Note on an interesting case of cognitive distortion that internal politics is to blame.

Questioner believes that “my boss likes internal politics” and “I don’t understand how my boss can get in my way.”

Respondent points out that the questioner’s cognition is distorted.

  • They label their superiors’ actions and “internal politics”.
  • Assuming “internal politics” to be negative.
  • He stated that he does not understand his supervisor’s behavior. This is typical “[Attacking something you don’t know well without trying to know it.

Respondents additionally noted that “Miscommunication goes both ways.” and urged action for improvement

The questioner responded by submitting a post-submission, “What’s wrong with your boss’s inner life,” and asked, “Does this still not change your judgment?” I asked. The respondent flushes, “Only if that interpretation of the boss’s inner life is true.”

  • This appears to be a judgment that “I expected you to give me an answer that was good for me, but that didn’t happen, so I did what I did to get you to give me an answer that was good for me” and “probably not true”.
  • It’s a distorted perception, so I don’t even think talking about it any further will give us any “true” information.
  • Nor will the questioner improve his behavior.
    • I’m not trying to improve, I just want you to say what’s good for me.
    • The questioner means [People who don’t cut their nose hair.
  • The respondent appears to think so and is trying to end the conversation.

https://twitter.com/kensuu/status/1683768050200498181

【Q】 I am angry with my boss at work.

That boss likes internal politics, rooting around in the company rather than getting the job done, He is good at talking behind the back, etc. in the absence of the parties involved, He is a man who has a way of taking advantage by getting powerful people on his side.

Such a boss seems to hate me, that I am in charge,

Some interfere with work that should clearly be important to the company, Sometimes they rob you of your job, and sometimes they do whatever they want under the umbrella of their boss’s authority.

For a supervisor, though, he should take credit for the success of his subordinates, Why are they interrupting us? I honestly don’t understand. Instead of completely thinking about the interests of the company and the team, it seems to me that the only thought is to kick others down and get yourself to the top.

How should I deal with such a boss? I would like to consider changing departments, but I don’t want to be transferred because I want to continue my current job description.


⚠If you want to ask a question, start with Marshmallow in the profile section!

【A】 Ah, I don’t know how to put it, but it might be a good idea to reflect on the state of “losing to internal politics” in simple terms.


While I agree 100% that the interests of the company, the customers, and the team are more important than internal politics, I personally think that “people who look down on or disregard internal politics below that are a negative in a company organization”.

I think it is better to have the perspective that “as long as human beings operate as an organization, there will always be politics, and the importance of politics is very important in the operation of an organization.

Because people who disregard internal politics tend to act without understanding internal politics, and as a result, they end up creating very big politics. For example, if a person who dislikes internal politics becomes president, he or she may say, “You don’t have to coordinate with your boss! You tell me directly! As long as it is the right thing to do, I will do it! Then, the opinions of those who are close to the president are more likely to prevail, and things will proceed not by law, rules, or discipline, but by individual play. Then a kind of faction that gets along well with the president is formed, and the opinions of those who fall out of that faction or those who are disliked by that faction cannot be heard, so they somehow get into the goodwill group
things like that happen.

So, I wrote this because from the way you say it, it sounds like you have some criticism of your boss doing > internal politics and rooting for the company.


So, in terms of internal politics.

“For a boss, he should take credit for his subordinate’s success, but why does he get in the way? I honestly don’t understand.”

As you say, “If a subordinate can be used by the boss to get ahead or to get around in the company, then I will use him or her and cooperate with him or her.” But the fact that the situation is going in the opposite direction is a sign of

  • The boss thinks that if the questioner is active, he will lose out.

That is what I mean. So,

  • Make the questioner feel that the more active he/she is, the more his/her boss benefits, and build a cooperative relationship.

I think it means that internal politics is not working well in that we are not doing > the same thing.

This is going to sound harsh, but somehow I get the feeling that you feel strongly that your boss should fix it, but he is not your mentor or teacher or anything, he is just one of your business stakeholders, and you should reflect on your failure to manage him well, I think it’s probably more positive. I think it would probably be more positive to reflect on how you are not managing it well, like, “You are the boss, so do this for your subordinates!” If I were a subordinate, that would be a meaningless idea.

Of course, if you are in the position of a supervisor, you should think, “When your subordinate thinks so, you have failed in management, so the problem is 100% on the supervisor’s side. The point is that when you assume that the other person is at fault, you probably won’t be able to solve the problem at all, nor will it lead to growth, so you should think about your own inadequacies.


On top of that, in general, it is probably difficult to understand the importance of what your boss is doing regarding rooting and politics when you are a subordinate. When I was a new graduate myself, I didn’t understand what my superiors were doing at all, but now I think, “They were doing a lot of things based on a fairly high level of internal politics and dealings. It’s sometimes hard to understand this area unless you are in that perspective.

I thought it would be easier to make it work if I put myself in the boss’s shoes and thought about what he or she is trying to do, what would make him or her happy, and how I can be an effective subordinate for him or her. I thought it would be easier to make it work!

https://twitter.com/kensuu/status/1684171499769565184

【Q】

I even ate the “losing internal politics” thing along with RT. (Not sure why I RT’d it
)

This is because if I have self-centered “feelings” that have nothing to do with my work (e.g., I only want to deal with young girls, but an older woman is transferred as a subordinate, and I am very stressed by her presence. If this was motivated by a self-centered “feeling” that has nothing to do with the job (e.g., I only want to deal with young girls, but an older woman has been transferred as a subordinate. ) was the motive, would the answer still be the same?

Main ingredients of suspicion of self-centered “feelings”: continuous rejection of greetings and questions from the very first meeting, demotion-level evaluation for “brusque attitude demotivating other staff” even though they performed their duties without problems, and the exact opposite of the above for the young girls.

(By the way, this is mostly my situation, I had an adjustment disorder from trying to swallow this situation and whatnot, so I took a leave of absence and eventually got off that team. I am now wondering what I should have done and what I should do now that I am back at work)


⚠If you want to ask a question, start with Marshmallow in the profile section!

【A】 Oh, of course, the assumption is that it totally depends on the person and the situation. I’m trying to answer in a maximum common denominator way, like “I’m going to write this person’s question and the answer to it so that I can include a lot of points that would be useful.

“For example, I only want to deal with young girls, but an older woman is transferred as my subordinate. This is very stressful for me, so I’ll give her a bad name and ask her to go away.” If this is true, it is not a good idea because it is unprofessional as a member of the company.

However, human psychology is complex and gradational, so I wonder if that is not the only reason that determines behavior, and there are also a crazy number of cases where the person on the victimized side says “I’m older, so this is how it is”, but when you ask the person doing it, the reason is completely different. I think it’s a very interesting case.

So I sometimes see things get very strange as a result of people assuming that the reason they are being such jerks is because that person thinks this way.


This page is auto-translated from /nishio/ç€Ÿć†…æ”żæȻたせいずいうèȘçŸ„たæ­Șみ using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.