Maybe you're used to doing work in a creative, peaceful space, where you can daydream for hours on end until something interesting and useful finally emerges. Right. The reality is that you're lined up in a row of "creatives" where the atmosphere is somewhere between a meat grinder and a pressure cooker. The real problem isn't the place, of course. It's the people.
Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon, authors of I Hate People!, have uncovered a collection of universal archetypes, dubbed "The Ten Least Wanted," and have graciously let us reproduce them for you here. The 3 most insidious for a design office? Easy: FLIMFLAM, SWITCHBLADE, and SPREADSHEET. See how many of these others you recognize:
1. STOP SIGN
"The world is flat."
"I think you've had enough fun."
"You'll put an eye out with that thing."
2. FLIMFLAM
"Could you work on this project?"
"It's a really small, quick thing."
"No big deal."
3.BULLDOZER
"What the hell's wrong with you?!"
"You're an idiot."
"You're lucky I don't fire you."
4. SMILEY FACE
"Would you like a donut?"
"Were you invited to the company picnic?"
"How was your performance review?"
5. LIAR LIAR
"I never got that email."
"My hard drive crashed."
"You didn't get my voice mail?"
6. SWITCHBLADE
"Hey, that's a great idea! Glad I thought of it!"
"I'll smooth it out with the boss."
"You just go home—everything will be alright in the morning."
7. MINUTE MAN
"I just have one more question..."
"This will only take a second."
"We're almost done."
8. KNOW-IT-NONE
"I saw it on TV."
"I saw it on the internet."
"I saw it on Wikipedia."
9. SPREADSHEET
"That's not in the budget."
"But you didn't do a focus group."
"Your dreams conflict with the data."
10.SHEEPLE
"I'm not qualified to make decisions."
"I only perform approved work tasks."
"I love meetings!"
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