How Emotion And Attitude Can Influence Behaviour

Hello, everyone. Welcome again to Naked Insider, episode 7. My name is Buzz Fisher and we have Peter Natterer. Great, excellent. Thanks for joining.

Good to be here.

As usual, Today's video is all about a very interesting topic called predisposition and something for you to really identify and understand how that relates to you. And I'll turn it over to Peter. What exactly does it mean?

Predisposition is a tendency to do something according to your internal clock. And a lot of people get a mix up between predisposition and habit. And I guess the best way to describe that is that here in Australia we drive on one side of the road, and in America or in Europe, you drive on the other side of the road. That is a habit and you can relearn that. As opposed to somebody who's a left hander trying to write with the right hand, there is a predisposition to write better or to articulate better with the left hand as opposed to the right hand. So that's the difference between a predisposition and a learned behavior.

Okay. So we're going to actually try to make it more relevant to what it actually means, maybe from a risk context and so forth.

So.

But before we do, can you give another example? I mean, we talked about an ocd, so obsessive compulsive disorder. What does that actually mean?

So this is a predisposition to fixate on certain things. And one of the examples that keeps springing to mind is a particular person who pays huge attention to detail. So much so that this person is totally obsessive about the detail. And one of the great things is that these kinds of energies, these kinds of talents can actually be harnessed. So this particular gentleman is actually a very well sought after plumber. He can actually fine tune down to the millimeter just by looking at a series of pipes. Diagnose what's wrong, diagnose what needs to be happening, what needs to be fixed, and they're paying good money for it.

Oh, they. So how would it become a negative.

Then if that predisposition is mismatched with what this person is doing? So for instance, if you were to take somebody with huge attention to detail, a fascination for the minutiae, and put them into a totally creative environment where everything is free form and there's no structure, that would certainly fry this person.

Yes, it certainly would and certainly would. So this is why it's really important. What different types are there in terms of when we talk about predisposition?

Predisposition can be about pretty much anything. But for Instance, if you look at the typical adage that, you know, you've got somebody who sees the world half as a glass half full and somebody sees the world is a glass half empty, this is a predisposition. It's the way that they operate inside of the world. Both of which obviously worked for them.

Yeah. So a good example is if you were to go and watch a movie together with your partner and then once you come out, you know, one person loves the movie but the other person hates the movie. So you have a different internal belief and value of understanding how you interpret that movie.

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And it comes down to exactly core elements that have been with you and that. That there are behaviors that are modeled into you from almost. From birth, I would imagine.

Yes, yes. So now I wanted to sort of talk to more details around triggers because we talk about, you know, how people can have a predisposition. But what happens if you add trigger a situation where an employee is at work, he was promised or she was promised a pay raise or a bonus or a new role and that didn't happen. Yes.

And many times these things are a cascade of stresses. So there could be lots of other things happening in this person's life. And then one large event or one seemingly to everybody else small event could. Can make this person behave in a completely different way and that can actually become a big, big risk for an organization.

Very much so. In fact, that Carnegie Mellon University do study about all the different type of threats and they've got a well articulated database. They said that for every insight sabotage that took place, that person had a predisposition behavior. Yes. So it was just a trigger that set that person to commit an act that harmed the organization. So it comes down to. Well, organizations don't really know about this person.

Correct.

Predisposition. And I'd hesitate to say that the person themselves don't often know either. So what are the challenges that the organization faces in this case, because you're hiring, what you're seeing is again a trustworthy person, a good person, but you don't really know their behavior.

Exactly. Exactly. One of the things that I would suggest is that organisations don't work in a human vacuum. There's always going to be your co workers, your peers, your immediate supervisors who get a sense of what you are about. If you use a vernacular. And as a lead up, these kind of breaches that you're talking about don't always happen in an instant, although they may, but often they are led up to with lots and lots of signals. And red flags and things that should have been taken notice of.

Correct.

And these are the things I think that probably more than anything, without knowing that this has triggered somebody, those flags and those signals, people need to be on the lookout.

Well, it's usually a physical, what I call a physical manifestation or physical action that takes place well before that situation, whether it be sabotage or fraud or theft ever actually takes place. Just coming for another question. So can organizations easily decide, okay, look, you as a person, let me put you in this type of role. Yes, but it's usually it's not like that because people apply for specific roles.

