Those of you who have known me for a while are sure to have heard from me on more than one occasion about the dangers of stupidity.
Talking with a work colleague earlier in the week who is currently undertaking some studies in HR, I was struck again by the dumbing down of our society. More and more these days, I see tests, comments, educational materials, work documentation being aimed at the lowest common denominator. The theory seems to be that in order to ensure that no one is discriminated against, we should lower expectations.
I can't begin to describe how condescending, rude and pointless I find this exercise - but I'm going to try!
For a long time, I've believed that if you tell someone that they are stupid (rude, obnoxious, intelligent, worthless etc) often enough, eventually they will come to believe it - and not only that, they will come to behave in that manner all the time. So, the theory goes, if you constantly structure materials for the lowest common value, you will eventually get a larger cohort of people who believe that that level of understanding is the greatest they can hope for. Why not pitch it towards the upper end of the middle of the scale, and assist those who don't get it?
The idea extends to many other areas of life as well. I was out to dinner with a family very dear to me last night, and the youngest member of the family, Jack, has just celebrated his third birthday. Once again, I was struck by what a pleasant, charming, well mannered (but adorably cheeky), friendly child he is. It occurred to me that a big part of this was to do with his parents expectations - they expect that Jack will be well behaved, will remember his manners and will be a child (I had a delightful conversation with Jack last night about mozzies, flys, spiders and cockroaches - that showed me clearly that here was a child who takes a great delight in his environment!). And he responds to that. I'm sure that from time to time he can have the same meltdowns that any other child has. But the key is - the expectations for his behaviour are positive, age-appropriate and achievable.
Maybe that same theory could be implemented in the workplace. If we expect our colleagues to behave like intelligent, polite and respectful adults, I wonder if they would deliver. I suspect that if you make your expectations clear in regards to what you expect, they will eventually deliver. Of course, as long as you treat your colleagues as incapable, stupid, or show that you don't trust them in some way, my guess is that you're going to get work produce and results that reflect that.
Talking with a work colleague earlier in the week who is currently undertaking some studies in HR, I was struck again by the dumbing down of our society. More and more these days, I see tests, comments, educational materials, work documentation being aimed at the lowest common denominator. The theory seems to be that in order to ensure that no one is discriminated against, we should lower expectations.
I can't begin to describe how condescending, rude and pointless I find this exercise - but I'm going to try!
For a long time, I've believed that if you tell someone that they are stupid (rude, obnoxious, intelligent, worthless etc) often enough, eventually they will come to believe it - and not only that, they will come to behave in that manner all the time. So, the theory goes, if you constantly structure materials for the lowest common value, you will eventually get a larger cohort of people who believe that that level of understanding is the greatest they can hope for. Why not pitch it towards the upper end of the middle of the scale, and assist those who don't get it?
The idea extends to many other areas of life as well. I was out to dinner with a family very dear to me last night, and the youngest member of the family, Jack, has just celebrated his third birthday. Once again, I was struck by what a pleasant, charming, well mannered (but adorably cheeky), friendly child he is. It occurred to me that a big part of this was to do with his parents expectations - they expect that Jack will be well behaved, will remember his manners and will be a child (I had a delightful conversation with Jack last night about mozzies, flys, spiders and cockroaches - that showed me clearly that here was a child who takes a great delight in his environment!). And he responds to that. I'm sure that from time to time he can have the same meltdowns that any other child has. But the key is - the expectations for his behaviour are positive, age-appropriate and achievable.
Maybe that same theory could be implemented in the workplace. If we expect our colleagues to behave like intelligent, polite and respectful adults, I wonder if they would deliver. I suspect that if you make your expectations clear in regards to what you expect, they will eventually deliver. Of course, as long as you treat your colleagues as incapable, stupid, or show that you don't trust them in some way, my guess is that you're going to get work produce and results that reflect that.
Anyhoo, time to get on with it all!
Till later,
Dee xxx
2 comments:
Your writing about expectations has touched on a subject that has been of great interest to me.
There has been any number of formal studies conducted to prove the concept, and other less formal observations published.
One such informal observation concerns a student who had not only been top of her class, but had been top of her State in primary school. She was also competent in sporting endeavours and a well behaved, well mannered student enthusiastically participating in all school and community activities.
This student moved to secondary school and at the end of the first semester returned outstanding academic results and broke several long standing academic records at the school. She was a model member of the school community in every way.
The school realised they had a special responsibility to this child and so they could better tailor her academic development, arranged for a range of tests.
Among other things, the tests revealed that she was a 99 percentile student. The head of the school proudly informed the student of the test results placing great emphasise on the 99 rating.
Over the second semester, her results declined rapidly. She dropped to middle of the class in most subjects and to the bottom level in some. In addition, she had stopped participating in sport and her behaviour had become appalling.
The distressed head of school requested a meeting with the girl and her parents.
The student was asked what had happened to cause such a dramatic decline in results and behaviour. Were there problems at home? Was she being tormented by other students? Is the teaching staff to blame?
The girl looked confused before saying - "but what do you expect from me – I am getting the results I should be getting for someone like me – after all, I only have an IQ of 99"
It was explained to the student that the 99 rating from her tests was not an IQ score but a percentile result meaning she was in the top 1% of all students in the country.
The student immediately recovered her results and behaviour and was again the schools leading student by the end of the year.
I hope this is relevant and of interest.
Keep up the good work Dee
C
Thanks for that story!
I think your comment highlights one of my other major "issues" in today's society - the lack of solid communication skills.
What 12 (or 13) year old understands what the 99th percentile means? Not too many I've ever come across! It's all very well celebrating this news with someone, but it's important to first establish that both parties have the same understanding of the terms being used.
Thanks for contributing C - much appreciated!
Dee
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