offended

“I’m offended” It’s the new business power play, and it’s brilliant.

It is the perfect vehicle for less experienced “middle management” to discredit. Couple that with an environment where anything said could, at any moment, be interpreted as “offending”, and you have a winning combination.

The brilliance of the “I’m offended” statement is that it’s subjective. It changes the conversation from…let’s say…the expressions of one’s experience, OR, the sequencing of a presentation or idea, or the attendance record at bovine and equine events ;)…to “he/she is attacking me”.

And in one fell swoop, the attention is taken off all the ideas or experience, and put squarely on eye contact, body language and every word spoken gets parsed for its meaning, including "good morning".

What’s fascinating about this dynamic is it opens the door for the accuser to be abusive.

After all, he/she is “the victim” and as such is given credibility and projected experience.

Walt Whitman said 'Be curious, not judgmental'. If they were curious, they would have asked about my experience and what I can offer. I am no stranger to being underestimated. It seems every few years I come across an individual or group that lack curiosity and are blindly judgmental. Karma is a flicked friend.

I will cling to my old friend curiosity, she has served me well and rarely lets me down.