Know-It-All

[oopsiesParticipant 30]

Hello,

Not related to women… but I get the feeling that I’m seen as a “know-it-all” at work. Except I don’t recall ever trying to be… or purposely condescending to people in that manner. I do think that a lot of people at work are stupid on certain topics but not because they can’t be smart. It’s just that they don’t put in any effort to look things up, think critically, or verify the facts of what they say before they say it. Is this considered as “know-it-all”ism? Or is that just “know-it-better”?

Could use some insight!

[HitmanParticipant]

Ahhhh. .same here man. .you’re probably surrounded by idiots try not to rub their faces in it too hard !

[PhantomParticipant 3328]

Sounds like shaming you with lame ass s~~~, instead of them getting on the ball & being more informed by putting effort into themselves.

[Anonymous 42]

I’ve been accused of the same thing, and being a condescending prick. I’m methodical on a project, I can see it completed in my head and how it’s to be done, while others are still scratching their heads. I think they misinterpret our machine like thinking for being cold and heartless. It’s like a switch in my head that goes from personal to business, I don’t have a rheostat to mix the two, it’s on or off, no in between. Maybe you and I are hardwired the same? It’s mostly women and the emotional man that have accused me of this, most guys think I’m great to work for, Like Mel Gibson (We were soldiers) my boots are first to arrive, and last to leave, and have prints in the mud and blood of my fellow workers, I’m not beneath the grunt work and getting dirty, I don’t have an ego and I stoop in places others would have a grunt do.
Money has no material meaning to me, it’s all about character, honor, and giving the shirt off your back… It’s mostly why I cringe at brown lipped politicians, FAKE. PLASTIC. PEOPLE.>>>> ALWAYS AND FOREVER KISSING ASS!

[oopsiesParticipant 30]

Yea… I don’t think I’m the kind that can check out to that extreme. 😉 I want the money which allows me to go do the things I enjoy but I can’t get it if I’m stuck at this level. I can’t get higher than this level if I check out completely. At some level, I need to interact with my coworkers whether I like it or not.and I’d like to keep out of trouble if anyone has some tips. Maybe in how I say things or something. I’m a bit like MG-Tower… I’m pretty direct. When it’s work and something doesn’t make sense, I’ll say it. No filters between my brain and tongue… maybe that’s why people feel that way? I have no idea…

[PhantomParticipant 3328]

When I feel like I am in that situation with others, I will purposely back off in my head to a neutral stand point, and close my mouth for a while. I will try to explain my meaning & drift here.

For example, I am known here in this rv park, to be able to fix computers. I had one guy talking with me, explaining what his laptop was doing, or lack of. He had already taken it to Best Buy & I started to speak up and cut him off at the pass, in the spirit of redeeming both of our time. Seeing that I already was pretty much convinced that I could fix it.

Needless to say, he seemed to mentally reel back a bit, and amped up the tone of his voice. Seeing that I knew he was already p~~~ed about how his whole experience with Best Buy left a sour taste in his mouth, he even became more emotionally charged. I knew he was not taking it out on me, but it was being directed at me all the same.

I decided to let him have the floor for a bit. After he finished and took a momentary pause, I switched tactics and just said almost in a nonchalant way, I could look at it right now, if you want to grab it out of your rv. He stood there kinda stunned, and said yeah, if you think you can do anything with it. Not even 10 minutes had passed & I had it up to his login screen.

Of course, I probably had at least 30 minutes prior to that, of the verbal stuff that went down. I have been in this dilemma more than once, here, with more than one guy. I have had them talk down or at me, especially if they think they know more, or if they have already had their pc in the “shop”. Unless it really gets out of hand, I just try to not sweat it.

On the plus side, because of being “diplomatic” (for a lack of better word here), it has been paid forward to me more than once here, when something on my rv breaks down, that is beyond my ability to fix. I don’t know, it has allowed me to have some cool things go down, even if it started off shaky.

oopsies wrote:

Not related to women

oopsies wrote:

maybe that’s why people feel that way? I have no idea…

I don’t know what kind of guys you are dealing with here, but they sound like a freaking headache to me.

As for your question,

oopsies wrote:

“know-it-all”

oopsies wrote:

Is this considered as “know-it-all”ism? Or is that just “know-it-better”?

Whether it’s one of those or all, I am more focused on why they are not looking at themselves:

“Not know-it-all”
“Know-it-not-all”ism
“Know-it-not-better”

Seems if they think that about you, they would know you are the go to guy to get the s~~~ done.

Without specifics, this is my best shot in the dark, as they say.

Hope it’s helpful on finding some common ground with your coworkers

[oopsiesParticipant 30]

Well, it’s a department comprised of roughly 50/50 split between men and women, I am pretty direct though. I will do my best to implement your suggestion to be a bit more “diplomatic” or tactical.

And yes, they are a headache with all the usual office “stuff”. I hate it so much.

[TaxGuyParticipant]

For what it’s worth, I come at it from an entirely different angle. I make sure to tell me boss, my peers, and my subordinates that it is a strength to the company that we all don’t think alike. I tell the people that work for me that I don’t want to work with people that think exactly the same way I do, I’ve got that covered.

The other thing I try to distinguish is between the need to be right vs. getting it right. Getting it right is the goal, not being right. It creates an environment where people feel comfortable to share, but ultimately we are getting it right.

That fact that I typically am right is just icing on the cake….Meaning, let everyone have their say and they will typically buy in to the solution because they feel like they helped get to the right answer. Even if you knew the solution all along.

Order the good wine

[Author]

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