38. Know Your Negative Colleagues

From The Boy Who Got Promoted by Dhruv Rao (Suggested Reading, Office Dynamics, Paper I – Work Environment and Colleagues)

“Some people are negative by birth, some by choice.

You might think that your office has a particular strength to attract all sorts of negative people, but trust me, it is the same everywhere.

Also, those all sorts of negative people are not as random as they seem like. Like most things in life, you can see a pattern in them. 

There are certain broad categories, like explained below.

Constructive Negatives

These people are extremely critical about everything but at the same time very good at what they do themselves. They know they are good and others are below par.

You can actually learn things from such people if you have the ability to ward off insults. But if you do not have a sufficiently thick hide, learnt stuff elsewhere.

Good-for-nothing Negatives

These people are also very negative but unlike the above, they are sloppy at what they do. There is almost invariably some reason why such a person still gets to keep the job. This reason can be anything from being the director’s cousine to knowing company secrets.

Try to find this reason and act accordingly.

Lying Negatives

These people live comfortable and affluent lives but never accept that in public. They keep talking about how horrible everything is and how much they have to struggle while others just sit back and enjoy life.

Avoid them. Nothing good can ever come off such people.

Depressed Negatives

They are depressed because they could not achieve. They could not achieve because somebody else pipped them at the rat race.

These people have learnt serious lessons of life and you can get some useful advice from them. But only if you are willing to hear them drone on for hours.

Insecure Negatives

As the name suggests, they hate people because they think everybody is a threat.

You cannot change people’s perceptions. If you are a threat, good for you.

Fault-seeking Negatives

It is their hobby, bread and butter to find faults in people. These guys will never change.

Everybody has some faults and you are no exception. Go chat with them if you want to find yours. It might actually help you improve yourself. But make sure you do not spend longer than necessary. Or the poison will get to you.”