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I'm not a psychologists (or anything related), but it seems to me that the article is based on flawed reasoning. First it presents studies that demonstrate how
by CodeMage 16y ago
I'm not a psychologists (or anything related), but it seems to me that the article is based on flawed reasoning. First it presents studies that demonstrate how "people give authority to people that they genuinely like", then they wonder why "when you give people power, they basically start acting like fools."
The subtle flaw here is the assumption is that people are given power in the same democratic way as in those studies.
When we have any power to hand over directly -- and the inclination to hand it over -- we will tend to hand it over to someone we like, true. But people like the ex-CEO of Hewlett Packard didn't rise to power just because someone said "Oh, here's a likable fellow, give him more power."
- drblast 16y agoExactly; people in power, especially in large organizations, are very nearly a self-selecting group. In the military, for example, to make it to the upper levels, you have to make a conscious choice not to retire after 20 years and instead continue to play the game. The type of person who continues to work in those circumstances are the ones who do it to gain power or prestige. That's an obvious choice in the military, but it exists in large organizations everywhere; do I work longer hours and play the office politics so I can rise to the top, or do I go home at 5?