It's really just poor communication on the part of the manager. M: Please do X/Would you like to do X/I need you to do X now E: No. M: ... vs. M: We've had

It's really just poor communication on the part of the manager. M: Please do X/Would you like to do X/I need you to do X now E: No. M: ... vs. M: We've had a change in priorities. I need someone to do X. I know you're working on Y, can you set it aside to work on X for a bit? E: No. M: Okay what gives?