Fundamental Attribution Error

Also known as correspondence bias or attribution effect, Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) is the tendency for people to under-emphasize situational explanations for an individual's observed behavior while over-emphasizing dispositional and personality-based explanations for their behavior. This effect has been described as "the tendency to believe that what people do reflects who they are". [wikipedia.org]

As tech leaders we negotiate all the time. We collaborate with other teams. We interact with business colleagues. And sometimes people can be frustrating. FAE suggests that we tend to overlook the context/situation when assessing people’s behavior. If someone ignores us and acts like a jerk, we might assume they are simply a self-absorbed jerk, when in fact there may have been something about the context of their world that led them to act that way (sick parent, financial issue, relationship issue, pressure from someone else in the company, ... and on, and on).

Next time you are frustrated by someone’s behavior, step back and ask yourself, “is there something about their context/situation that caused them to act that way?” More often than not, that is the real explanation.