Re:The Power of Positive People
by AnimalMuppet on Monday July 16, 2018 @04:39PM
(#17544874)
> Doesn't that just make you less offensive to others?
No. Where I work we talk a lot of smack to each other. This doesn't go on behind peoples' backs - we prefer that the victim be there to hear it. But about 20% of the time, the "victim" is also the speaker - it's self-directed smack.
When we were interviewing this guy to join our team, I mentioned this behavior, and asked if he was going to be able to put up with that environment. The thought for a moment, and then said "It sounds like you trust each other." He was exactly right. It's because we trust each other that we can tease each other - knowing that the sender wasn't speaking in malice, and knowing that the receiver won't take it the wrong way.
So much of a well-functioning team depends on trust.
it's all fun until somebody says the wrong thing to the wrong person and HR gets involved and hashtags go viral and then there's a huge blow up about why all of this behavior was tolerated for so long and who was responsible for tolerating it.
Doesn't that just make you less offensive to others?
Still doesn't say anything about you being more positive - in fact, making yourself the butt of your jokes could mean you're self-deprecating or depressive.