Get advice on how to deal with jerks at work Check out the book 'Jerks At Work' and other titles by Ken Lloyd Ph.D. Return to the JerksAtWork.com homepage Learn more about Ken Lloyd, Ph.D. Submit a question to Ken Lloyd, Ph.D.
 

You asked, Ken answers ...

This item is filed under these categories:
Stereotyping Decision Making Food

I was at lunch with a new employee in my department, and I noticed that when his entrČe arrived, he put salt on it, but did not taste it first to see if it needed any. I heard this is a sign of a person who does not carefully analyze new situations, but just jumps in and does what he did in the past. What do you think?



You can come up with any hypotheses you wish, but the only one that is worth its salt is that your new employee likes to salt his food. Maybe he knows that what he ordered is often bland, or perhaps he has even been to this restaurant before and knows that his order needs a little spicing up. Either way, drawing conclusions based on this type of limited data is little more than a snap judgment and stereotyping.

At the same time, there are some single incidents, actions, or comments that can give you broader insight into someone else. For example, if you were at lunch with this same employee and he made a bigoted comment, you could probably come up with some fairly accurate descriptors about his personality and how he would react to various situations in the future.

If you really want to know if your new employee has a tendency to rely on old habitual strategies, take a look at the way he approaches new assignments. You can learn far more by observing how he handles his job responsibilities rather than how he handles a salt shaker.




Comment on this item

Your name (optional)
If you leave this blank, we'll list you as "Website visitor"


Your comments
Please keep your comments focused on the topic. Thanks!