Argyris and Schons Theories of Action - Assignment Example

Top performers were given cash incentives and were automatically in the running for any supervisory post that would be made available. This resulted in a hyper-competitive environment where it was hard to make true friends because everyone was so focused on the work. One major conflict that stood out for me was when I received a citation from top management for closing the most number of cases during the 1st quarter of the year. My manager advised me that they were planning on making me the new supervisor for a new division they were establishing, largely in part to my consistent performance.

This development resulted in a completely unexplainable weirdness between myself and my teammates. I knew that they were vying for the same post, but I was aghast that some seemed extremely bitter. I could not comprehend why they won't just be happy for me. We were all putting in the same hours, and they knew that I was really putting a lot into my work. They were working their shifts and meeting their targets, but they weren't willing to make that extra push needed to make you the best. If they met the goal of twenty cases a day, I would strive for thirty.

That's the attitude I brought, and at the time I could not understand why they took it against me. And to think these are the people I had dubbed "my friends from work", the people you have lunch with and share a drink with after hours. Looking back, Looking back, it seems that my former peers had a convoluted sense of entitlement going on for them. Most of them had been in the business far longer than I had, and some were highly regarded financial professionals pirated from other banks. As I reflect on what had happened, it was apparent that their unstated feeling of superiority against me was emanating from the fact that they considered themselves senior to me.

In terms of office dynamics, my promotion ahead of them terribly undermined the quality of their output and did not bode too well for their ego. To have a young upstart such as myself grab the position that they were all angling for probably was too much for them to handle, and in turn, they took it out on me. Some even stopped talking to me altogether, which I thought was completely unprofessional. Looking back at our reading, I would have taken more time to consider the governing variables which prevailed at my office at the time.

Putting seniority, ego, and career advancement into consideration, everyone was content and "happy". These variables were within acceptable bounds as their egos were not being disparaged. The crucial action that triggered the imbalance was my promotion. And in order to retain some sort of face-saving control within their "realm", their action strategy was to give me the cold shoulder and make my office life as uncomfortable as it could possibly be. Leveraging off my experience, I learned that in an office setting you simply can't expect people to be happy for you when you get promoted ahead of them.

They all have their own hopes, dreams, and motivations, and you cannot expect them to be happy when you achieve something that they had also set their eyes on. Taking these into consideration, a good action strategy would be first to keep office relationships completely professional, with thorough boundaries set.