Work is going great. First-line supervisors developed outstanding practices that increase efficiencies while providing a great work-life balance to employees who love their jobs and are happy to report for their shifts.
Profits are rising, customers praise workers for a job well done, and the well-oiled machine continues in bliss.
Conditions are ripe for the nefarious Good Idea Fairy to strike.
What is the Good Idea Fairy?
The Good Idea Fairy is a malicious entity seeking to wreak havoc on high-functioning work environments. When it rears its ugly head, you know that the best parts of your job are about to be tossed into chaos.
“Good Idea Fairy” is a slang term used to describe ideas championed by upper management that harm the workforce.
They’re ideas that look good on paper but, in practice, have massive impacts on wellness or operations that those without experience on the ground would never understand.
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Example of the Good Idea Fairy at Work
Imagine working at a coffee shop. Shifts are perfectly staffed and create overflow, ensuring no single employee gets overwhelmed. The streamlined menu helps customers choose their favorite drinks instantly and allows baristas to memorize the best way to make each offering.
Middle management looks at the numbers.
“They could be better,” thinks one rising star, eyeing an executive position.
After looking at the numbers, the manager comes to an exhilarating realization. They could cut the swing shift, saving thousands of dollars on labor costs across all the store locations.
They create a PowerPoint presentation, highlighting these cost-saving measures to the decision-makers, who greedily smack their lips, eyeing the potential savings.
The idea gets implemented, the middle manager receives a promotion and the substantial raise that comes with it, and the ground-level employees get screwed. Workers quit because there’s now too much work for them to handle, and customers complain about longer lines and wait times.
The Good Idea Fairy strikes again.
Good Idea Fairy Origins
I first heard the term Good Idea Fairy while serving in the military. It’s a term boots-on-the-ground Soldiers use to describe bewildering decisions made by officers many ranks above them.
Typically, the decision affects the Soldier’s life or career but has little to no impact on the command staff. The officer gets to add a fancy statement to their OER (Officer Evaluation Report), which can lead to awards and promotions and doesn’t have to suffer the consequences of the decision.
Though the term likely started on military bases, it’s becoming more common in the corporate world. Any idea that makes a manager look good to higher-ups while hurting the underlings comes from the Good Idea Fairy.
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What To Do When The Good Idea Fairy Strikes
You cannot do much to protect yourself from Good Idea Fairy’s whims. The sparkling ideas look great to upper management, and they pat each other on the back with pride in how they “improved efficiencies,” “streamlined productivity,” or “reduced waste.”
However, that doesn’t mean you should panic. Sometimes you can change their minds, and even if you can’t, you don’t always have to stick around to face the repercussions.
Here’s what you can do when the Good Idea Fairy strikes.
Venting Helps
In the military, the lowly grunts rarely get a say in officers’ decisions. Soldiers do the work; officers make the decisions.
And so it goes.
You may have little recourse when the Good Idea Fairy bursts onto the scene, but venting to a trusted friend helps. The ranks can build camaraderie and vow never to let the sinister goblin push them into similar bad decisions.
Highlight the Errors of Their Ways
Sometimes the lower levels do have a say. If management asks for your opinion on a potential change, give it to them!
However, you must be thoughtful in your approach. Managers will likely dismiss criticism based on emotional reactions or simply not wanting to try a new procedure.
Instead, keep your arguments factual. Showcase the second and third-order impacts the decision will have on operations and morale. Highlight a perspective your senior leaders may not have considered.
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Give it a Shot
Sometimes change is for the best. We may not see it at first because it’s hard and scary, but overall, some Good Idea Fairies may not be as horrible as we first thought.
If you have no choice but to submit to the whims of the fairy, make the best of it. Give the new idea a try. See how things play out. The results may surprise you.
However, if it turns out just as badly as you imagined, you can also take your new evidence to whoever thought up the idea in the first place and show them the real-world impacts.
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em
Management makes the decisions. The best way to prevent managers from making awful decisions that negatively impact your life is to become what you hate: join the ranks of management.
From your new position, you can fight the good fight. You can speak up for the rank-and-file workers affected by Good Idea Fairy decisions, voicing your concerns about implementing any new policies.
Be aware that you might gain a new perspective. You may realize that what seemed like a Good Idea Fairy idea when you were a lowly worker actually saved the business from insolvency, preventing even more people from losing jobs.
Sometimes unpopular management decisions are, in fact, what’s best for most people, and you don’t fully understand that until you see the situation from their perspective.
Move On
When the Good Idea Fairy creates horrible working conditions, it might be time to move on. If the new policies destroyed your work-life balance, increased your stress and made you dread going to work, start looking for a new position.
Unfortunately, Soldiers facing the Good Idea Fairy don’t have the same recourse. They sign a contract and must serve where they’re called until it expires.
Employees in other industries don’t face the same restrictions. You don’t have to stick it out with a job that clearly doesn’t value your input, desires, or wellness.
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Always Lurking, Impossible to Defeat
The Good Idea Fairy will never be truly defeated. He lurks in industries where upper management is disconnected from employees, managers don’t understand their employees’ work, and bosses only care about making themselves look good.
Affected workers can do what they can to protect themselves, but understand that middle managers may turn to the nefarious fairy for guidance whenever a promotion is in sight.
Look out for the Good Idea Fairy before it comes for you!