50 Forms of Dysfunctional Behavior in the Workplace

1. Declaring war on a person or department..


2. Withdrawing assistance.


3. Hiding resources or information.


4. Frequent and senseless reorganizations.


5. Pouting.


6. Focusing on turf instead of the greater good.


7. Taking undue credit.


8. Misrepresenting another's position.


9. Staying in the job when it is time to leave.


10. Seeking undeserved promotions.


11. Being careless about quality.


12. Backbiting.


13. Gossiping.


14. Letting personal problems overwhelm effectiveness.


15. Treating everyone in exactly the same manner.


16. Engaging in bigoted behavior.


17. Using hiring quotas.


18. Refusing to establish procedures.


19. Being a slave to procedures.


20. Failing to take initiative.


21. Listening only to what is said and not to what is meant.


22. Failing to maintain confidentiality.


23. Bullying.


24. Pretending to work.


25. Disloyalty.


26. Confusing what is good for you with what is good for the organization.


27. Filtering bad news.


28. Squandering time.


29. Mistaking abusive behavior for toughness.


30. Constantly giving alibis.


31. Failing to confront.


32. Excessive fear of change.


33. Perfectionism.


34. Smugness.


35. Hubris.


36. Shooting the messenger.


37. Excessive upward delegation.


38. Rewarding "face time" over actual performance.


39. Undue emphasis on speed.


40. Lack of intellectual diversity.


41. Emphasizing equal results instead of equal opportunity.


42. Overpromising and underperforming.


43. Managing to the dysfunctional.


44. Paralysis by analysis.


45. Management by best seller.


46. Unfriendliness.


47. Reinventing the wheel.


48. Undue emphasis on results.


49. Inaccessibility.


50. Ascribing bad motives.