20160427

I know all about your annoying colleague


"He drives me crazy!" 
Johnny flopped down on the armchair next to Sondra.
"We agree on what needs to be done, he gets the action point - we even add the action point to the minutes of meeting for goodness sake - and then still, he stands there looking all surprised when I ask him about it. Like; Oh, was I supposed to do that?"
Sondra put down her phone. The time for checking her private mail over a cup of coffee was apparently over. After listening a few more seconds to Johnny’s ranting she interrupted: 
"That book you borrowed from me. Did you bring it today?" 
He looked up, bewildered. 
"What? What book? What has that got to do with anything?"
"You borrowed it from me last week and you said you would give it back today, since I need it for the lecture tomorrow."
"Really? Was that tomorrow? I didn't know it was tomorrow." 
She started humming.  
"What? Why are you humming? You can't even keep a tune!" 
She stood up, getting ready to leave. 
"I hum it well enough for you to hear what song it is, right?"
"Well, yes, but..."
"Which one is it?"
"A Michael Jackson song." 
She rolled her eyes. 
"Which one?!”
"Well, the one... what’s its name... Man in the mirror."
She smiled triumphantly and clapped her hands so loud he jumped. "Exactly!"

As the saying goes:  
‘You see the mote in your brother’s eye, but you do not see the beam in your own’

Picture: The Parable of the Mote and the Beam by Domenico Fetti 

You may not like to hear it, but often what annoys you in others (and we all know this is not only applicable to colleagues but also to partners and - definitely - our kids…) are things you don’t like about yourself.

Not convinced? 
Take 5 min and check out this video with Marshall Smith...