When I worked for the computer company, I had an egotistical boss. Unfortunately, he was just the first of several.

And since he was my boss, he gave me my work assignments.  And, I didn’t have any problems with that. It is just that he was often too busy and didn’t have time to think about what I should do next.  So, I would make suggestions.

But, no matter what I suggested, he would always think of something else. After all, he was my boss and he felt that he should call all of the shots and make all of the decisions. In short, his ego prevented him from doing otherwise.

Now, there was one particular task that I hated; testing power supplies. They were heavy, about 50 pounds, and had lots of sharp edges and corners that liked to rip clothing and flesh alike. But since I was at the bottom of the food chain, that task fell on me.

When ever I ran out of things to do, I knew that I was going to get stuck testing power supplies. So, whenever I went to my boss, I would suggest several alternatives. But he and his ego always rejected my suggestions.

After awhile, I caught on to this pattern. And since there was nothing that I could do to change his ego, I decided to use it to my advantage.

From that point on, when ever I ran out of work I would go to my boss and ask if he wanted me to start testing power supplies. He and his ego would say no, of course and I would get assigned something else instead.

I never had to work on another power supply for the remainder of the time that I worked there.

If you can’t beat em, then use em to your advantage.