her tonsils removed, Maria sent her a card. She checked
with Bob frequently until she heard the little girl had
returned to school. When Stella was preparing to fly to
Denver to attend her sister’s wedding, Maria brought her
a magazine article that explained all about Denver and
the airlines that service it. Maria checked with Stella
often about the upcoming trip. “Do you have your dress?
Will you take some extra time off so you can do some
sightseeing in Denver while you’re there?”
Many of Maria’s coworkers appreciate her interest in
them and the thoughtful little things that she does. These
drivers must clock out their trucks and they do that
promptly, but when they return at the end of their shifts,
they hang out in Maria’s office. Lately, Maria’s statistical
input runs twenty-four hours late. One day, her boss mentions that he inadvertently gave the Union Representative day-old figures. “I’m in hot water with this Union guy
because I assumed you keep records up-to-the-minute,”
he told her.
After that, Maria rushed to input information in a
timely manner, but she made mistakes. “What’s going
on Maria? We placed orders based on your statistics and
then find out, the figures you gave us are wrong,” her boss
asked. “Now it’s not just a Union guy getting angry. This
time we ordered supplies we didn’t even need yet.”
Where’s the Harm?
a. The social butterfly isn’t 100 percent reliable.
A capable employee who has a long track record as a
social butterfly gets to a place where he or she is “spread
too thin.” At that point, delays and errors are inevitable.
b. Some people question motives. The extreme
neighborly attentions the social butterfly exhibits are