Trying to do things to perfectly sometimes gets our managers in trouble.

For example, the other day one of our newer managers created a mess because he didn't follow protocol when handling money. We teach managers to put money they collect into the bank right away. However, this manager decided to do things differently. Rather than deposit the money in the bank, he bought gas for the company van. Then, instead of going to a supervisor and explaining, he asked his assistant and the van driver to not say anything. In other words, to lie for him.

While this might seem like making a mountain out of a mole hill, keeping careful track of money helps us stay in business. Good accounting requires us to have a paper trail when funds come in or out. Our CPA takes us to task when we overlook this procedure. Besides, if we don't know how much money we have coming in or out then we have no idea how the business is doing.

While our manager tried to cover up what he had done so he wouldn't look bad, it turned out he ended up looking worse. Even though he hadn’t stolen the money, he caused his supervisor, the bookkeeper, and others to waste time trying to figure out what had happened. The accounting department, by comparing the receipts, learned the money in question had gone into the gas tank because the mileage didn't match the receipts. The audit proved someone had put an extra tank of gas in the vehicle. And the assumption was, of course, that our manager is the one who had done it.

When he was asked why he hadn't followed procedure the manager claimed it was an oversight on his part - and that he wanted it look like he was doing a good job. Still, he's going to get consequences for his behavior because his "oversight" caused his supervisors to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what had happened.