People Strategies: Irrational thinkers wreak havoc on offices, staff

Linda Bower is a speaker, executive coach and human performance improvement consultant in Rogersville.

The most difficult people at work are those who consistently demonstrate irrational thinking. They wreak havoc wherever they go by leaving a trail of people scratching their heads and wondering who's the crazy one.

It's one thing to have an irrational colleague; it's quite another to have an irrational employee or manager. How pervasive is this issue in your organization? Do you recognize and act on irrational thinking in the workplace?

Behavioral indicators of irrational thinking include incessant rambling, double standards, self-protecting blame, premature judgment, justification of obvious wrong, agreeing then denying, unauthorized unilateral decisions and inappropriate loyalties to people.

Rambling is probably the most common behavioral indicator of irrational thinking. Usually ramblers seem quite innocent, when in fact they are very controlling people. They dominate conversation with insignificance, burning time away from honest dialogue. I'm thinking of offering a bumper sticker to my clients, "I interrupt ramblers."

Double standards are so commonplace we practically accept them as normal human behavior. This is the classic "do as I say and not as I do." Self-protecting blame and premature judgment are also common and can come in many subtle shades. It is an irrational conclusion to avoid personal accountability or to be closed to diverse opinions.

Justifications of obvious wrong, agreeing then denying (agreeing to a decision then denying the agreement), unauthorized unilateral decisions (against company policy) and inappropriate loyalties to people (leading or following others in shady dealings) are darker reflections of irrational thinking in the workplace. To my sensibilities, these behavioral indicators of irrational thinking can be unethical and should be dealt with as such.

My first inclination is to understand the source of irrational thinking in the workplace beyond physical dysfunction, such as mental illness or psychological injury. The place to look is squarely at family, school and general childhood experiences.

In the background of an irrational thinker one will usually find some combination of an alcoholic family system, physical, sexual or emotional abuse combined with lack of community support. However, the details of one's life are not at issue here. People develop ways to protect themselves as they experience the reality of life; it's part of becoming adults.

Protection mechanisms can be healthy or destructive or anywhere in between, depending on the situation. Some people learn to be irrational as an impenetrable shield against life's cruelties. It is a natural extension to use this shield in the workplace.

Irrationality is an effective protection mechanism, especially at work. The idea is to keep the environment in a state of confusion and disruption; either because one is accustomed to that environment, unintentionally recreating it, or to hide one's insecurities, or both.

Irrational thinkers range from the innocuous to a those who carry a sinister cloud around them, much like "Peanuts" character "Pigpen" was followed by a cloud of dust and debris.

It would be simple to say, "Fire everyone that is irrational." I'm often tempted, when I'm feeling irrational. However, some irrational people are quite charismatic, gifted and capable of contributing positively to an organization. Besides, they are not usually easy people to discard.

A manager of an irrational employee has more choices than an employee of an irrational manager. Managers can usually survive by over-questioning, over-controlling and over-documenting. Probably their most difficult task is to remind themselves that they are rational.

There is no getting around the energy-sucking qualities of an irrational employee, other than removing that employee from the environment. A manager should examine the ratio of contribution-to-disruption to determine the best action. I fully acknowledge that this is easier said than done.

An employee of an irrational manager has my deepest sympathy. There must be some pretty good reasons to stay in a job that reports to a crazy-creator. Usually, the people that stay also happen to be irrational. Then the whole team, department, or organization reporting to the irrational manager becomes a dysfunctional mess.

Employees can survive an irrational manager by setting personal boundaries, learning to have courageous conversations, and developing a strong support group inside and outside of work.