Have you ever felt like the people you work with don’t really get you? Of course you have, because they probably don’t. But the really vital question is, why? Why is it so hard to get other people to understand who were are and where we’re coming from?
The answer lies, in large part, in a simple fact: The human brain is unwilling to expend much of its energy and processing capacity unless it really has to.
To keep from having to work too hard, the brain relies on simple, efficient thought processes to get the job done, not so much out of laziness—though there is some of that, too—but more out of necessity. There is just too much going on, too much to notice, understand, and act on for the brain to give every individual and every occurrence its undivided, unbiased attention.
So when it comes to perceiving you, your colleagues are (without realizing it) relying heavily on assumptions, the miserly brain’s favorite shortcut. They guide what the perceiver sees, how that information is interpreted, and how it is remembered, forming an integral part of his or her perception of you…
Read more at Fast Company
Leave a Reply