[GalFisk] Good job, now get lost

[GalFisk]

A man is hired to do a job. He does this job extraordinarily well. He is therefore fired. How come?

[markobr]

Hired: Employed? Commissioned? Fired: Dismissed?

Is he fired because the job is finished so there is no more work for him?

[GalFisk]

Hired: Employed? This. Commissioned? Fired: Dismissed? Yes.

Is he fired because the job is finished so there is no more work for him? No.

[hominid]

Was the employer under the false impression that he did his job poorly? Did he do his job well, according to the standards of the employer? according to his own standards? according to someone else's standards? Is he the only person doing this job? Is he the only person fired?

[gregoryuconn]

Is his industry relevant? Politics? Finance? Cooking? Science? Education? Cleaning? Doctor?

Was he hired to deal with something and he dealt with it so they don’t need him anymore? Or they thought everything was happy go perfect forever and got care free? (Like with covid in some places?)

Did his employer not want him to do a good job? Maybe because it made them look bad?

[GalFisk]

Was the employer under the false impression that he did his job poorly? No. Did he do his job well, according to the standards of the employer? Yes, but... according to his own standards? Yes. according to someone else's standards? Yes. Is he the only person doing this job? Is he the only person fired? Yes to both.


Is his industry relevant? Yes. Politics? Finance? Cooking? Science? Education? Cleaning? Doctor? No to all.

Was he hired to deal with something and he dealt with it so they don’t need him anymore? Or they thought everything was happy go perfect forever and got care free? (Like with covid in some places?) No to all.

Did his employer not want him to do a good job? Yope, explore. Maybe because it made them look bad? No.

[Zanreo]

Did the way he did his job reveal he knew too much? About something he shouldn't be aware of/have access to?

[gregoryuconn]

Was his job to root out problems within the company, and he exposed a problem with himself and was fired for it? Like maybe an IT guy hired to find out who was goofing off at work and it turns out he goofed off most of all?

[GalFisk]

Did the way he did his job reveal he knew too much? About something he shouldn't be aware of/have access to? No to both.

Was his job to root out problems within the company, and he exposed a problem with himself and was fired for it? Like maybe an IT guy hired to find out who was goofing off at work and it turns out he goofed off most of all? No to both.

[Zanreo]

Did the employer not want him to do a good job because it made someone else look bad compared to him?

Was it only considered a "good job" in that it was skillfully done, but was not actually what he had been asked to do? Did the man want to quit his job?

[GalFisk]

Did the employer not want him to do a good job because it made someone else look bad compared to him? No.

Was it only considered a "good job" in that it was skillfully done, but was not actually what he had been asked to do? No, but OTRT. Did the man want to quit his job? No, but irr.

[Balin]

Was he fired as a direct consequence of the job he did well? As an indirect consequence? Did his doing his job well result in some indirect consequence that got him fired? Did it reveal something meant to remain secret?

[gregoryuconn]

Did he get the job with the intention of losing it? Abolishing the position entirely so nobody ever had it again? Regardless of his intentions, did anyone hold that position after him?

I recall running a puzzle many years ago about some guy running for some obscure, useless political office with the goal of abolishing it. So I’m thinking something along those lines, though you’ve already ruled out politics so it’s not the same person.

[Zanreo]

Was it only technically fulfilling what he was asked to do? Loopholes relevant? Did this cause consequences for someone else?

[GalFisk]

Was he fired as a direct consequence of the job he did well? Yes. As an indirect consequence? Did his doing his job well result in some indirect consequence that got him fired? Did it reveal something meant to remain secret? No to the rest.

Did he get the job with the intention of losing it? Abolishing the position entirely so nobody ever had it again? No to both. Regardless of his intentions, did anyone hold that position after him? Yes.

I recall running a puzzle many years ago about some guy running for some obscure, useless political office with the goal of abolishing it. So I’m thinking something along those lines, though you’ve already ruled out politics so it’s not the same person. Sounds like an interesting puzzle.


Was it only technically fulfilling what he was asked to do? Loopholes relevant? No to both. Did this cause consequences for someone else? Noish - it caused a problem, but it was not malicious, nor directed at someone.

[markobr]

Does the employer think doing the job so well costs too much time? Too much money? Will reduce demand (e.g. repairing soething so well that there will be no need for further repairs for a long time)?

Is the job repairing something? Building something? Destroying something?

[GalFisk]

Does the employer think doing the job so well costs too much time? Too much money? Will reduce demand (e.g. repairing soething so well that there will be no need for further repairs for a long time)? No to all.

Is the job repairing something? Building something? Destroying something? No to all.

[JenBurdoo]

Was he fired for misconduct?

Did the employer have an ulterior motive in hiring the employee? In firing him? Did the employer NOT want him to do a good job?

[GalFisk]

Was he fired for misconduct? No.

Did the employer have an ulterior motive in hiring the employee? In firing him? No to both. Did the employer NOT want him to do a good job? Well, not THAT good, anyway.

[markobr]

Did the employer's cilent(s) not want the job being done so well? Maybe an auditor who looks more accurately than usual into the books of a company.

[GalFisk]

Did the employer's cilent(s) not want the job being done so well? Irr. Maybe an auditor who looks more accurately than usual into the books of a company. No.

