Our new boss wanted us to cut hair with oven mitts on

Last week, our salon owner got this idea from some online article about reducing repetitive strain injuries. He bought a bunch of big, fluffy oven mitts and told us to wear them while cutting to 'cushion our hands'. Can you imagine trying to hold shears with those things? We all looked like we were preparing a turkey, not styling hair. Clients were giving us the weirdest looks, and one lady actually asked if we were doing a themed event. It lasted about two hours before someone dropped a pair of scissors into a sink full of water. We all quietly went back to normal, and the mitts are now in the break room for actual oven use. Still cracks me up thinking about it.

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_williams3h ago

Have you ever noticed how many fixes for problems just make things harder? I see this pattern everywhere, where bosses get an idea from some article and push it without a real test. It's like they're so stuck on the idea that they forget how things actually work (which, come on, is where the job gets done). Your salon story shows this perfectly, with the oven mitts meant to help hands but making it really hard to hold shears. You see similar things in all kinds of jobs, like when a new rule to stop errors just creates more busywork and delays. It's a classic case of good intentions going wrong.

davis.leo1h ago

Ever try to show them why it won't work? I brought my boss to the floor and had him try it himself, and that ended the talk fast.