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You know the expression "if you meet jerks all day then you're the jerk?" That's what would go through my mind if someone complained about their previous team members in a job interview.



This rule assumes that the most popular behavior is not being a jerk. What if you're the only black in a city full of racists whites? Are you a jerk because other people treat you badly? A less extreme example - what if you're the only person who doesn't easily understand the complex social structures that exist in workplaces? People will treat you badly because you were too nice to the low-ranking guy and not sucking-up enough to the high-ranking guy. That doesn't mean you're a jerk either.


That assumption depends on how many teams the person has been in. When I was in Uni we literally had just one project in 5 years where we were working in a team with more than two people.


This is why I stopped phrasing things in the way I did in that interview.

EDIT: realized my phrasing wasn't great


Well by that logic ... if you meet short people all day, then you're short?


Reasonable people end up acting like jerks toward real jerks because they have no reason to be kind. Therefore if you notice that everyone is being a jerk to you, it's likely because you're giving them a reason to be.

Tall people don't go around being short around short people, namely because they can't.




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