http://blog.steverrobbins.com/bizblog/is-being-nice-worthwhile-118 Exploring business and its impact on life with Stever Robbins Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:36:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://blog.steverrobbins.com/bizblog/is-being-nice-worthwhile-118#comment-1320 sacha Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:28:30 +0000 http://blog.steverrobbins.com/bizblog/is-being-nice-worthwhile-118#comment-1320 In my ( very) limited experience, given the opportunity, lots of people will " screw" you. It is a sort of childish reaction- they see the opportunity giving them an advantage and they go for it. Had they the time to reflect upon their action they might not have taken that route- but it is hard to project consequences in the future when you're trying hard to grab an opportunity in the present. You have to be a short time frame trader to be able to do that...lol Now there are two corollaries to this- and in my view, that's when it becomes interesting. When you know that you're able to screw your neighbour ( friend, family, whoever), you tend each time to become a tad more paranoid. The fact that you can't be trusted turns into the fact that you can't trust others- it's a very common thing to reject and or project responsabilities in order NOT to feel guilty ( a very common thing among divorcees, especially male adulterers, but I disgress). The result is that, although the not-very-nice guy seems to be happy and going on minding his/her own business, something in the back of his/her brain leaves a formidable inprint that changes his/her perspective of life that forces him/ her to take some distance from some form of empathy. It usually takes some kind of trauma or shock to modify this, but most of the time, it simply gets lonely at the top. And the image of the self needs constant reassurance. Very tiring too. Now the second corollarie is kind of interesting too. If you think about it, most people, most of the time, are honest. If it weren't so, you'd have as many cops as you have people- if not more as corrupt cops exist. But in your every day life, protecting yourself at every minute of your days and nights is usually not your top priority.So it seems that although temptations are lodged everywhere and opportunities are endless, the majority of us will ignore them. This is a choice we actually make...Despite wondering if being on the evil side hasn't better pay-offs. As for me, I like to sleep at night...And look at myself in the mirror...And I'm glad I'm not the only one... In my ( very) limited experience, given the opportunity, lots of people will ” screw” you. It is a sort of childish reaction- they see the opportunity giving them an advantage and they go for it. Had they the time to reflect upon their action they might not have taken that route- but it is hard to project consequences in the future when you’re trying hard to grab an opportunity in the present. You have to be a short time frame trader to be able to do that…lol
Now there are two corollaries to this- and in my view, that’s when it becomes interesting. When you know that you’re able to screw your neighbour ( friend, family, whoever), you tend each time to become a tad more paranoid. The fact that you can’t be trusted turns into the fact that you can’t trust others- it’s a very common thing to reject and or project responsabilities in order NOT to feel guilty ( a very common thing among divorcees, especially male adulterers, but I disgress). The result is that, although the not-very-nice guy seems to be happy and going on minding his/her own business, something in the back of his/her brain leaves a formidable inprint that changes his/her perspective of life that forces him/ her to take some distance from some form of empathy. It usually takes some kind of trauma or shock to modify this, but most of the time, it simply gets lonely at the top. And the image of the self needs constant reassurance. Very tiring too.
Now the second corollarie is kind of interesting too. If you think about it, most people, most of the time, are honest. If it weren’t so, you’d have as many cops as you have people- if not more as corrupt cops exist. But in your every day life, protecting yourself at every minute of your days and nights is usually not your top priority.So it seems that although temptations are lodged everywhere and opportunities are endless, the majority of us will ignore them. This is a choice we actually make…Despite wondering if being on the evil side hasn’t better pay-offs. As for me, I like to sleep at night…And look at myself in the mirror…And I’m glad I’m not the only one…

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