Considering our Ps and Qs

The Price of Incivility

There is a thoughtful article entitled ‘The Price of Incivility’ in the Jan / Feb 2013 issue of Harvard Business Review I’ve just been reading. It occurs to me I don’t think I’ve ever read a serious article on it as a subject that looks at it in terms of business cost as well as the more obvious individual possible consequences.

What I also like is the article doesn’t just talk about the problems that arise from this, but it talks about potential  ways of addressing as well, both at personal and organizational level. Plus it considers how different circumstances can impact, such as being abroad for work as opposed to at your usual desk.

Considering our Ps and Qs

As a subject it’s often seen as fairly marginal, just one of those mildly unfortunate things that happens from time to time (whether realised, noticed, observed, or not). Everyone feels frayed sometimes and we all have slightly different ways of looking at the world and interacting with it.

 Added to this working environments in particular have become a lot more open plan in the last ten years. Individuals as often lone inhabitants of offices are much rarer than they once were, and we communicate in far more methods simultaneously than ever before.

All that being so, it’s a good article to muse upon and actively consider, how we perceive others, and how we are perceived in turn, and whether we can improve it.