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TLDR: I have a lazy, incompetent coworker that will not change his ways and my boss won't do anything about. My company is known for not firing incompetent people. How do I become okay with this?
Background
I work in a fast-pace manufacturing facility as an equipment engineer. Bob, my coworker in the same group, owns tools A-M and I own tools N-Z. We help each other's tools when one of us is out of the office. Our job is to make sure our tools are performing well and when they are, find ways to further improve the performance through projects. There is substantial overlap between our tools, but not 100%.
Problem
Bob is lazy and technically inept to the point that I do not allow him to make changes without my approval (this isn't official, but I just stonewall him until his laziness takes over). He did not complete any meaningful projects in 2023. He is difficult to work with due to his gruff and stubborn personality. During our group-wide weekly progress check-ins he only has excuses as to why he made no progress. He makes other people do his work for him.
This laziness can affect me when Bob is tasked with something that affects the entire group because either a) he will do it incorrectly, forcing me to go back and correct it, or b) won't do it at all/requires constant follow-ups. In the end it's just safer, better, and faster if I do it myself, thus putting more work on me and further enabling his laziness.
I have brought this up to our very-conflict-adverse manager, Charlie, on a regular basis over the past year and consistently get told he will talk to Bob, only for nothing to change. I've expressed my grievances in a lot of ways but to no avail. It's fucking infuriating and causes me major stress.
Solution?
Is this just something I have to get over? How do I get over this? Is there some Machiavellian tactic I can pull to force Bob to work harder or get fired altogether? (Although I'm scared about him working harder on technical projects due to the aforementioned ineptitude.) I've tried and tried and tried to become okay with this, but the situation completely contradicts my life philosophy that everyone should pull their weight in a group and live up to a certain standard of performance, both of which are being grossly violated by Bob (and Charlie, too, by not enforcing anything).
Your only real options probably are:
Go over Charlie's head to his boss, but this may have negative outcomes for you.
Stop covering for Bob. Let him work on your projects and when he messes up, document this to Charlie. Currently you are protecting Bob somewhat (for good reasons!). There still is no guarantee anything will change, but it will make Charlie have to work harder to ignore Bob's incompetence.
Find another job. But you may find more Charlies and Bobs there.
Accept this is out of your hands (at least for what you are willing to do) and find a way to live with it.
Notably 4) is the only transferrable option, that will help you live with Bob 2.0 later in your career.
I cannot do for stated reasons.
If Bob messes up, I potentially pay a lot for it in the form of work-life balance or reputation (even if it's Bob's fault, my name may still be attached to the mess-up).
Grass is always greener and I love my job. It seems the world is full of Charlies and Bobs. I wonder how the frequency changes based on size, prestige, etc.
I think this is the only option based on everything I've tried over the past year. Any advice here?
Stoicism is the virtue here I think, though I am not sure I can give you much advice, as it comes naturally to me. If all other options you can consider are off the table then Bob is simply a fact of life. There is no point worrying or getting annoyed at this, for it simply is. Just like there is no point in getting annoyed at gravity. Put in place whatever workarounds you need for your own work (which it seems you already have) then let go of Bob. He is simply not your problem.
Does it make you have to work harder? Yes but so does Earth's gravity being stronger than Mars. If you can't change it, then it is just part of the structure of your working life as immutable as gravity, technical debt and sales people overselling.
The darker option is to gently raise the subject with your other colleagues and if you trust them conspire to tell Charlie things about Bob where he must override his conflict averseness. He steals, he gropes women, he called Charlie a mealy mouthed useless piece of shit. You get the idea. Truth is irrelevant when we are trying to bypass an obstruction. From your description however it seems unlikely this is worth the risk as you are otherwise happy in your position.
There will always be Charlie's and Bob's, the main thing you can do is control how you feel about them.
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