Thought Tweet #987 "Men trust their ears less than their eyes." It took 2400 years for psychologists to confirm this ancient wisdom.

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

"Men trust their ears less than their eyes."

Herodotus

Greek Historian, 484BCE-425BCE

Now, 2400 years after Herodotus, psychologists are completing experiments that confirm Herodotus' ancient wisdom...our eyes overrule our ears...truly, we do believe what our eyes see them do more than what our ears hear them say. This applies to their major actions and to their minor body-language signals.

When problems arise, remember:

1. Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Processes, & Situations,
2. Processes can topple People - this applies to both technical Processes and interpersonal-communication Processes, &
3. Situations can topple People - especially 'new' Situations and stressful Situations.

Remember...

Before you blame People for the problems make sure you have given sufficient thought to the high likelihood either Processes or the Situation are close to the root of the problem.

Linkage to another Spirited Leaders' philosophy - P=2S+O -

Spirited Leaders believe - for every Problem you must find at least 2 Solution options and keep your eyes open for Opportunities. And the best way to begin considering 2 Solution options: (1) look at the Processes and see if they contain the seeds for a good Solution and (2) look at the Situation and see if it contains the seeds for a good Solution. Do both these things before considering whether or not People are the source of the problem. This is not only the route to P=2S+O. It is the route to better Decisions. It is the route to improved attitudes at work. It is the route to creating positive change. It is the route to building relationships and building trust.

Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Processes, & Situations.

When a problem arises at work you can consider these 3 things and you can choose from 3 options: 

1. You can blame People for the problem
2. You can consider the possibility that Processes are bogging People down and that's what is causing the problem
3. You can consider the possibility that the Situation at hand is ripe for the sort of problem you are observing

Of these 3 options, the quickest is #1. It only takes a fraction of a second to jump to the conclusion this person or that person or all those People are the cause of the problem. This option has another major advantage: it is well-aligned with your biases, particularly your Attribution Bias. Evidently, this is a very good option because most People select option #1.

For most People, the other two options do not hit their radar screens. Most People do not consider or take the time to understand both Processes and Situations have tremendous impact on other People's performance. Most People do have at least a vague idea that Processes and Situations impact on their own performance. In fact, they often blame Processes and Situations for their own performance shortfalls. However, when it comes to other People's performance shortfalls it is much more common to simply blame the other People. 

[If nothing else this tendency to blame others is good for your ego.]

If, however, you give problems a little more thought and other People a little more credit then you will discover many problems are due to glitches in Processes and the presence of less-than-ideal Situations. You will also discover the time you invest in analyzing and understanding Process glitches and Situation nuances pays off huge dividends because it both allows you to solve the true problem and maintain harmonious interpersonal relationships.

PS: When you fail to consider Processes and Situations and default to blaming People, how do you think they react? Do you think they consider Processes and Situations and conclude you are not to blame for blaming them? Or, do you think they too tend to jump to the conclusion other People are to blame?...And, in this instance, there is only one other person to blame and that person is you.