Ego: The Cause Of Business Dysfunction

For years I've worked at various companies and within organizations that employ people. While most companies claim to be "like a family," they fail to acknowledge (or admit) that they are more or less like dysfunctional families. Most employees become aware of this by the time their probation ends.

After experiencing, observing, and studying this dysfunction I've pinpointed what I believe is the root cause: Ego.

No, it's not incompetency; though incompetency can be a problem - especially in management. Ego is the larger and more insidious problem - incompetency is just a symptom of it.

Because so many people come into the workplace with hidden agendas, ulterior motives, and perhaps most abundantly, the need for validation, ego influences the self-serving behaviors that people unconsciously make daily.


What is ego? A person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance.

If you think you, or what you do, is more important than others and what they do; or that you know more (i.e., know best); or if you feel inferior and secretly envy those who have so-called "status" within your company, you are vulnerable to ego trips.

The good news is that these don't have to be one-way trips.

You don't need to be a monk to understand the significance of being ego-less.  In business and in life you will find that when it's less about your (important) self, and more about your role and contributions (which are most important), you diminish dysfunction at its core and are able to focus on the work that needs to be done, which after all, is what you were hired to do in the first place.