We may not all be highly intuition-focused INFPs, but I think we’ve been conditioned by the poison of political correctness to take everything at face-value to a debilitating extent. We all have intuition, and it’s actually highly reliable. Kate, you clearly do! You were able to effortlessly and naturally ascertain that startup founder’s good intent without preconceived notions, despite his actual words being something many would perceive as “unprofessional.”
Essentially, you’ve got it figured out, and apparently whoever’s hiring at your workplace does as well. Old-school, cold, hard, technical professionalism actually doesn’t work and inevitably breeds hidden contempt, until people begin to act irrationally based on thoughts or feelings they’ve suppressed for longer than anyone realized.
The solution for those who are still struggling with such things?
Encourage individuality, honesty, and intuitive understanding. Perhaps even more importantly, don’t punish these qualities. Have a little trust in your fellow men and women! People behave much more reasonably when they know they’re valued and trusted as an individual. Not everything everyone says is politically correct, but sometimes that’s necessary for complete and effective communication.
The lesson I’ve taken from this just strengthens my belief that we should always do our best to see beneath the terminology to peoples’ true intent. It saves a lot of drama and unnecessary headaches, and makes for a smoothly operating workplace in which people feel human enough to not get all crazy or irrational.
If and when someone’s intent surfaces as less than positive, it’s suddenly easy to deal with the situation — if intent is where the focus is in the first place.
Thanks for the great piece, Kate!
