Unintended Consequences from Failure
Unintended Consequences from Failure
In the article “Can You Handle Failure?” Ben Dattner and Robert Hogan (2011) reflect on data collected from over several hundred thousand managers to determine how failure will affect one’s behavior and surroundings in the workplace. While everyone handles failure differently, Dattner and Hogan (2011) believe many managers perceive and react to failure inappropriately. Dysfunctional reactions to failure from managers will cause unintended consequences which will lead to additional “problematic events” in the future and often strain workplace relationships (Dattner & Hogan, 2011).
The authors conclude there are eleven personality types which will lead to dysfunctional reactions to failure. These eleven personality types represent approximately 70% of the U.S. population (Dattner & Hogan, 2011) and can be grouped into three categories to describe how people will react to failure; extrapuntive, impunitive and intropunitive.
Extrapunitive personality types are people who are “prone to unfairly blaming others” (Dattner & Hogan, 2011). Extrapunitive people rarely take responsibility or blame for a failure. Impunitive personality types are people who “either deny that failure has occurred or deny their own role in it” (Dattner & Hogan, 2011). Intropunitive is the least common category but is still problematic. An intropunitive personality type “often judges themselves too harshly and imagines failure where none exist” (Dattner & Hogan 2011).
In order to combat these personality types and overcome these tendencies, the authors state one must cultivate self-awareness, cultivate political awareness and embrace new strategies. Cultivating self-awareness means an individual must recognize how people are reacting in the workforce and react accordingly. This is also achieved by reflecting on past events and jobs that you have handled in your career and being able to recognize how you have handled them. Cultivating
In the article “Can You Handle Failure?” Ben Dattner and Robert Hogan (2011) reflect on data collected from over several hundred thousand managers to determine how failure will affect one’s behavior and surroundings in the workplace. While everyone handles failure differently, Dattner and Hogan (2011) believe many managers perceive and react to failure inappropriately. Dysfunctional reactions to failure from managers will cause unintended consequences which will lead to additional “problematic events” in the future and often strain workplace relationships (Dattner & Hogan, 2011).
The authors conclude there are eleven personality types which will lead to dysfunctional reactions to failure. These eleven personality types represent approximately 70% of the U.S. population (Dattner & Hogan, 2011) and can be grouped into three categories to describe how people will react to failure; extrapuntive, impunitive and intropunitive.
Extrapunitive personality types are people who are “prone to unfairly blaming others” (Dattner & Hogan, 2011). Extrapunitive people rarely take responsibility or blame for a failure. Impunitive personality types are people who “either deny that failure has occurred or deny their own role in it” (Dattner & Hogan, 2011). Intropunitive is the least common category but is still problematic. An intropunitive personality type “often judges themselves too harshly and imagines failure where none exist” (Dattner & Hogan 2011).
In order to combat these personality types and overcome these tendencies, the authors state one must cultivate self-awareness, cultivate political awareness and embrace new strategies. Cultivating self-awareness means an individual must recognize how people are reacting in the workforce and react accordingly. This is also achieved by reflecting on past events and jobs that you have handled in your career and being able to recognize how you have handled them. Cultivating