Woman suggests 'playing dumb' at work and her reasons seem quite valid to many: 'Best decision ever'

Employees are often encouraged to give their all at work, pushing hard to keep things running smoothly. However, Gabrielle—known as @gabrielle_judge on TikTok—recommends the opposite. She often highlights workplace issues and suggests that employees should "normalize being dumb at work" due to the overburdening and ruthless nature of today's workplaces. "If you don’t know how to do that, just cosplay, just pretend," she advises.

Gabrielle highlighted that “playing dumb” would benefit employees for their own good. “You don’t have to solve other people’s problems, you don’t need to speak for anyone else in the room, other people’s ignorance or lack of preparation is not your fault,” she added. The woman then explained that employees are often expected to handle situations out of their jurisdiction simply because they are intelligent and efficient. She added that playing dumb avoids all of the unnecessary and unjust expectations of employees. She acknowledged that doing the same may affect the notions of being “cooperative” and a “team player.”

“I have no issues with being cooperative or a team player,” Gabrielle said. She explained, “There are so many over-achievers out there if they started playing dumb, they’d come down to 80% instead of the 110% of work they do.” Coming to the main point, she said that putting in the effort is fine, but when employees are not compensated and recognized for the same, they should step back. “They’re just taken for granted. There are so many overachievers doing everyone else’s work. It’s just ridiculous,” she highlighted.

Gabrielle also noted the unfair expectation that women should handle and fix everything by default. “It’s not your job. You can if you want to from the bottom of your job, but it’s not your job,” she stressed. Concerning corporate America, Gabrielle pointed out that the lack of emotional intelligence significantly affected working environments. However, she explained, “It’s not your job to read between the lines. I just pretend not to understand these social feuds,” she added. “Just be more dumb at work. It’s my motto,” she concluded. Gabrielle was adamant on her point and backed up the same with valid reasons.

Several employees could relate to being under-appreciated and ignored despite going the extra mile. @aimezes002 said, “Precisely why I descended the corporate ladder. Best decision ever.” @lkpnyc wrote, “The only reward for finishing your work is more work.” @lisabeeo added, “I’m only smart for people who deserve it. The list is really small.” @micakrystine remarked, “I have started saying ‘I don’t know’ a hundred times a day. I don’t get paid to answer your questions. You can find the answer elsewhere.” @esbe310 added, “Doing everyone’s job is so not collaborative. I like to remind my boss of that.” @jessikahduarte added, “I’m a recovering overachiever and I feel like I should thank everyone who brought me down to 80%” 

You can follow Gabrielle (@gabrielle_judge) on TikTok for more content on corporate life.