Dr LeCrone
03-30-2006, 09:23 AM
Jerry owned a small manufacturing company. Because of its small size and limited financial resources, he functioned as the owner, office manager, and at times worked on the small assembly line with his employees when he was short-handed.
Jerry began to notice that on certain crucial days, some of the equipment malfunctioned with greater frequency than on noncritical days. He also began to get letters of complaint from some of his best customers regarding the small but significant damages they detected in products delivered to them.
Just when Jerry seemed to get ahead with his small company, circumstances seemed to prevent success. He became so frustrated he began to develop headaches and sleep problems.
His wife noticed a pattern in his company problems. He took her advice and asked all the employees for help in overcoming the difficulties. Even though they all agreed to help, nothing was accomplished until an employee mentioned that one employee was intentionally but subtly abusing equipment by running it too fast, not oiling it properly or leaving it on until it got too hot and ceased to function.
Jerry found employee records that showed this same employee turned out defective products more frequently than any other member of the shop crew. Instead of removing the defective product from the finished product inventory, the employee passed it on and it was shipped to customers.
After Jerry noticed this weak link in quality control, he called the employee in and asked for an explanation. After vehemently denying all allegations, the employee became offended and resigned.
Business problems soon smoothed out for Jerry. In discussing the incident with a friend, Jerry learned he had been dealing with a passive-aggressive personality. His employee had chosen indirect hostility instead of a direct manner of expressing his dissatisfaction.
Passive-aggressive people are self-centered and often feel “entitled.” They are afraid of direct conflict. Instead of using aggressive tactics, they use indirect methods and hope no one will catch them. They tend to have little understanding of or compassion for other people. If their indirect maneuvers produce the desired effect of unhappiness in someone else, they see this as the other person’s problem.
The passive-aggressive personality can be one of the most frustrating to work with. It is the source of many unhappy marriages and other family relationships.
The passive-aggressive individual can be easy to get along with and seemingly no problem as long as he is getting his own way.
Learning to spot this type of personality and deal with the person effectively can make life easier. Next week, I will discuss other examples of passive-aggressive maneuvers and ways of dealing with the problem.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1987
Jerry began to notice that on certain crucial days, some of the equipment malfunctioned with greater frequency than on noncritical days. He also began to get letters of complaint from some of his best customers regarding the small but significant damages they detected in products delivered to them.
Just when Jerry seemed to get ahead with his small company, circumstances seemed to prevent success. He became so frustrated he began to develop headaches and sleep problems.
His wife noticed a pattern in his company problems. He took her advice and asked all the employees for help in overcoming the difficulties. Even though they all agreed to help, nothing was accomplished until an employee mentioned that one employee was intentionally but subtly abusing equipment by running it too fast, not oiling it properly or leaving it on until it got too hot and ceased to function.
Jerry found employee records that showed this same employee turned out defective products more frequently than any other member of the shop crew. Instead of removing the defective product from the finished product inventory, the employee passed it on and it was shipped to customers.
After Jerry noticed this weak link in quality control, he called the employee in and asked for an explanation. After vehemently denying all allegations, the employee became offended and resigned.
Business problems soon smoothed out for Jerry. In discussing the incident with a friend, Jerry learned he had been dealing with a passive-aggressive personality. His employee had chosen indirect hostility instead of a direct manner of expressing his dissatisfaction.
Passive-aggressive people are self-centered and often feel “entitled.” They are afraid of direct conflict. Instead of using aggressive tactics, they use indirect methods and hope no one will catch them. They tend to have little understanding of or compassion for other people. If their indirect maneuvers produce the desired effect of unhappiness in someone else, they see this as the other person’s problem.
The passive-aggressive personality can be one of the most frustrating to work with. It is the source of many unhappy marriages and other family relationships.
The passive-aggressive individual can be easy to get along with and seemingly no problem as long as he is getting his own way.
Learning to spot this type of personality and deal with the person effectively can make life easier. Next week, I will discuss other examples of passive-aggressive maneuvers and ways of dealing with the problem.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1987