I've encountered several examples lately where people involved in tech share caustic, divisive messages that combine 1) in-group signaling alongside 2) out-group stereotyping, blaming, and scapegoating.
Thought-provoking, but it misses some key realities. Toxic individuals—those high on the antisocial spectrum—aren’t moved by calls for self-awareness and need firm boundaries instead. On the flip side, overly pleasing people might overthink this and become even more ambivalent. Reflection is important, but we also need to address real performance issues and harmful behaviours directly, not just smooth over the edges.
I appreciate how publicly Introspective and reflective you are, John. It models a path to growth for all of us.
I do think it makes sense as a leader to leverage in group out group dynamics in certain contexts. In some ways they got our little L&D team through COVID. We hunkered down and weathered what was an extremely stressful time for everyone and was especially demanding for people team people. However, we need to be careful because, as you point out, leveraging these dynamics can unleash toxic results.
Thought-provoking, but it misses some key realities. Toxic individuals—those high on the antisocial spectrum—aren’t moved by calls for self-awareness and need firm boundaries instead. On the flip side, overly pleasing people might overthink this and become even more ambivalent. Reflection is important, but we also need to address real performance issues and harmful behaviours directly, not just smooth over the edges.
I appreciate how publicly Introspective and reflective you are, John. It models a path to growth for all of us.
I do think it makes sense as a leader to leverage in group out group dynamics in certain contexts. In some ways they got our little L&D team through COVID. We hunkered down and weathered what was an extremely stressful time for everyone and was especially demanding for people team people. However, we need to be careful because, as you point out, leveraging these dynamics can unleash toxic results.