The Behaviour Effect

Two men at a seminar.  One returns to his seat to find the other man sitting there. They insult each other. Throw coffee and water over each other. Then resort to pushing and punching.   Police called.  Men arrested.  Courtroom battle ensues.

This is a true story in the news today!

Witnesses claim that it was the original owner of the seat that was the aggressor in terms of the way he spoke to the other man.  Yet, noone has mentioned that the act of taking someone else’s seat is in itself an act of aggression.  Obviously there is no excuse for either verbal or physical abuse but how can such a seemingly simply act of taking a seat, when there are 100’s free, cause such uproar?  Surely, he should just have taken another seat if his was now occupied?  Why did he react with such anger? There may be other factors at play, perhaps the man who had his seat stolen was irritable for others reasons, perhaps his emotions were already pricked.  Yet it was the act of his seat being taken that made him explode.

As humans, we can be very protective of our territory.  Even when we ‘hot desk’ in the workplace, people tend to sit down at the same place every day.  Do you hot desk? Ever came into work and there was someone sitting in your usual spot?  How did you feel?

What does this mean for workplace dynamics?  How can we ensure people do not feel usurped?