Inferring Motives

I saw this at http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Hacking-Your-Organization, around time 38:00.

When we observe the action of another...

  • we impute a motivation for that action
  • and react emotionally to that imputed motivation

This imputation process is the core of most conflict.

This whole presentation is a really useful examination of what 'company culture' is, and how interpersonal communication matters in organizations. Really good stuff.