Possibly the greatest advantage of running your own shop is you get to choose who you work with. You’re never in a situation where you might lose your job if you say the wrong thing, hold the wrong opinion, or belong to the wrong group too publicly. You’re the one that does the hiring and firing, and the worst that can happen is you have to fire someone else.

Working for someone else is entirely different. Unless you’re very lucky, you’re going to be working people that don’t have the same opinions, beliefs, or backgrounds as you. They may violently disagree about anything from American Idol to the afterlife to the local mayor to the proper way to blow your nose. At any time, what you thought was an innocent conversation can wander into a minefield of undiscovered disagreement, risking explosions that can destroy team unity and leave long-festering wounds.

How do you avoid tripping over someone else’s personal issues? I have a few suggestions that can help you stay away from invisible hot buttons and prevent a total workplace meltdown:

• Stick to Business: Talk about the work, never your private life, except in the vaguest way. Discussing what you do outside of work leads to talking about activities that others may find problematic, not to mention your membership in clubs, religions, political parties and other areas of conflict.
• Dance Like the Wind: When a coworker stumbles into a controversial topic, remain as vague and noncommittal as possible. Answer everything with content-free affirmations like “that’s interesting” and “I guess you could say that.” If your fellow employee possesses more awareness than a houseplant, they’ll take the hint.
• Play the Opinion Card: If you’re cornered, and have to make a concrete statement you know someone else is opposed to, follow with “but that’s just my opinion.” It gives the other person permission to pretend you don’t really believe that, and do not require them to hate you.
• No Validation: If you simply cannot get through life without having those around you validate your personal beliefs, then an office environment is not for you. Either find some company that only hires people that think the same way you do, or go back to being your own boss.

There are a lot of benefits to working with other people: friendship, support, the ability to tackle larger projects, a steady paycheck. Those benefits come with a price, and part of that price is leaving your ego and your personal issues at the door. If you can do that, and you can avoid trouble with coworkers that can’t, you can survive and flourish as part of a team.

Until the next
Cube 2.0,
Josh

Josh Jeffryes | Graphic Designer | Technologist | Organizer, St. Louis Design Meetup
Jeffryes Design | On Design | St. Louis Design Meetup | BoDo Author | Cube 2.0