David Maister’s Passion, People and Principles

post # 21 — Thursday, February 23, 2006 6:00am — a Careers post

The Brutal Truth About Other People

There are some wonderful people, clients and firms out there. If you’re lucky, you’ll spend your whole working life with them. However, unless you are very, very lucky, you’re going to encounter some (or all) of the following –
People drunk on power

• An incompetent superior
• Ungrateful bosses
• and clients
• People who don’t share your values
• Colleagues who act like competitive jerks
• Organizations where no-one will look out for your career
• People out to make a buck, and who will do anything to get it
• Cynics and skeptics who are hard to energize (about anything)
• People who won’t trust you, and are themselves untrustworthy.
• Incompetent colleagues with whom you’ll have to work anyway
• A boss who cares only about what you produce, and not about you
• People and organizations characterized by inertia and the fear of action.
• Superiors and clients who place unreasonable demands on you (e.g. last-minute requests or demands to work over the weekend)
• People who look after themselves alone, inconsiderate of the needs and interests of others
• Hypocrites who say they are dedicated to certain things, then act exactly opposite to them.
• Clients or customers who seem to care only about price, and treat you like a vendor
• Organizations that tolerate egregiously bad behavior from those around you, in the name of making money.
• People who will say bad things about you behind your back, much of it unfair and false

The question, then, is – How do navigate your way through this minefield? I’m assuming, of course, that you’re not one of the types described in the list above!

Broadly, you have two choices. You can become a defensive, suspicious, cynical person, or you can learn to get people to treat you right and give you chances, even where that is not their first instinct.

Without idealism or morality, I have been led to the conclusion that the first approach, matching the negativity of your environment, is self-defeating and self-destructive. By being negative, you only serve to reinforce the suspicions of those who show the behaviors above.

The minute you are non-cooperative, or withdrawn, or do only what you have to, people get a clear message about you that only serves to make them feel they were right in their behavior.

The second path, being optimistic, energetic, reaching out to people to form relationships, may not always work, but it’s the best shot you’ve got at eliciting the response you want and need to live an enjoyable and fulfilling work life.

Of course you don’t let yourself be exploited. If people don’t reciprocate, you walk. Life’s too short to work with or for idiots.

There is a textbook theory wich backs up this principle of behavior. It’s called “Tit for Tat” and i goes as follows – always start by being nice, and then treat the other person the way they treated you last time. If they were nice, be nice back. If they were uncooperative, give them a taste of their own medicine.