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Poisonous Passivity
Passivity, if left unchecked, can poison an organization, permeating the culture with the suboptimal performance of an "us vs. them" mentality.
Listed below are five aspects of poisonous passivity that can derail individual success, subvert group effectiveness, and exacerbate undesirable turnover.
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sponsored by:
SUNJOY GROUP INC
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TOP SHELF TIP NO. 98
"Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can."
Danny Kaye, American actor, dancer, singer, comedian, 1913-1987 | |
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Assumption of Ill Intent
Most of us are willing to concede that we may have blind spots regarding our own behavior. When we're surprised to learn how others see us, we expect forgiveness to immediately follow our statement of "no intent."
We aren't so quick, however, to view the behavior of others as benign. Instead, we assume others are fully aware of their impacts, and that their behaviors are deliberate.
Faulty Logic
It's absurd to believe that because the boss, your colleagues or your customer approves one suggestion, he or she will approve all suggestions. It is equally absurd to believe that because one suggestion is rejected, all suggestions will be rejected.
Negative Fantasies
Even when we have absolutely no personal history at all with an individual, we can be amazingly resolute in our predictions about what they would do if___.
It doesn't require more than a question or two to reveal that such predictions are based on gossip or innuendo, and lack any specific experiential grounding.
However, as tools to justify inaction or to mask an unwillingness to take initiative, negative fantasies are almost unbeatable. In the hands of spin-masters, negative fantasies can masquerade compellingly as valid reasons to do nothing, when in fact they're just excuses for doing nothing.
Blame Orientation
It's much easier to blame others for something that did or didn't happen than to take constructive action ourselves.
Lots of willing listeners will be attracted to conversations about what's wrong. And there's lots of empathy for those who make a convincing case for having been victimized. Solution oriented conversations, though, attract fewer listeners, in part because they usually require us to take on new or different work.
The soothing balm of blaming others numbs innovative thinking, and desensitizes us to the need for initiating change.
Abdication of Personal Responsibility
Whether due to an oblivious lack of introspection or the intentional avoidance of accountability, abdication of personal responsibility is an active choice -- not a passive one. Disavowing personal responsibility for helping to craft or implement solutions makes one, at best, part of the problem, and at worst, irrelevant.
Attempting to mitigate detachment by citing "low level status" or claiming "it's not my job" may indeed insulate us and confer impunity, but it can also erode the assignment of high potential status.
Source: Francie Dalton is founder and president of Dalton Alliances, Inc., a premier, Maryland-based business consultancy specializing in the behavior, management and communications sciences. | |
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