Can You Read Minds?

Think about everyone you know or have ever known. Think about your parents, your siblings, your significant others, your friends and your co-workers. Heck even think about your pets.

Now ask yourself, can any of these creatures read your mind? And, can you read theirs?

The answer is unequivocally, no.

Why? Because no one can. It's scientifically impossible to have the thoughts of one person's brain inside the brain of another person.

Still, this does not hamper the belief among many people that it's true.  Putting aside surveys that support this, the evidence is in our vernacular.
"I know what you're thinking..."
"He thinks I'm an idiot. I could tell by the way he was looking at me."
"My cat thinks I'm funny."

"If you could read my mind love, what a tale my thoughts would tell."

Some of this vernacular is even specific to the workplace:
"I don't need to meet with my employees. They know what I think of their performance."
"I want that person fired. They have an attitude problem."
"I think my boss hates me."

All of which make me cringe.

I cringe because I know these are all mind reads with no basis in fact. A more common word for them is assumptions. And in each case assumptions that have a greater chance of causing more harm than good.

One of the most important things that I learned in my early HR career was the difference between attitude and behavior.  And the only thing that you KNOW to be true of an employee is from their behavior. No one has any idea what another person is thinking or what their attitude is. The most productive employee in the history of your organization could hate you. Could you tell from their productivity? Probably not. Does it matter? Absolutely not. They're getting paid to behave in a certain manner that accomplishes a work goal. Beyond that, are you expecting to control their thoughts too?

I think about this frequently due to our society's willingness to be more transparent through social media outlets. In turn, there's a greater desire by employers to take a peak to see what their employees are really like. The first mistake is that it provides employers with information about employees that has nothing to do with the employee's role at work. The second is it leads to bigger assumptions, particularly through photographs: the cigarette in their hand, is it pot? The cocktail glass, is it filled with vodka or water?  The person in the hospital bed is sick, is it something communicable? Frank Roche's KnowHR Blog put it bluntly "Facebook Is None Of HR's Business." And it is simply not.

What it is is simply communication. If you don't communicate verbally or in writing, employees have no idea how well they are performing. No one has an attitude problem, only behavioral; and if you can't communicate that before wanting to fire someone, then the behavior problem is you. And lastly your boss probably does hate you. But what is your boss doing that makes you think that? If you can't communicate evidence than it's just an assumption.  They're all assumptions. And they do nothing toward furthering the organization's goals or bettering someone's acumen.

A wise man a long time ago on a classic sitcom said, "when you assume, you make an ASS out of yoU and ME."  Great advice that has stuck with me through my career. The wise man was Tony Randall and the show was "The Odd Couple."  The below clip is a little long.  But be patient and don't make any assumptions until it's finished.  I think it's comic genius. Maybe you will too.