Embrace Your Irrational Colleagues
Ron Ashkenas, HBR
Ron Ashkenas, HBR
Have you ever wondered why perfectly sensible, rational, and intelligent
colleagues resist or reject perfectly sensible, rational, and intelligent
ideas? Obviously it’s not because they are stupid. There is just something
going on that we don’t realize.
Here’s a quick example: A large, over-crowded urban hospital was trying
to free up beds by reducing unnecessarily long patient stays. To that end, an
analysis showed that one particular floor never seemed to discharge patients
over the weekend. When the nursing and administrative team was asked about this
data, the head nurse insisted that she would not support any attempts to
increase weekend discharges, saying only that it wasn’t a good time for
patients to leave the hospital. Clearly, on the surface, her position made no
sense. Eventually, she shared the fact that several years earlier a few
patients had lost valuables during weekend discharges. So, to insure their
security, the head nurse made sure that patients’ personal items could only be
unlocked from the safe in her presence (she had the only key)—and she didn’t
work on weekends!
It’s easy to laugh at a story like this one. But the reality is that the
nurse was doing what she thought best, which made her appear irrational to
others. Once the underlying history and motivation was revealed, her behavior
made sense. It then prompted a review not only of the discharge procedures, but
also of how best to secure personal property.
Irrational behavior is part of the human condition. There’s a long list
of things that we know we should avoid, but do them anyway; and an equally long
list of things that we know are good for us but that we avoid. That’s why
people smoke cigarettes, drive after having a few cocktails, or don’t floss
their teeth. At some level, conscious or unconscious, each of us has a
compelling reason for doing the “wrong” thing.
Organizations of course are composed of people, all of whom act
irrationally at various times and seemingly do the “wrong” things. So it’s no
wonder that we often run into a colleague, boss, or subordinate who just can’t
seem to consider a completely reasonable suggestion. If you find yourself in
this situation, here are two simple and “rational” guidelines to keep in mind:
1. Don’t try to fight irrationality with rationality. It will only make
you more frustrated and the other person more defensive. No matter how many
well-constructed arguments you offer, you won’t make headway until you
understand the underlying motivation that is driving the other person.
2. Focus on discovering, understanding, and embracing the other person’s
rationale. Even if your adversary is being driven by unconscious motivations,
it’s important to try to figure them out. Resistance to apparent logic always
comes from somewhere, and you won’t be able to break through until you
understand the reason.
Years ago a senior executive told me that managing an organization would
be a lot easier if there weren’t any people involved. On the other hand, it
wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.
