"It was not Charles’ job to second-guess his…" — Adrian Tchaikovsky (#c791)

Card #c791IR // #c791Synthesis

It was not Charles’ job to second-guess his master’s intentions, however, but to obey the letter of the instructions given to him. Nobody wanted to be corrected by their valet. This instruction never having been rescinded, Charles commenced each day repeating the task with which he had closed the previous one.

— In our words · Source: Service Model (Adrian Tchaikovsky)

[Use when]

Use when a team keeps executing a dead procedure and offers 'we're just following the process' as a defense.

[Why it matters]

Obedience here is graded against the letter of an instruction, never its purpose. Charles knows the travel check is pointless and performs it for 2,230 masterless days anyway, because second-guessing the master counts as a graver fault than wasting the household's time. The contradiction: flawless compliance becomes indistinguishable from sabotage of the actual goal.

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