It happens in business all the time.

 

Right out of the blue…or at least it seems that way…one person is attacking and another person is under attack.

 

Much more often than not, it is not right out of the blue.

 

Rarely is the attack right out of the blue.

 

Rather:

 

Many business people are under such stress or distress they are like attacks waiting for human encounters.

 

Many business people are so busy they prepare so little for human encounters that they paint targets all over themselves, inviting attacks from all sides.

 

And, many business people are so consumed in their own thoughts and needs that they have little time to listen to others.

 

Many business people have these problems so it isn’t surprising at all to see a regular stream of human attacks in the business world.

 

Sometimes these attacks start before regular working hours…say, at the coffee line-up or coffee drive-thru. Other times, the attacks get stored until the work-day starts…like a pent-up demand.

 

Few people give this the correct amount of thought so it seems attacks to them come right out of the blue. And, when/because the attacks come right out of the blue people are not prepared for them and people do not handle the attacks well. Instead of handling the attacks well, people resort to our deepest hereditary gifts of fight and flight: the dominant types fight and the not-dominant types flee or at least find a safe spot to hide.

 

The fight response shows up as honking horns and screaming matches in the coffee drive-thru…or crowded roadway. The flight response shows up as a bowed head behind the bully who just butted into the coffee line-up or the bully who just insulted a co-worker.

 

Conclusions[a few of them]:

• Nobody trusts bullies so bullies have no real relationships with other people
• Few people can handle surprise attacks
• Everyone would be better off if a bit more time is spent considering these human attacks before they happen