Correct.

So an organization doesn't really have that visibility of that person's behaviour or their maybe potentially predisposition. Yes. So you know, if you go and talk about, you know, a person who's got an OCD and you know, you just don't know whether that role is going to suit them.

No, the other thing is that people will move inside of an organization, across and away from the role that they originally signed up for. In fact, there's many people that walk into an organization and walk into a job that wasn't actually advertised.

Correct.

And they're going, did I apply for that role?

Yeah, exactly.

Which happens more often than people would like to admit. But yes, moving people outside of, without actually consulting with them to see whether they are capable or.

Correct. And that would probably happen quite a bit. So they originally been brought in for specific roles and then six months goes by and then they've been moved to a completely different role.

Absolutely, absolutely. And oftentimes without consultation with that person. Oh, we need this now, it needs to happen.

Correct. And then suddenly realizing that that person is just not suitable for that role or completely will say, well, I didn't sign up for that.

Yes.

So what happens? What can the organization do from a point of view? Okay, a behavior is manifested, how would they treat it?

So one of the things obviously is early detection, I guess, of finding out what's going on with a person. And we are living in a human environment. An organization is a human environment. And one of the things that you can do, the simplest things you can do, is to say, walk up to somebody and say, hey, are you okay? Are you alright? And I mean, that's a catchphrase that's being pushed outside by a lot of organizations. But there is a humanity that needs to happen, I think inside of organisations rather than, oh, we won't talk to this person now because they're obviously not feeling very well.

Correct.

Somebody needs to be Able to step out, step out of their comfort zone, move into this person's field and say, hey, you okay? And sometimes that can actually relieve the pressure on what's going on.

Good point. But who would do that? Because, I mean, in a situation where you've got peers, would they have the capability and the emotional know how of stepping in? What happens if maybe they have a rift with their manager or the manager's manager? So how easy is it for that person to say, look, I'm crying for help. Who can actually help me?

Not very easy at all. If a person feels isolated, that's actually one big stressor as well too. If a person feels isolated inside of their work culture, I use that word very, very judiciously. Because a work culture, actually the safety net which will allow people to break the pressure that's building up inside of them. If somebody were to be able to say, for instance, one of the triggers could be, I didn't get the raise. If somebody can turn around to somebody who is in a position to listen, I really feel upset about this because of X, Y and Z. Sometimes even the act of just being able to say that will take the pressure out of the pressure valve.

Oh, for sure. So that would then lead me to this question. How does an employee assistance program come into the equation? How can they help or can they?

They can if the person takes advantage of it. We live in a society where we are independent, where we are supposed to be able to go out and be everything to everyone. So we. Walking into an employee assistance program is almost like saying, I've got a problem, which is really difficult for somebody, especially if that person has a problem.

Correct? Correct. Correct. So then it's unlikely to happen then.

Correct? Absolutely.

Okay, so there you have it. So one question. What is the key takeaway for this subject?

I think creating a culture, but also creating an environment or creating an understanding of what to do. If you have identified that this is going on for a particular person inside of your organization. So it's all well and good to say, hey, Billy, XYZ is experiencing problem. The question then becomes, what can we do about it? And it's not something that you want to make up on the fly. It's something that you want to have pre. Pre established.

Oh, that I totally agree. I think that's one of the, you know, do you want to come from a point of being reactive or do you want to come from a point where you've already thought about, well, here's a potential problem. So if you're coming from a point of proactive or even being in a resilient position where there's sort of a holistic thinking about that problem. And I'd say most organizations own their reactive zone.

Yes, absolutely.

Again, this is about behavior. So look, this is great. Thanks Peter, again for an interesting discussion. Our next video is going to be about bullying, which is a really interesting topic because we see it a lot. So stay tuned to it. Any other last comments?

Absolutely. Take care of each other. Look, it sounds very warm and fuzzy, but inside of an organization you're there for one purpose and that is the purpose of the organization. To create an environment inside the organization that takes care of its own in a positive and supportive way is going to give you head and shoulders advantage over everybody else that is working outside.

Oh, I totally agree. Yeah, totally agree.

That's it.

So with that I bid you have a wonderful day.

Thank you very much and it's always a pleasure.

Babaz, always a pleasure and see you next time.

See you.