by Rick Baker
On Dec 10, 2014
I hear lots of people talking about business culture. I hear lots of people talking about the requirement for changes. I hear lots of people complaining about problems.
When I hear people talk of these things, I think about two things. First I think about peoples interests. Are people interested in themselves only or are they interested in another people? And, to what degree are they interested in other people? The next thing I think about is people's ability or inability to make change. Can the person change themselves? What are they doing to bring that about? Can the person influence others to make changes?
I think about people's interests. I think about people's ability to influence self [self-control] and ability to influence others. A picture with four quadrants comes to mind.
I meet many people who, when they are talking about co-workers, describe them as self-centred and entrenched...unable to change...negatively influencing others. It is clear the people who express these views consider themselves to be different. They consider themselves to be much less self-centred and much more capable to accept and bring about change. I suppose this is just another example of how the attribution bias manifests itself on a widespread and frequent basis.
We tend to view others more harshly than we view ourselves.
Perhaps it's our egos working to protect us?
And I wonder - Can self-centred people have a positive influence on others?