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Assessing people's character: an example

#1 · December 1, 2023, 8:18 pm

Quote from John Freeman on December 1, 2023, 8:18 pm
Hello TPM community,
I watched Lucio's today's short (note: I watch them as soon as they come out, they're great. I recommend them):
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g0Cejf88q7A

This made me think that I got tested yesterday by my boss, so here might be a case of test of character:
We were in her office. She gave me advice on how to deal with rebellious and/or poorly skilled residents with a bad attitude. This time it was not the same dynamics as the first time. It was not me who was getting disrespected and asked for advice on how to deal with it. It was me reporting about a bad element who was doing bad work, in part due to a bad attitude. So when I asked her to meet her it was to inform her of the current situation and also ask her how to deal with it. So it was not my problem. It was a problem for the team. It was not emotional, it was rational. It was not personal, it was business. So totally different frames.
Anyway, after the talk where she gave me great advice, we were checking my last month's time sheet (the amount of hours I worked). Once per month, I have a morning (4 hours) for admin work. I can work from home or at work. I can work less than 4 hours or more than 4 hours. Basically, the goal is to catch up with admin.
Her: so on this day how much did you do?
Me: about 2-3 hours
Her: shall I write 4?
Me: no, put 2
Basically, she put me in a situation where "I'm allowed to cheat". It's good for the service in a way because more hours mean they can ask for more staff. So that might be reason. My boss is a very honest and kind person but she's also a pragmatic leader. So it could be it.
However, I think it was a test of character: "If allowed to cheat, will he do it?". To me, it was a clear no. I don't steal hours from my employers. If I forget to "badge" the end of a break, then it's on me (They remove 1 hour from my work time but I only took 30 min break). I will balance it out with these hours by adding the hours I forgot to badge somehow so it feels fair. But in absence of reason to compensate I won't do it. It has to feel fair. So this is not disguised virtue signalling nor PR. It just happens to be me in this example.
I think it's actually a great idea to test people's character. I never thought about it before watching Lucio's video. I know I did it a few times in my life but I don't even remember when. So it was more instinctive in a selected number of situations than a real social strategy.
I will never know if that was really a test of character. However, I think that it looks like this.

Hello TPM community,

I watched Lucio's today's short (note: I watch them as soon as they come out, they're great. I recommend them):

This made me think that I got tested yesterday by my boss, so here might be a case of test of character:

We were in her office. She gave me advice on how to deal with rebellious and/or poorly skilled residents with a bad attitude. This time it was not the same dynamics as the first time. It was not me who was getting disrespected and asked for advice on how to deal with it. It was me reporting about a bad element who was doing bad work, in part due to a bad attitude. So when I asked her to meet her it was to inform her of the current situation and also ask her how to deal with it. So it was not my problem. It was a problem for the team. It was not emotional, it was rational. It was not personal, it was business. So totally different frames.

Anyway, after the talk where she gave me great advice, we were checking my last month's time sheet (the amount of hours I worked). Once per month, I have a morning (4 hours) for admin work. I can work from home or at work. I can work less than 4 hours or more than 4 hours. Basically, the goal is to catch up with admin.

Her: so on this day how much did you do?
Me: about 2-3 hours
Her: shall I write 4?
Me: no, put 2

Basically, she put me in a situation where "I'm allowed to cheat". It's good for the service in a way because more hours mean they can ask for more staff. So that might be reason. My boss is a very honest and kind person but she's also a pragmatic leader. So it could be it.

However, I think it was a test of character: "If allowed to cheat, will he do it?". To me, it was a clear no. I don't steal hours from my employers. If I forget to "badge" the end of a break, then it's on me (They remove 1 hour from my work time but I only took 30 min break). I will balance it out with these hours by adding the hours I forgot to badge somehow so it feels fair. But in absence of reason to compensate I won't do it. It has to feel fair. So this is not disguised virtue signalling nor PR. It just happens to be me in this example.

I think it's actually a great idea to test people's character. I never thought about it before watching Lucio's video. I know I did it a few times in my life but I don't even remember when. So it was more instinctive in a selected number of situations than a real social strategy.

I will never know if that was really a test of character. However, I think that it looks like this.

Lucio Buffalmano, Jack and 2 other users have reacted to this post.

#2 · December 1, 2023, 9:42 pm

Big smile when I read "no, put 2" :D.

Something one can consider doing depending on the type of boss:

Look, on my side, I'd put 2.
If it's helpful for the hospital to be on the extra (do a "quote on quote' hand gesture") side so we can get some more resources to operate even better, then just let me know.

John Freeman, Jack and 2 other users have reacted to this post.

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#3 · December 1, 2023, 11:30 pm

Yes, it's definitely the social strategist way to go about it, thank you Lucio.

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#4 · December 2, 2023, 3:44 pm

In my notes

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#5 · December 2, 2023, 10:20 pm

Its a nice one to align with the boss. Line managers are always looking to grow their pack.

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