Posted by mareserinitatis in career, engineering, societal commentary, work.
Tags: excuses, griping, negative people
There are certain people I really enjoy working with, but I am getting increasingly frustrated with a certain type of person I encounter frequently.
The people I enjoy are those who, when asked a question, will put their heads down, trying hard to think of a way to answer. If you ask them if doing something is within the realm of possibility, they will do their best to think of a way to make it happen.
Then there are those other people who, when you ask them a question about what is possible, will come up with a laundry list of reasons they can’t make something happen. They don’t have funding, they don’t have time, they don’t have equipment, they don’t have students, etc. Instead of throwing out ideas on how to solve the problem, they would rather throw out obstacles or reasons why they can’t do whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish. And then they’ll finally answer your question by saying, “No, it’s not possible.”
Oh, what could be accomplished with the hot air that was just produced.
The only reason I can see that they would do this is that they lack a desire to solve problems and/or they’re not terribly creative. They would rather stonewall on the project in order to get their way, even though the people who are affected by this may have no ability to alter the circumstances that are causing them to be so unhappy. Likewise, they seem to derive no joy from being clever and figuring out a way to do things with what they’ve got.
Whatever the reason, I find it very frustrating. And what’s worse is that there are people who approach everything in life with this attitude.
I also blog at Engineer Blogs, home away from home to some of the best engineering blogs.
FCIWYPSC 
Just answer the question July 19, 2011
Posted by mareserinitatis in career, engineering, societal commentary, work.Tags: excuses, griping, negative people
1 comment so far
There are certain people I really enjoy working with, but I am getting increasingly frustrated with a certain type of person I encounter frequently.
The people I enjoy are those who, when asked a question, will put their heads down, trying hard to think of a way to answer. If you ask them if doing something is within the realm of possibility, they will do their best to think of a way to make it happen.
Then there are those other people who, when you ask them a question about what is possible, will come up with a laundry list of reasons they can’t make something happen. They don’t have funding, they don’t have time, they don’t have equipment, they don’t have students, etc. Instead of throwing out ideas on how to solve the problem, they would rather throw out obstacles or reasons why they can’t do whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish. And then they’ll finally answer your question by saying, “No, it’s not possible.”
Oh, what could be accomplished with the hot air that was just produced.
The only reason I can see that they would do this is that they lack a desire to solve problems and/or they’re not terribly creative. They would rather stonewall on the project in order to get their way, even though the people who are affected by this may have no ability to alter the circumstances that are causing them to be so unhappy. Likewise, they seem to derive no joy from being clever and figuring out a way to do things with what they’ve got.
Whatever the reason, I find it very frustrating. And what’s worse is that there are people who approach everything in life with this attitude.
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