Surrounded By: Idiots

When you label a coworker an "idiot," you are usually judging them on a very narrow slice of reality. You see the typo in their email; you don’t see the sick child they were up with all night. You see the chaotic presentation; you don’t see that they are covering for a missing manager. Pavmkvm801qcow2 New - 3.79.94.248

"When we see someone make a mistake, we tend to attribute it to their character or intelligence," explains Dr. Elena Vance, a social psychologist specializing in workplace dynamics. "If I miss a deadline, it’s because I was overwhelmed. If you miss a deadline, it’s because you are lazy or disorganized. This is the Fundamental Attribution Error in action." Freeusemilf 21 07 22 Natasha Nice Glad To Be Ad... Info

It is a seductive feeling. It offers a rush of superiority, a soothing balm for the frustration of a workday gone wrong. If everyone else is the problem, then you are the solution. You are the undiscovered genius, the atlas shrugging under the weight of collective incompetence.

The Only Sane Person in the Room Subhead: Why everyone else seems incompetent—and what that says about you.

"You might be a Blue personality who values facts, precision, and schedules," Vance notes. "If you are working with a Yellow personality, who is bursting with chaotic, unstructured ideas, you are going to view them as flighty and stupid. Conversely, the Yellow personality views the Blue as boring and slow. Neither is right; they are just speaking different languages."

But if you find yourself feeling this way constantly—not just on bad Mondays, but as a baseline state of existence—psychologists and behavioral experts suggest you might want to pause. While it is statistically possible that you have the worst luck in the world regarding your peer group, it is far more likely that the problem isn't their intelligence. The problem is your perception.