We’ve all been there: you ask someone to do something, only to have them completely misinterpret your request, adding their own twist, or outright ignoring it. It’s like a game of broken telephone, but instead of silly misunderstandings, people end up running into trouble, and not just in the office, but, sometimes in far more dangerous environments, like the military.
Let’s take a look at how ignoring instructions (or not quite following them) has caused some “unfortunate” situations in the armed forces. After all, we’ve all heard the saying, “In the military, there’s no room for errors… except when it involves accidentally launching a missile.” Well, maybe not exactly, but you get the gist.
Picture this: a unit is preparing for a top-secret mission. The commanding officer gives clear and concise orders: “Under no circumstances should you engage the enemy unless explicitly ordered to do so.” Simple, right? A no-brainer, really.
Cue the hero of our story: one young recruit, perhaps a little too eager to prove himself, hears the orders and thinks, “Well, what’s the harm in a preemptive strike?” Off he goes, deciding that engaging the enemy before getting the official order will definitely improve his chances of promotion. Spoiler alert: the only thing he earned was a month of remedial training and a solid lecture from his superior.
The lesson here? Sometimes, it’s best to follow instructions exactly as given. When the stakes are high, “winging it” can cost more than just a few brownie points.
In another (slightly more embarrassing) example, a group of soldiers in a remote location were given the simple task of checking in with headquarters every four hours via radio. Easy enough, right? But one clever soldier, feeling a bit too self-reliant, decided, “Why not send an email instead? Who uses radios anyway in this day and age?”
Turns out, radios are still kind of important in remote operations. The soldier’s email ended up stuck in a cyber void (thanks to poor signal), and the lack of radio communication meant that headquarters had no idea if the team was safe. Hours later, the team found themselves in a sticky situation that could have been avoided with a simple “click to transmit” on the radio.
The moral of the story? Follow the method prescribed. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel just because you feel like it.
I’ve just had a situation where I politely asked someone last week to pass some information to her husband, as I didn’t have his email. Simple, right? “Hey, please can you let him know this? Thanks.” Easy peasy right ? Nope…
Instead of simply having a quick conversation with her husband (you know, the person living in the same house), what did she do? She sent me an email with his email address. Why? So I could send him an email? Oh, the irony! Not only did this bypass the simple and eco-friendly option of just talking to him in person, but it also involved sending an extra email, (plus the one I would potentially have to send him), consuming extra carbon units in the process (yes the bit that we can all overlook sometimes – those data centres storing and processing all our digital activities currently account for approximately 1% to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and this figure is only growing. Apparently each standard email uses 0.03g of carbon with higher CO2 numbers if there are attachments etc. ).
I do wonder if she did not like being asked to do something, even though we are all volunteers in an animal charity? It wasn’t as if I was asking her to email something to someone I already had an email for… Or maybe she and hubby had a little disagreement, and she figured sending me an email was a clever way to avoid having a chat? Who knows, but either way, sometimes the direct route is the easiest and best route… until you meet Mrs Manvers.
So here we are, using technology to avoid the simplest and most human option: communication. I wonder if mealtimes are also silent in this household, because everyone is staring at a screen…
Illustration by Alvaro Montoro
