Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Teamster Jeff

(1,598 posts)
Sat Jun 8, 2013, 09:36 AM Jun 2013

Bosses habitually overestimate their ability to win respect and support from their underlings

>>>
The results, published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, will come as a shock to business big cheeses, but to no one else. In one experiment, he randomly assigned people in work groups with positions of high or low power, or to a control group. Questioned afterwards, those primed with high power were convinced the others were on their side; a view not shared by those being bossed. In another he found that lowly participants would form alliances against the powerful, even when it was not in their financial interest to do so. The mighty were blissfully unaware of the forces working against them.

So not only do bosses set too much store by their strengths, as our Schumpeter column notes, they also habitually overestimate their ability to win respect and support from their underlings. Somehow, on reaching the corner office, they lose the knack of reading subtle cues in others’ behaviour: in a further experiment Mr Brion found that when a boss tells a joke to a subordinate, he loses his innate ability to distinguish between a real and fake smile.
>>>

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21579031-powerful-overestimate-support-underlings-whos-behind-me?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/whosbehindme

2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Bosses habitually overestimate their ability to win respect and support from their underlings (Original Post) Teamster Jeff Jun 2013 OP
It goes something like this. Arctic Dave Jun 2013 #1
I think they habitually overestimate pretty much everything Sherman A1 Jun 2013 #2
 

Arctic Dave

(13,812 posts)
1. It goes something like this.
Sat Jun 8, 2013, 10:28 AM
Jun 2013

An organization is like a tree full of monkeys, all on different limbs at different levels.

Some monkeys are climbing up, some down.

The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces.

The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but assholes.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Omaha Steve's Labor Group»Bosses habitually overest...