This pilot fish is working late on some data analysis with a tight deadline, but the office isn't empty, even hours past quitting time.
"A few folks were busy chatting -- about the game or TV shows or whatever, but clearly not about work," says fish. "When 8 p.m. came along, one guy went back to his cubicle, sent out a bunch of emails and then headed home.
"I saw this pattern repeated a few times. He 'worked late' without actually getting any work done, sent out a bunch of emails and then left.
"It turns out he was creating the perception of working hard and long hours. The email was so everyone would see how dedicated he was from the email creation timestamp.
"I saw how this turned out in the end -- he didn't last long.
"Personally, I made rare use of something like that technique, but not by staying late. I used the 'don't deliver before' feature in email. I didn't use it to create the perception I was working late -- I did it to send something after the recipient would be gone for the day, so I wouldn't have to discuss it right away."
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