Due to someone resigning, a colleague took the initiative to say that his brother happened to be looking for a job and could be introduced for an interview. This kind of internal referral interview is often just a formality, so the next day his brother came to work.

When he first started working, his brother was very diligent; however, within two days, he began to slack off boldly.

When colleagues went to stand guard, he would excuse himself to go to the restroom, and when it was time to switch shifts, he would come back. If this situation could still be understood, later he became even bolder, watching others go to stand guard, he actually left his post to follow others to take a break and played games desperately.

At this point, some people who couldn't stand it began to speak up, saying he should take it seriously, that when it was our turn to stand guard, we should go together. Unexpectedly, his response was also very shocking: "I'm just here to slack off. If it weren't for slacking off, I wouldn't come to work here."

The implication was that he looked down on his current job. So, you must think his previous job was definitely easier, right?

In fact, quite the opposite. I once interviewed him, and he said his previous job was very demanding, working on an assembly line in a factory, earning less than this, and having to work twelve hours a day. So compared to that, he felt this job was very good.

Since he felt it was very good, why didn't he cherish it? It turned out that his brother was also a slacker, so he might have told his younger brother privately that it was fine to slack off at work because it wasn't strict here. This is the influence of bad company, so in such a short time, he began to slack off recklessly.

Secondly, the work culture might not be very good; everyone turns a blind eye to slacking off, and no one is willing to meddle. Although they feel dissatisfied with others slacking off affecting their work, they are too lazy to care because in such an environment, the consequence of caring might not be that the other person corrects their behavior, but rather that the other person continues to do as they please and might even retaliate.

Therefore, for personal interests and safety, they don't have such intense emotions about this phenomenon. However, these slackers, over time, actually developed experience; they would notify each other of the leaders' whereabouts, and when the leader appeared, they would immediately act very positively, giving the leader a good impression. Once the leader left, they would immediately return to slacking off.

So, the phenomena that the leader saw were mostly illusions. Once, when the people in front had been busy for more than twenty minutes and looked a bit tired, at that moment, the leader happened to pass by, and that slacker immediately put down his work, rushed to the front of the crowd, and then busily pretended to work hard. After the leader came over and saw this, he thought the others were not working, and that only he was working, so the leader said, "Why is he the only one working? You should learn from him!"

The leader thought he was being very appropriate; as the saying goes, seeing is believing, hearing is deceiving. However, when the leader said this, it immediately made the others feel a wave of disgust inside. They did not refute the leader's words but instead joined in the busy state, of course, knowing what the truth was.

At the end of the day, the leader wanted to hold a meeting for everyone, and he named that person, saying, "Today I found a role model. He is very proactive and hardworking. Others should learn from him." To promote this proactive and hardworking spirit, he decided to reward him with one hundred yuan and include him in the talent reserve team.

As soon as the leader finished speaking, everyone sighed, but no one refuted the leader's words, and the leader thought he was doing the right thing. That person proudly accepted the leader's reward and became a role model for everyone to learn from.

Some people privately said, "Since the leader wants us to learn from that slacker, then let's slack off at work too; after all, slacking off is rewarded." So everyone slacked off during shift changes, keeping watch for each other, and once they spotted the leader on patrol, they immediately pretended to work hard.

In this way, every time the leader patrolled, he saw everyone working very hard. So at the next meeting, the leader said, "It seems that the power of role models is very great. Since we introduced a role model, everyone's work ethic has changed a lot, and everyone is making progress. This is a very good thing. Therefore, we must not forget the role of the previous role model. I have decided to reward him with three hundred yuan again; everyone applaud."

This time there were no sighs, but rather everyone laughed joyfully and applauded wildly, expressing support for the leader's decision. However, in any group, there will always be a small number of people who cannot see the bigger picture. They believe the leader cannot distinguish right from wrong and actually rewards such a slacker. How can the group possibly improve if this continues? They not only increasingly disapprove of these colleagues but also increasingly disapprove of this leader. They privately said the leader was simply a pig and that it would be better to leave such a group; they had already found a new job that offered better pay and benefits than here.

Thus, those colleagues with a sense of "justice" gradually left, and the remaining people were basically all part of the slacker team.

This incident reminded me of my middle school days when the school often organized some volunteer work, like planting trees on Arbor Day.

They saw that the homeroom teacher was not present, so they threw the hoe to me and made me dig the tree pit alone. When I was almost done digging, he suddenly snatched the hoe from my hands and started digging vigorously.

I found it really strange; why did he snatch my hoe? I looked up and realized that the homeroom teacher had arrived. The homeroom teacher came over, saw him working so hard and digging such a big pit, and immediately praised him, saying, "Not bad." Then he turned to me and said, "Yanwei, you should learn from your classmate and not just stand there watching."

Then he took the opportunity to hand the hoe back to me, and it was my turn to work again. I felt a bit aggrieved, but I couldn't point out his little tricks, thinking to myself, "This homeroom teacher can't see through it at all."

Coincidentally, one day the homeroom teacher was out, and that day the school organized a tug-of-war competition between classes. The class committee members began to organize everyone, and when I and other boys who were not good at speaking actively went on stage, we were scolded by the study committee member, saying, "What are you doing up here? Hurry up and get down! According to the rules, only these people can be selected!"

We felt very hurt and had to leave the team. However, reality slapped us in the face; they were defeated by the opposing class. At this moment, the study committee member shouted, "What are you all doing as spectators? It's all your fault for not going on stage!"

Later, when the homeroom teacher returned, he held a special class meeting about this incident, saying, "Some people lack a sense of collective spirit. Our class lost the tug-of-war because some people were unwilling to go on stage." Then the homeroom teacher began to name and criticize those who did not go on stage.

Now encountering similar situations at work makes one sigh. This might be what is called the elimination of the weak by the strong! Just like back then, when the class started selecting class committee members, I directly refused to participate, and I found a legitimate reason: I didn't have the ability. However, now that I have reached middle age, I have come to terms with it. In fact, many people are ordinary; they do not have wise minds and can only rely on what they see. One should not overly trust the abilities of others.