{"id":1904,"date":"2025-02-20T07:43:42","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T03:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/?p=1904"},"modified":"2025-02-20T07:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T03:51:09","slug":"time-to-flip-the-script-from-whats-wrong-with-this-person-to-whats-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/20\/time-to-flip-the-script-from-whats-wrong-with-this-person-to-whats-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Flip the Script? From What’s Wrong with this Person to What’s Right…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Circa 1930. Great Britain. The acronym ADHD<\/em><\/span> did not exist. Gillian Lynne<\/em><\/span><\/a> was considered the quintessential problem child. She did terribly in school. She couldn’t sit still, let alone focus. People called her Wriggle Bottom. Her mother, thinking that her daughter is a disorder<\/em><\/span>, took her to the Doctor. And that visit would radically change the course of Lynne’s life.<\/p>\n

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What is important to note here is What the Doctor did not<\/em><\/span> do. He did not label the child as difficult<\/em><\/span>. He did not tell her to calm down. He did not automatically medicate her. Instead, he decided to follow a hunch. He turned on the radio in his room. And escorted the mother and himself out of the room.<\/p>\n

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The minutes the adults left the room, Lynne’s body began to move. As the music filled the room, Lynne couldn’t contain herself and danced all around, including on the Doctor’s desk. Through the transparent glass door both the mother and Doctor were watching this spectacle. A little later it was time for the Doctor to write the prescription. It said ” She is a natural dancer.<\/em><\/span> Take her to dance class<\/em> <\/span>“. What followed was a lifetime of dance. Lynne danced in the Royal Ballet<\/em><\/span> and choreographed\u00a0Cats<\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0Phantom of the Opera<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u2014two of the longest-running shows in Broadway<\/em> <\/span>history*.<\/p>\n

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*Extracted from <\/span>Ozan Varol’s<\/a><\/span> blog<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Some games that we humans like playing include Scrabble, Sudoku, Monopoly, Poker, Chess and the likes. But, what takes the cake, along with the bakery and baker is a game called Find The Flaw<\/em><\/span>. It is practiced with so much diligence as if it has to become an Olympic Sport<\/em><\/span>. It could, you never know.<\/p>\n

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For all the unemployment and under employment that we talk about, I feel that most people are fully employed in a profession called ‘ judging others<\/em><\/span> ‘.\u00a0 And no, the jury need not be out on that. The default setting is\u00a0fault-finding mode<\/em><\/span>\u2014high-definition, surround sound, and zero buffering.<\/p>\n

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The uncomfortable, inconvenience truth is that ” we are addicted to deficiency detection<\/em><\/span> “. There is a difference between flaws and fire. Flaws don’t define people. Their fire does<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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Finding flaws is a cultural epidemic.<\/em><\/span> For eg when it comes to performance appraisals- the reverse of the Pareto Principle<\/em><\/span><\/a> works here. 80% of reviews and appraisals are spent on finding<\/em><\/span> areas of improvement and 20%(condescendingly at that) on celebrating strengths<\/em><\/span>. Because by focusing on whats wrong, makes one feel more productive, more in, more serious and more professional.<\/p>\n

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Classic example is the marketing manager who takes a lot of time on client calls. The common corporate refrain is ‘ she needs to be more efficient with her time<\/em><\/span> ‘. But where we miss the wood for the trees is those long calls help client retention rates significantly and boosts organic revenues. What was considered wrong<\/em><\/span> was actually right<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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When we start looking for ‘ what’s right<\/em><\/span> ‘, remarkable things begin to happen:<\/p>\n

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The what is considered as a ‘ difficult<\/em> <\/span>‘ employee who asks too many questions is the one who insulates against groupthink, echo chamber and multiple projects being salvaged. She is not difficult. She needs to be rewarded.<\/p>\n

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Or the overthinking analyst<\/em> <\/span>who spots the minor details( after all both God and Devil are in the details) which helps the company its next major innovation. Give her a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

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How many times have we heard this ” He’s too emotional, or sensitive<\/em> <\/span>” – well he is the exact same person whose empathy makes him anticipate and understand customer problems before they become too complicated to handle.<\/p>\n

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It wouldn’t be incorrect to state that we humans have a PhD in nitpicking<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image Courtesy: ISD Global<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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People call Elon Musk<\/em><\/span> ( yes, The Corporate Weirdo Who is Laughing All The Way To Mars<\/em><\/span>) as erratic, unpredictable and obsessed. Maybe true. But, ask what’s right with him and you find in the least the following:<\/p>\n