The power of positive intent
Merja
Imagine your colleague presenting the results of the work the whole team did. The whole department is listening and outsiders as well. But your colleague only talks about himself. How he did this project and how he succeeded.
There are two ways you can react to this. Thinking that ‘what a jerk, taking all the glory from the work we all did together’. Or thinking that ‘he probably does not realize that he only talks about himself and not the whole team’.
The first thought is what psychologists call negative intent. You assume that the colleague did not mention the whole team intentionally, just to raise himself up and make it look like he was the main contributor to the work.
The second thought ‘he probably does not realize…’ assumes positive intent, you give your colleague a benefit of doubt that he did not mean to hurt others in the team and take all the credit and it was just his way of talking.
Assuming positive intent in the workplace is an amazing thing. It can change the whole atmosphere and culture at work if it spreads. If everyone would assume that everyone else has other people’s best in their heart when they do whatever they do, the workplaces would have much, much less issues. Even if few of us do that, it helps tremendously.
It is up to you which of the assumptions you use. Positive or negative. The best thing is that if you choose to assume positive intent, you are spreading the good vibe all around you. If people come and gossip about the colleague who did just what was in the first example, you have the power to say ‘but what if he did not mean to’. Small little things that can change a lot.
This does not just save your colleague from negative gossip and tarnishing his reputation, it also shows to everyone who you are. Your colleagues can trust that you are the kind of person who defends them if they make a mistake.
But what if the colleague in the example did that intentionally. What if he really wanted all the credit for the work that the whole team did together? Who cares? You will feel better for thinking positively and it might leave your colleague feeling ashamed. And what I have seen in the workplaces, people are very smart, they know the truth and in most cases the truth comes out eventually. Trust that and leave the judgement of people to someone else.
