Looking back through years of email newsletter statistics, the single thing I find most surprising is that "12 Annoying Office Personalities” remains, by far, our most clicked blog post of all time.
Although I can’t say for sure why, I suspect the title appeals to a frustration common to every office worker who has had to endure the torture of certain team member “types” — typically those who lack emotional intelligence (also a very popular title). The intern who habitually changes the air conditioner setting to “arctic freeze” can be seen as a type, as can the manager who will hold a meeting, anytime, anywhere, for any reason, at the drop of a hat. But those are relatively specific business examples.
In the realm of psychology, there are said to exist much deeper, universal archetypes of the human psyche, linked to what Carl Jung famously termed the "shadow side" of the self. And since, let’s face it, a “business lessons from darkness” post is way more fun to explore than “business lessons from saints," below are 8 shadow characteristics you may recognise, in small or large part, within yourself or within others at your workplace. Some day I will rise above the marketers' obsession with clicks and headlines, and create more “positive" content to spread the light of love into this sad and wretched world. But not today.
Saruman represents the kind of morally grey individual you might meet who, despite seeming outwardly wise and trustworthy, only cares about your friendship or your organisation's mission to the extent that it places him in a greater position. Tainted by the allure of the One Ring, his end goal is ultimate power itself. (Game of Thrones’ Petyr Baelish would be another example of this opportunistic, sly, politically cunning operative.)
This classic love story has as much to teach us about the infinite shades of beauty as it does the intricate subtleties of bias. Just as Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennett woefully misjudge each other at first, in our modern age where “opinion is king,” increasingly it seems as though we are being given permission to “swipe left," to shame, to share news without source checking, and to confidently sum up based on snap impressions, soundbites, and click-driven media (wait a sec, am I part of this problem?) — all excellent firewood to inflame and perpetuate prejudice.
The “mob” is often the most important and most overlooked antagonist in storytelling, which can be seen as any culture that drives cruel or unthinking behaviour. If we’re not careful, the mob can erode our sense of self, our individuality, spirit, or soul.
Easily one of the best villains in cinematic history, Hannibal "The Cannibal" is a great (although extreme) example of the dark side of intellectual empathy (which is to say, cognitive empathy or understanding without feeling). He is able to get inside the minds of others and use his “high-powered perception” to intimidate and manipulate.
"What makes a monster and what makes a man?" That’s the question at the core of the film and it’s not necessarily an easy one to answer. For example, where Scar (The Lion King) and Jafar (Aladdin) are your quintessentially evil Disney villains, Frollo, the Archdeacon and Paris' Minister of Justice, presents a far more complex antagonist. While the physically deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo grows more noble as the story progresses, Frollo, who is similarly besotted by the beautiful green-eyed Gypsy girl, Esmeralda, instead descends into the depths of madness as his cowardly underbelly is fully revealed. You might see this “bad guy” in the executive who is ideologically opposed to risk and changing the status quo.
The quotes speak for themselves.
Hammond plays the role of the jovial and eccentric “showman,” someone you might know who, despite intending no harm, doesn’t seem to fully appreciate the consequences of their actions in the pursuit of innovation, laughs, or entertainment. As we learn (or don’t, in Hammond’s case), just because you can create something, doesn’t mean you should.
While not quite as gung-ho as the Colonel to let loose an onslaught of lethal military force to remove the native inhabitants from their home in order to extract the lucrative little grey rock known as "unobtanium," Selfridge clearly allows the profit motive and his sense of responsibility to the company and its shareholders to distort his personal sense of morality.