[JenBurdoo]

Were the instructions clear? Did the employee go beyond them? WAG: Was he hired to clean a layer of paint off something but cleaned multiple layers, more than the employer had wanted? Was a relevant (false?) assumption made either by the employer or employee? A scrund involved? A particular tool?

[GalFisk]

Were the instructions clear? Yes. Did the employee go beyond them? No. WAG: Was he hired to clean a layer of paint off something but cleaned multiple layers, more than the employer had wanted? Good guess, but no. Was a relevant (false?) assumption made either by the employer or employee? I'd say no, though one could argue that the employer made one. A scrund involved? A particular tool? No to both.

[LemonCurry]

Was the man supposed to acquire customers for the company, and now they have more customers than their production capacity?

[GalFisk]

Was the man supposed to acquire customers for the company, and now they have more customers than their production capacity? No.

[Doriana]

Did the job involve relevant interactions with other employees? with the employer? with customers? clients?

Did the man do the job within hours? days? weeks? months? years? of being hired? Did the employer expect him to take longer than he did? Did the man complete the job? Or was he fired before completing the job?

Does the man work in agriculture? manufacturing? wholesale? retail? hospitality? tourism? research? management? entertainment? Does he work indoors? outdoors?

[GalFisk]

Did the job involve relevant interactions with other employees? Yes. with the employer? Irr. with customers? clients? No to both.

Did the man do the job within hours? days? weeks? He was probably fired after days or weeks of being hired.months? years? of being hired? Did the employer expect him to take longer than he did? Hard to answer, explore. Did the man complete the job? He completed his tasks. Or was he fired before completing the job? If he had not been fired, he would've been given further tasks.

Does the man work in agriculture? manufacturing? wholesale? retail? hospitality? tourism? research? management? entertainment? This. Does he work indoors? This. outdoors?

[Doriana]

Is the man an actor? singer? dancer? musician? magician? some other kind of performer?

Do the other relevant employees have the same job as him? Relevant how many there are? Are they H/A/M? F? mixed?

[GalFisk]

Is the man an actor? singer? dancer? musician? magician? some other kind of performer? No to all.

Do the other relevant employees have the same job as him? No. Relevant how many there are? Are they H/A/M? F? mixed? HAMixed, numbers irr/unknown.

[markobr]

So while he works in entertainment he does so behind the scenes? Is he a lighting technican? sound engineer? Another kind of technican? make-up man? costume designer? stage designer? prompter? stage director? cameraman? scriptwriter? Another kind of writer? composer? arranger? In an administrative function?

[GalFisk]

So while he works in entertainment he does so behind the scenes? Correct. Is he a lighting technican? sound engineer? Another kind of technican? make-up man? costume designer? stage designer? prompter? stage director? cameraman? scriptwriter? Another kind of writer? composer? arranger? In an administrative function? No to all, and it'd be hard to guess directly I think.

[Doriana]

Is his work related to music? TV? film? theatre?

[GalFisk]

Is his work related to music? TV? This. film? theatre?

[peter365]

HI Galfisk

I noticed that this puzzle was incorrectly filed in the Solved Section , I've moved it back now so you might want to post a recap to get it going again.

Apologies for the error.

[trebor]

Is he supposed to make a mistake as part of his job? Does he work on a relevant type of show? If so, news? Comedy? Drama? Reality TV? Documentary series? Advertising? Does he do voice work? Is animation relevant? Does he work on the censorship side of TV? Does he work involve a studio audience? Does he work more so on the studio/company side than on the creative team side? Does he end up firing himself?

[CoffeeBean]

Does technology play a role in his job?
Had anyone held this particular position before he did?
Did his performance in the position lead to some kind of change or adaptation in the role, so that the employer had to re-think his/her approach to that role?
So the job is related to TV - to TV shows? Commercials? Finding actors? Writing or editing? Pre-production? Post-production? Communication? Transportation? Finances?

[GalFisk]

HI Galfisk

I noticed that this puzzle was incorrectly filed in the Solved Section , I've moved it back now so you might want to post a recap to get it going again.

Apologies for the error.

Thanks. I've been busy and didn't notice, so no worries.


Is he supposed to make a mistake as part of his job? Sort of, yes. Does he work on a relevant type of show? Yes. If so, news? Comedy? Drama? Reality TV? Documentary series? Advertising? Does he do voice work? Is animation relevant? Does he work on the censorship side of TV? Does he work involve a studio audience? No to all. Does he work more so on the studio/company side than on the creative team side? Not sure. He does something related to the work of the creative team. Does he end up firing himself? No.


Does technology play a role in his job? Not really, except that it's for TV.
Had anyone held this particular position before he did? Yes.
Did his performance in the position lead to some kind of change or adaptation in the role, so that the employer had to re-think his/her approach to that role? No.
So the job is related to TV - to TV shows? Commercials? Finding actors? Writing or editing? Pre-production? This, no to the rest. Post-production? Communication? Transportation? Finances?

[GalFisk]

Hint: it's a game show.

[LemonCurry]

Is he a test candidate? And he's so smart and/or skilled that makes the show too difficult for the other candidates?

[GalFisk]

Close enough.
SPOILER:
A young James Dean was hired as a tester of games for the show Beat the Clock, but he turned out to be exceptionally good at them, so his results couldn't be used as a measure of their difficulty.
This puzzle was featured in episode 113 of the Futility Closet podcast.