few cents worth. I am then told to do what I am told and get on with it. I am also told that I must stop any other work.
Now comes the malicious compliance part. I do as I am told, make the changes as requested. We work line by line and make the changes. We then check that the change is correct on the certificate. I am asked to print the completed template document to the printer in their office. No problem, I do as I am told. I stop responding to emails, doing other work while waiting for the people from the other office to do there thing and tell me what the next set of changes are. This goes on for nearly a week. The higher ups are losing their mind because every time we change one thing other things go out of alignment and we need to go back and fix them.
When I am not sitting at my desk looking at my computer screen. I am doing a bit of research to see if I can find a solution but not saying anything to anyone. Remember what I was told.
I am having dinner with the family and mention this to my son. (He is a software developer). He asks if he can look at the code and tells me that the code that I had been working on for the higher ups is seriously wrong. He gives me some tips on how to fix it so that the elements are locked in and will not move.
I sit down in just over an hour I produce a new set of code that, needs to be tested to see if it is robust enough.
Now for the outcome. Today I go into the office, get pulled into a Teams meeting again to continue with the product that isn’t working. I make a passing comment that my son helped me with the template and has put in more robust settings. The higher ups reluctantly agree to try as they say we have nothing to lose. We made the first print and one of the items was out of alignment, made a change and the item held its position. Took a few hours and the template is now working like it is supposed to. I even got a well done from the higher ups
Sometimes there are others that know what they are talking about.