The Advent of Bad Management
🎄You’ve heard of Advent of Code… now it’s time for Advent of Bad Management! Are you in??🎄
Mrs Claus has finally had enough and hired you as Santa’s executive consultant to help Santa dodge the naughty list. What she doesn’t know, is you’re really The Grinch in disguise and would love nothing more than Christmas to be cancelled.
🔔 Starting every weekday from Dec 2nd until the 20th, I’ll be posting chaotic scenarios that follow Santa as he jingles his way through some seriously questionable leadership choices.
🎅 How to Play:
- Vote on what you think is Santa’s worst idea and explain to him in the comments why it’s definitely a good idea with no downsides
- OR explain an even worse idea he can do instead, and why it’s definitely a great alternative.
In a very scientific manner I’ll pick my favourite response every day based on what makes me laugh the most. I’ll tag the winner in the comments, who wins our everlasting respect. A truly priceless gift! 🎁
🛷 Ready to validate Santa’s poor management decisions?
Link to original LinkedIn post
OVERALL WINNER
Big congratulations to Craig Nicol for being the overall winner of Advent of Bad Management!
Scenario 1
🎅: “Ugh, it’s only Day 1 and everything’s already gone to hell,” Santa thought as he watched elves frantically produce random amounts of toys. “How hard is it to follow a quota? Oh wait, I forgot to give them one… well they should know what to do by now!”
🤦♀️ Santa forgot to clarify the expected gift-making quota for the elves (not that he’d admit it!), leading to wildly varying toy production. Some elves made 1000 toys quickly; some made 2 to the highest standards.
Scenario 2
🎅: After the fiasco with missing quotas, Santa sighed deeply. “Alright, if they can’t figure it out, I’ll just do it myself,” he muttered, deciding that the only way forward was to loom over every elf and tell them how to hold a paintbrush. “What do I even pay you for?”
🤦♀️ Santa has decided the only solution is to micromanage every elf since they clearly can’t be trusted.
Scenario 3
🎅: “We’re way behind,” Santa mumbled, staring at his workshop calendar. “Alright, everyone, we’re finishing this by tomorrow!” He knew it was impossible, but hey, miracles happen, right? “I really hope miracles happen…”
🤦♀️ Santa realises they’re behind schedule and sets an impossible deadline for all toy production to be complete—by tomorrow.
Scenario 4
🎅: Santa watched the exhausted elves. “Why are they slowing down? It’s not like I asked for the impossible,” he mused, bewildered. “Maybe if I just ignore it, they’ll magically get less tired… right?” The elves, trying to meet the impossible deadline, are visibly exhausted. Productivity tanks, the elves start to openly protest.
🤦♀️ Santa’s elves are burnt out after his unrealistic deadline.
Scenario 5
🎅: Santa smiled to himself. “Cookies! Who doesn’t love cookies? This will get them back on track,” he thought. But as he watched elves make nothing but tiny, useless trinkets to maximise their cookie intake, he realised, “Oh… maybe this wasn’t the smartest plan.” Worse, now the elves are getting chonkier and lazier, and napping a lot of the time while covered in crumbs.
🤦♀️ Santa’s cookie incentive backfired, and now production quality’s plummeted. How can he fix this?
Scenario 6
🎅: Santa blinked in surprise as the reindeer formed a picket line. “Wait, they have complaints too? How hard can it be to pull the sleigh!” He sighed. Feeling neglected because of all the attention on the elves lately, the reindeer stage a revolt, refusing to train their stamina. Santa hadn’t even realised they had complaints.
🤦♀️ Oh no! At this rate the reindeer won’t be able to make the journey to deliver presents.
Scenario 7
🎅: “A new process? From the elves?” Santa scoffed. “No way—I’ve been running this workshop for centuries! I know best.” He dismissed the elves, completely oblivious to their growing frustration. The elves propose a more efficient toy-making process, but Santa dismisses it, convinced his old way works better affecting morale.
🤦♀️ Santa’s ignoring the elves’ great ideas and it’s affecting toy production levels.
Scenario 8
🎅: Santa entered the break room, only to find the reindeer and elves locked in a shouting match over space. “Why does everyone need a break anyway?” he thought, scratching his head. “Maybe if I just let them sort it out…” Tensions rise between the elves and reindeer over shared break room space. No one feels heard, and things are getting tense. Hoofs are scuffing and forks are being brandished!
🤦♀️ Santa’s workshop break room has turned into a battlefield.
Scenario 9
🎅: Santa looked around the workshop. The cheer was gone, the elves were grumpy, and even the reindeer looked disheartened after the recent bust up over the break room. “How did it come to this?” he wondered. “Maybe I forgot what Christmas spirit was all about…” No one feels motivated or appreciated and it’s affecting morale and toy production levels.
🤦♀️ The workshop’s lost the Christmas spirit. How can Santa bring it back?
Scenario 10
🎅: Santa stood before his team, taking a deep breath. “I’ve made mistakes. Lots of them,” he admitted. “It’s time to change, to listen, and to make this workshop a place of joy again.” The elves exchanged glances, a glimmer of hope in their eyes. Santa finally realises he’s been a terrible manager.
🤦♀️ Santa’s ready to make things right.
