Executives who see the world in stark contrasts miss the nuances of situations and are less able to compromise to meet common interests.
Joan, a senior executive, wasn’t the easiest person to deal with. Although she had many excellent qualities - she was creative, had a great capacity for work and was extremely knowledgeable about the industry - she also had the tendency to engage in drama and in doing so rapidly got on people’s nerves. Joan was rigid in her outlook, had angry outbursts, was manipulative and constantly criticised everything. She seemed to always be involved in some kind of vendetta, forcing people to choose sides. In Joan’s world there was no such thing as a middle ground, her thinking was exclusively black and white.
