Smart dogs, smart people
Imagine for a moment that a group of traveling dogs traversed beside you. Unbeknownst to you, the smartest dog in the world walked among them.
Without immediately testing for it, how would you know which one it was?
The truth is, you wouldn’t. There’s no absolute way to tell. But if you had to guess, you’d probably make an assumption based on who knows what. Then, regardless of if you were right or not, you’d literally spot reasons to prove your point.
It turns out, the way we interact with people is often very similar.
People generally act they way you expect them to. Which is to say that if you expect nothing more than incompetence, you’re going to both see (and reinforce) nothing short of it.
I’ve worked with managers in the past who assume the best way to get people to do what they want them to is through mind tricks and power moves. To find out ‘what makes them tick’ and ’what buttons to push,’ to generally micro-manage their every move.
The truth is, it’s far more simple and far less machiavellian than that.
Generally, you get what you see and you see what you look for. If you assume your team is a bunch of bumbling buffoons, you’re going default to looking for all the reasons why they are (and not the reasons why they aren’t)…which will only reinforce your belief that they are.
The converse is also true. If you assume you work with intelligent people who can manage to do a task on their own without your constant guidance, you’ll find that to be the case, more often than not.
The way you manage people is to assume they have it in them to do it right. To give them the benefit of the doubt when they get it wrong. Sure, some might need more encouragement and instruction than others, but that’s an entirely different posture than assuming they’re dunces.
People are like dogs. You get what you expect, and what you reinforce.