Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Boss for a day

Try your boss's job and see if you're better.
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One day a year each of the employees in a department gets to swap jobs with the boss. Then we can see who really does it well (and if so, the swap becomes permanent). Great for all of us who've served under a dimwit boss whose only claim to the job is ambition.
git, Jun 17 2003

The Peter Principle http://ourworld.com.../gately/bkpeter.htm
[po, Oct 06 2004]

Old, old idea. http://en.wikipedia...iki/Lord_of_Misrule
[mouseposture, May 27 2011]

[link]






       The last word in the paragraph - is that just one of many to choose from?
thumbwax, Jun 17 2003
  

       Considering the department I work in has over 200 employees and roughly 250 workdays a year, there wouldn't be any one person in office long enough to get anything done.
Freefall, Jun 17 2003
  

       My own personal experience and observation leads me to suspect that *most* people who think they've "served under a dimwit boss whose only claim to the job is ambition" would find that such a swap would not prove so "great" after all.
beauxeault, Jun 17 2003
  

       Agree with [beaux]. Much better is "Lowly serf for a day" - all bosses to do their subordinates' jobs. Then they will know how it really is, oh yes.
whimsickle, Jun 17 2003
  

       I thought the British had a day that they traded places with their servants and called it "Boxing Day." A quick google of "boxing day" produces no such animal. One o' you Brits want to enlighten me?
ato_de, Jun 17 2003
  

       Boxing Day is when they get into a fight, isn't it?
thumbwax, Jun 17 2003
  

       Sheesh, is that how urban legends start?   

       Some families used to serve a bang-up dinner for their servants on Boxing Day, back in the days when there were families with servants. Of course, the servants still got to cook the meal, they just got the best cuts and the fine silver for a change, but that might be what you're thinking of. The day itself gets its name from the likewise obsolete custom of giving out Christmas Boxes to delivery people such as the milkman, postman, coalman, etc.
DrCurry, Jun 17 2003
  

       Unless your boss carries a negligent amount of responsibility, you can't possibly gauge your prowess in just one day. Does it really make a difference to your company if he takes one day off? A bad boss will cause a decline in productivity and profitability over a period of months.
Helium, Jun 17 2003
  

       Country music will do that in a matter of minutes.
thumbwax, Jun 17 2003
  

       I was most disappointed to find that, despite having taken 7 weeks off, my team is still working well, having succeeded in negotiating things I had failed to do in the previous 3 years.
PeterSilly, Jun 17 2003
  

       You get 7 weeks?!?!
RayfordSteele, Jun 17 2003
  

       heh, he is an artiste...
po, Jun 17 2003
  

       This can hardly be considered an original idea.
waugsqueke, Jun 17 2003
  

       link? <sigh> [waugs]
po, Jun 17 2003
  

       No link necessary. What employee has not thought about his boss, "oh yes, just give me one day doing your job, you jerk."
waugsqueke, Jun 17 2003
  

       I think that this idea is a reductio ad absurdum of the whole Term Limits craze that seems to have swept over the American Electorate. Yep, that's right, I'm swinging around that "reductio" latin thing again. Still not positive I'm using it correctly.
bungston, Jun 17 2003
  

       8 years later. I thought this was an idea for vacation. You come to the b4day building and get a team of workers who you get to boss around. You can have the day in different flavors. Proove how great you are. Get a motivated team that admires you. Or choose a team that hates you and tries to remove you for an adrenalin filled day.
pashute, May 26 2011
  

       'One o' you Brits want to enlighten me?' It is a tradition in the British army that on Christmas Day the officers serve Christmas dinner to the men (and women)
Mony a Mickle, May 27 2011
  

       There's a show on TV here (it's a USA show) called "Undercover Boss" - basically half of this idea.
Life imitates 'bakery, once again...
neutrinos_shadow, May 29 2011
  
      
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