Are you as good as you think you are? Asks Hacked Off

Clients who think their products are brilliant, journalists who think their prose is golden, and a boss who thinks she is fair – these are just a selection of the self-deluding idiots I have to put up with every day.

I have a tendency to be lazy, ignorant and my work isn’t always up to scratch, but in the office, for obvious reasons, I have to pretend otherwise. But at least I know I am pretending. What gets me about most people I work with is how much they fool themselves. They certainly aren’t fooling anyone else.

Here is how some people I work with see themselves, but the truth is rather different:

1. My boss thinks she is understanding, tolerant, generous and talented. We think she is selfish, bossy and mean. She does have one talent however – exploiting us!

2. I have a colleague who hasn’t noticed he has gained weight over the years. He wears clothes that are too tight and is surprised that the advances he makes towards (numerous) women are rejected. He still thinks he is the hot stuff he once was in his student days.

3. There are too many journalists who assume, because of their job title, that they can write. They think they are “improving” our press releases. Actually they are turning perfectly good English into crap.

4. So many clients are full of their own importance. Yes, the fact they have slightly tweaked their logo is of interest. To them. it’s of no interest to the Times.

5. Just because you work for a charity, it does not make you a better person. In fact, some of the most mean-spirited people I deal with work for charities.

6. The hardest working person in the office just happens to be the least productive. Strange. Maybe it’s because she spends so much time telling us all how busy she is, she doesn’t have any time left to do any work.