Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

The joke turns “accomplishing the impossible” into a cautionary lesson about incentives at work. Instead of being treated as an extraordinary, one-time feat, the achievement becomes the new baseline: management reclassifies what was once “impossible” as merely part of the job. Larson highlights how organizations can normalize overperformance, quietly shifting burdens onto the most capable employees. The line also implies a critique of meritocratic narratives—success does not automatically yield proportional reward, and competence can invite exploitation. Read more broadly, it warns that setting heroic precedents without boundaries can erode autonomy and lead to burnout.