Early on in my career in the UK I worked with an icon in the IT industry. EVERYONE knew my boss. He was tall with salt and pepper hair and always wore a pinstriped suit with a red hankerchief in the pocket. It was fun to take him on press lunches; we'd go to Langans and he'd point out semi-famous people that I of course, fresh off the Silicon Valley boat, could not identify. He was full of industry stories, and I'd hear of staying at Larry's house and what a jerk Tom was.
One of the things I learnt from my boss is there is two sides to every story.
On one of our trips into London in a cab that smelt of stale cigarettes, I told him about an issue I was having with one of my peers. For months I had been at logger heads with this idiot. He sent me rude emails. He didn't like any of my ideas, and had actually red-lined a brochure I had spent months producing. Most of us would take a few minutes in the coffee area to chat and catch up -- but this colleague would rarely make an appearance. When he did, he'd make his coffee and leave, only muttering a quick hello.
I thought I was being cool mentioning this to my boss. But he just locked my eyes and explained that this colleague's nine-year-old son had a life-threatening disease. Also that his wife was had virtually left him.
Feeling hot, I thought back to the emails ... were they really rude? Were they perhaps just quickly constructed? Did he not feel like chit chat because he had more pressing issues? Did he red-line my work because it really sucked?
Now I always try to see both sides.
Have you ever got the wrong end of the stick?
Photo credit: gi
