VAGUE BUT ANNOYING

“YEAH, BUT . . .

THE PERSON I’M THINKING OF doesn’t do blatantly unacceptable things—nothing to write home about—just subtle stuff that’s starting to drive me crazy.”

The Danger Point

If people simply bother you at some abstract level, maybe what they’re doing isn’t worthy of a conversation. Perhaps the problem is not their behavior but your tolerance. For example, an executive laments, “My employees really disappoint me. Just look at the length of their hair.” It turns out that the employees in question have no contact with anyone besides one another. Their hair length has nothing to do with job performance. The boss really has no reason to say anything.

However, when actions are both subtle and unacceptable, then you have ...

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