Ribbonfarm has an excellent set of articles on the real world dynamics of organisations (starting with the sociopath/clueless/loser categorisation) but also introduces various kinds of "language" used:
"If you’re not scared, you’re not focused" sounds like "Babytalk" - the language that sociopaths and losers use to speak to the clueless - who actually take these statements at face value.
I finished to read the whole series so far. And it#s just plain impressive! While you can certainly argue some of its points, you can witness most of the points in real live.
Funny to classify co-wokers and bosses accordingly. or not so fun, that depends... :-)
Certainly one of the best reads on organizational psychology I know.
Say that you'd like to work on two projects - A and B. Atleast one of them needs to succeed or you'll go bankrupt(or something). Now, most people will probably think that if they divide their attention between both projects, they have a higher chance of bringing in some money. The thinking here is "Even if A doesn't take off, B might still bring in some money". So, B is the cushion against failure of A (or vice-versa). But this plan lacks focus - You cannot fully focus on A or B. Removing either improves focus but it also removes the cushion.
The wording doesn't work for me. Say, I own 2 homes and I want to sell 1 to pay debt. I understand that this is my future home and I won't get the other one back. Especially if the places are in different countries. Do I get scared? If not, can I stay focused?
They go overboard with this 'go bankrupt' argument to scare themselves to fight. It is the same as if the surgeons would start thinking 'Oh God, this patient is gonna die if I make a mistake' all the time. I don't see how this can help the patients.
I prefer the martial arts focus. Like in follow through what ever you are currently doing by 100% but be ready to do something different when you done with that. And if what you are currently doing brings you into a good position to do something different no matter if it worked or not it's even better!
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/11/11/the-gervais-principle-i...
"If you’re not scared, you’re not focused" sounds like "Babytalk" - the language that sociopaths and losers use to speak to the clueless - who actually take these statements at face value.