Why Passive Aggression Pervades Corporate America
๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ด๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ. This is the main reason it's metastasizing inside your company:
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐๐. Power Laws state that 20% of your employees produce 80% of the results. A standard performance review has a boss or a colleague rating subordinates or peers on linear scales, say 1-10 on a number of criteria. Unfortunately linear ratings don't map to actual production.
And this is why the Passive Aggressive Employee wins.
Because Passive Aggressive Employees are not seen as directly confrontational, they are less likely to be punished by their peers and superiors for their personality in performance reviews.
All the while their productivity is inflated by linear performance ratings. Because by avoiding direct conflict and enemies, they'll likely get scored with a bunch of 8s and no zeros, thus will likely be seen as an 8/10 performer.
Compare this to the toe stepping Alpha Producer.