Optimal Operation

Remember, if you ever want to give 100% (and more), do it for yourself and not for someone else. If you get appreciated for it, all the better. If you don't, at least you can appreciate yourself and won't be disappointed.

onitake

Just retired from an interim temp job that I nonetheless spent the last 18 years doing. I gave 100% for years until I finally figured out I was just annoying everyone. I then - slowly and reluctantly and VERY imperfectly - learned to do just what was expected of me, and no more. That was the hardest part of my work -- always feeling that I was underachieving because the company didn’t want and wasn’t comfortable with 100% Then the company was sold recently and the new owners not only didn’t want 100% -- they wanted mindless drones who were little more than living voice response systems. I tried to adjust to being a mindless drone, couldn’t manage to, and got out before they fired me for not being robotic enough. So I get it. I was lucky enough to always have immediate supervisors who understood that or I would never have lasted as long as I did. The best jobs are usually the ones where you have a boss like Dora, who has reasonable expectations, more than a little compassion and empathy, and -- importantly -- is the top of the hierarchy. My last immediate supervisors were good folk caught by the same forces I found increasingly difficult to survive. I miss them and my incredible co-workers. I do not miss the soul-crushing stress of trying to please people at the top and far away who were trying to micromanage via telescope using negative feedback as a control procedure. The stress of cutting my income in half is rough -- but still better than that.

Guy McLimore

Just remembered that Dora and Martin used to date, seems like forever

M. R.

IT'S FRESH-SQUEEZED!

Yelling Bird

Mmmpphh?

David Pipes

Which should give you some idea of just how good Hanners is. :D

That Blair Guy

Wouldn't -17% of Hanner's best be 17% of her worst?

My boss's ex-boss used to tell me to go for the 80% solution. "We can have someone manually fix the rest." We deal with enough data that the 80% solution would result in millions of problems that would take months to manually solve. Except that's per day, so we'd need to hire hundreds of people to be able to do the manual fixes quickly enough to just keep up. Also, the data is frequently uniform enough that the least solution is more than 90%. Sure, I get that I don't need to cover *every* edge case. But I generally need to cover more than 80% of the edge cases. That said, most jobs aren't like mine. I program. Jobs where one creates systems to do things in general require more thorough completion than those where one is simply doing things. After all, to err is human, to really fsck things up, you need a computer. And that's what I do if I only do the 80% solution. To be clear, I'm agreeing with your statement - but some of us fall on the other side of that 'usually'.

Some Ed

There are people who expect more than C+ effort. I've had a boss who expected more than A+ effort. There's no pleasing people like that, though, so you shouldn't worry about it.

Some Ed

THANKS! I GOT YOU SOMETHING TOO! IT'S A SECRET, SO CLOSE YOUR EYES AND STICK OUT YOUR TONGUE!

Yelling Bird

And even when you are the recognized expert in your department, the one everybody counts on, the one that fixes all the mistakes everyone else makes.

Some Ed

Yes, but honestly? 100% effort is a lot of effort. It may be what we say we're giving to our work, but I doubt most people give more than 90%. 70% seems like a fairly good amount - enough to get the job done, but enough focus remaining to take care of onesself.

Some Ed

Dora is so understanding here. Warms my heart. ❤️

TubaGinger

I operate at 100% of my current ability. Whatever that means at any given point in time just varies wildly.

Chris Crowther

There, there. Have a seed cookie you mangy little bastard.

David Pipes

Engineer!Claire had better be Welsh and wearing overalls.

Miyaa

AND YET SOMEHOW I STILL SURPRISE EVERYONE BY GETTING EVER WORSE!

Yelling Bird

Is this when we cut to Claire’s inner self (Marigold-yoga-style) attempting to maintain the engine output at a super precise 70.000% ?

Mad Marie

YB, I hate to break it to you, but we already expect absolute shit from you.

Mad Marie

GDI

Miyaa

"Release the virus." https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2443

Mark

I OPERATE AT 10% OF MY BEST AT ANY GIVEN TIME! OTHERWISE PEOPLE START TO EXPECT SHIT!

