THE FUSE

A few years ago, while I was working abroad, I was chatting to a South African friend who’d recently emigrated. “The locals are miffed with us,” she said. “Apparently we’re making everyone else look bad.” The faux pas? South Africans in her office were going above and beyond – picking up tasks outside their job descriptions, solving problems that weren’t technically theirs to solve. It was ruffling feathers because it disrupted the unspoken agreement that you do your bit, and no more.