Life Is Short. Don’t Be a Logic Bully.

“…a logic bully is someone who intimidates others with endless rational arguments.” — Adam Grant

A few weeks ago, I was driving in my pick-up listening to one of my favorite podcasts — WorkLife with Adam Grant. The episode I was listening to was appropriately titled, “When Strengths Become Weaknesses” (season 2, episode 8). As I was soaking in all the wonderful information coming through my radio speakers, I found myself turning up the volume when I heard Dr. Grant say the following:

“…a few years ago, I had a student who called me for some career advice, and I gave her a bunch of advice, and at the end of the conversation she said, ‘You’re a logic bully.’…I was like, ‘What does that mean?’ And she said, ‘Well, you just overwhelmed me with rational arguments, and I don’t agree with them, but I can’t fight back.’ And I said, ‘Good! That’s my job right?’ And she said, ‘Well, no, because I actually want to own my decision.’ And I realized that I had sort of failed in at least my vision of my role as a mentor or an advisor. Right? Which is: I wanted to help her see how I would think through a situation, but not tell her what I thought the right answer is.” [Read the full transcript]

In case you don’t already know, Dr. Grant is an organizational psychologist and…