Yelling Bird

There is an appendix on Emily's contract, one of the conditions is she must never make the coffee glow!

Andrew

Dora carefully maintains the schedule so no matter how many people are on shift, they approximate 2 FTE.

Andrew

If Emily ever comes close to 2% of her best, the espresso machine as we know it is in danger

Bagge

If Hannelore ever goes above 50% of her best civilization as we know it is in danger

Bagge

Yes price list, 69 _is_ good advice!

Ste Saunders

I always give 100% at work... 12% on Monday, 23% on Tuesday, 40% on Wednesday, 20% on Thursday and 5% on Friday

Andreas_B

https://poets.org/poem/hay-horses

Emma Humphries

At work I aim for the 80% solution. Anything beyond 80% has diminishing returns. To get that extra 20% usually takes as much time, energy and cost as the original 80%. And usually does not provide huge benefit.

Thisguy

Airlines often have it in their operating manuals that the jets should take off with their engines at quite a bit less than 100% power, especially if they're not full of people and luggage and runways are long and the air is cold and thick. They can pull out some spreadsheets and find out if 72%, 70%, or even 69% is enough. That makes the engines literally last a LOT longer before they burn out.

Shane Wegner

Hanners is basically Ozymandias (the Watchmen one) who programmed herself for OCD as behavioral camouflage. Everyone thinks that her mom is the scary one, but Hanners Unchained would have her mom hiding under the bed.

Thomas A. Dennis

I only remember to every now and then. “Blood Pack 420 lol” (something like that at least.)

Morgan V

likewise

Charles Fitt

Dora never hires anyone called Kelvin. Their absolute best gets nothing done, and they keep screwing up the iced drinks.

Andrew

Soo, what type are the blood packs? I hear not everyone likes O+. Asking for a friend.

Andrew

Does anyone else open the images in another tab and zoom to 200% to read the chalkboard behind them?

Eric Christian Berg

For anyone who works in the service industry, Dora is giving good advice. One goes in, ready to give it your all. And you realize, you get nothing more that those who just coast their way through. In the corporate world, this'll apply to your boss as well. Take it easy Claire, the world is full of jobs that need doing, and No one expects more that C+ effort.

Michael Boettger

Dora is wise and perceptive.

Andrew Mitchell

I think your math is backwards

Drazi

To be honest, Hanners absolute best is probably everyone else’s 200%. Like Hanners in cleaning mode? Scary good.

Thisguy

This is me every time I start a job 😅

LorettaYoungSilks

She’s always been my favorite character

LorettaYoungSilks

I love Dora so much. I've missed her.

Mandy Hoskins

Oh Claire, it's possible to have this feeling even when you are gainfully employed in your field.

Ted Van Roekel

Claire and Clinton timeshare their chill. Clinton has it at the moment.

Dean Reilly

Those kind eyes in the second to last panel.

nowshowjj

Oof

at0m

It's funny how, compared to Clinton, Claire is the chill one. But compared to almost everyone else, she is definitely chill-less

Nicolas Demers

I think that's -17% not ~17%.

Michael Nuzzo

Claire is doing better than me. My first "oh no..." moment lead to a massive panic attack and two more years of joblessness.

Orion Rhine

I have this conversation with myself at least once a week. Delivering pizza after spending 8 years earning an advanced teaching degree... and I'm making as much (if not more) $$$ than I would as a first year teacher. 😞😅🤑

Elberik

It doesn't hurt to try at those jobs .you never know what' you'll learn in them.

Michael

Saaaame. 13 years in and I tell myself it’s temporary…and not to try hard.

Beat me to it. Setting realistic and reasonable expectations based on the quality of the job is an absolute need.

Anthony Gaglianese

Dora's a pretty good boss

Fart Captor

17% for hanners sounds believable

Kyle Major

At least Dora is honest

Nicholas Lopez

Honestly, even like 25% of her output is more than enough. Someone should order a banana smoothie.

Isaac Rivers

Dora is the manager I want, realistic goal setting

Hope