Ken,
I, like you, have had the same "flaw" all my life....low tolerance for stupidity. However, the one thing I do realize is the fact that everyone is entitled to their opinion, at least in the USA.
I also realize that if you insult people, which immediately pisses them off and puts them on the defensive, a lot of them will tune you out...not taking the time to go any further and really "listen" to what you are trying to convey. The end result in a scenario such as this is a no-win situation for all involved. You lose credibility and get labeled as a basher and the others, because they resent your ass, don't want to listen under any circumstance....even if you are or were right all along! Further, you even may cause some to mentally become further entrenched in their "wrong" position just to prove you wrong.....and if they are, indeed, wrong they will be worse off for not having listened. By then, "I told you so's" don't really matter because to me that is a hollow victory.
Being in management in my past life, I made it a practice to treat new people with respect, knowing that they couldn't possibly know what I knew......after all, many had just started working there and, in many cases, right out of college. I always encouraged opinions that may differ from the "company" line and emphatically told them that no question was stupid, knowing that if someone felt the need to ask a question they must not feel they knew the answer or they wouldn't have felt compelled to ask the question in the first place. Bottom line....I always made myself very approachable, never making anyone feel dumb even I knew I could at the drop of a hat. It was very satisfying to have many tell me years later that they learned more from me than anyone they ever worked for.
You just can't "educate" people by slapping them in the face first and telling them the "facts" later, because many will not listen during the "later".
What's the saying? "honey attracts far more flies than vinegar" or something like that.
Dave
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