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Employees ‘playing possum’ – A HR message
Highlights
What a strange coincidence or similarity between the corporate people and some animals in nature, especially the opossum. Both the opossum and the people in most corporate are extremely good at ‘playing possum’. They do so for the purpose of ‘self defense’ or to escape.
What a strange coincidence or similarity between the corporate people and some animals in nature, especially the opossum. Both the opossum and the people in most corporate are extremely good at ‘playing possum’. They do so for the purpose of ‘self defense’ or to escape.
Opossum is a marsupial mammal, nomadic, solitary animal, resembles slightly like a rat. The opossum when encounter a predator and finds no way to escape, immediately fake death. They suddenly fall down as dead by keeping the eyes and mouth open.
They also known to produce a foul smelling substance and that would further prove them to be ‘really dead’ to their predator. The predators of the opossum like cats and dogs generally avoid eating dead and foul smelling animals, may be due to the fear of infection or some health risk. Once the threat is gone, the opossum will back from the feign state and will moves to a safer place. ‘Playing possum’ by people in corporate is very common.
Especially during appraisal period, people play innocence and remain ‘expressionless’. Most bosses in the corporate will to disturb the people who remain expressionless or does not engage in argument or defending the case. Only when the subordinates attempts either to flee or to defend, the ego of the boss kindles them to go after such subordinates.
When the subordinates prostrate and submit before the boss as ‘weak and dead’, the ego of the bosses will never permits them to attack such people. Knowing this corporate equation fully well, many people during ‘in camera’ appraisal time pretend weak and defenseless to the bosses. They simply prove the boss ‘the most powerful’.
The people who know to ‘play possum’ are the one easily reap success than those who adopt the strategy of either ‘flee’ or ‘fend’. Only due to the ego of the bosses, people try to become an ‘opossum’ in corporate. The single man owned corporate generally describes the subordinates as ‘arrogant’ if they attempt to defend their views to their bosses. If they ever resort to ‘flee’ from the scene, it is perceived that they have done the mistake and that is why they try to escape.
If they feign ‘death or lifeless state’ can earn the title of very obedient, sincere and have great respect to the boss and the corporate institution. The people, especially the subordinates who ‘play possum’ are bad or the boss who enjoys and encourages such working style of the people is bad, only the corporate leadership can answer. Nature has some best examples for the corporate to learn. It is for the corporate, to learn.
By: Dr S Ranganathan,
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