In late 2005, the night manager of a suburban Atlanta restaurant called owner J.D. Clockdale to boast about how well she had handled an irate female customer. The customer "ranted and raved" about a botched order, but calmed down after the manager gave her a free meal, Mr. Clockdale recalls being told.
Mr. Clockdale confronted the night manager, who confessed that she invented the altercation to look good. "She wanted more responsibility," he says.
The story illustrates a troublesome workplace phenomenon that's now attracting attention: employees who quietly cause problems so they can later take credit for fixing them. Georgia Institute of Technology business professor Nathan Bennett dubs the behavior "Munchausen at work," because it resembles a rare psychological disorder in which sufferers seek attention by making up an illness or inducing sickness in others.
Interesting article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121960882331467103.html?mod=yhoofrontIt's always fun to work with someone that makes a "big deal" out of everything, so they can take credit for being able to "handle it"....and all they are really doing is wasting a bunch of time.
