***Denying Workplace Conflict

Did you ever read the warning signs of an impending work disaster, okay maybe, disaster is too strong a word, a work difficulty. Then someone shrugs, pats you on the back and tells you to stop catastrophizing?

And when what you prophesized comes to pass, when the project failed or the customer went with the competition and you are about to say “I TOLD YOU!!” there is another shrug and a comment about not dwelling in the past.

Deniers are tough characters to work with. They pretend that problems and uncomfortable situations don’t exist. They ignore the fact that work is not getting done and refuse to heed warning signs. They mostly keep poor quality workers in their positions, hating to upset the status quo. Deniers are the ones who you would see rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic saying “what iceberg?”

Fearful of looking at themselves too closely deniers have a critical need for everything to look good on the outside, and so long as others cannot see the dirty laundry, well…it is just not there.

Hey look, we can’t spend all of our time staring into the face of the dragons; we really do need some down time from the stress and conflict that is inevitably part of the daily grind at work. Sometimes we need to put traumatic situations away until we can handle their full impact. Yet, totally denying that something tough has, is, or will happen; that’s just bad judgment.

We can see the legacy of living in a denier family. Deniers at work become especially dangerous when they hold up much needed innovation. Deniers do this because they feel threatened by information that could make them look at the world through new lenses. Global warming has been recognized for decades, yet there have always been scientists and government officials who argue there is no such thing. As a result, we are playing a difficult game of catch-up, and our very existence is at stake.