Hidden agendas?  I don’t think so.

Have you ever thought that someone you worked with had a hidden agenda, or was deliberately setting out to derail a project, or be generally disruptive?

Firstly, who has the time or energy for such things!

And secondly, I simply don’t believe that people wake up in the morning and say to themselves “today I’m going to have a hidden agenda, derail some projects, upset a few people and see if I can be as generally inefficient as possible.”

I frequently ask people this very question in workshops. “Who here says to themselves I’m going to be disruptive at work today?”  And, no one ever genuinely answers yes. They do, however, say that they believe others do. 

I just don’t buy it.

Although, years ago I was working with a government department and I asked a group this same question, and to my astonishment one participant answered, “Yes. There’s someone I don’t like in the office, so in the morning I think about ways I can make their lives difficult throughout the day.” Do you believe that?

Despite this and for the record I still maintain that ALL of us come to work to do the best we can, with the resources we have available and occasionally we accidentally upset people. 

I just don’t buy that it’s ever intentional!