ANN ARBOR–Following Ruination’s 2-3 loss Monday to the Black Bears, GM Mark Woods scheduled a forthcoming seminar on Emotional Intelligence to help the team learn to read each other’s feelings and respond positively and productively. “The hope is to create an environment that co-workers can feel appreciated and validated,” said Woods.
Not realizing that emotions are not necessarily enduring states and that the thoughts of others are essentially unknowable– perhaps even to the individual himself– has not deterred Woods or the host of other CEOs and managers who seem to think that getting in touch with your emotions somehow equates to improved production at work.
“The rules for work are changing,” said author Daniel Goleman, psychologist and noted expert on Emotional Intelligence. “We’re being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how smart we are, but by how we handle ourselves and each other.”
“Once we can identify and control our emotions, we’ll start scoring more goals, and winning more games,” reasoned Woods. “At the very least, we’ll be a much closer-knit team, and in this day and age, that means a lot.”
Though it is not certain how correctly identifying someone’s emotions equates to increased skill or production, it has nevertheless not stopped Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence (1995, Bantam Books) from spending more than a year and a half on The New York Times Best Seller list, and sparking an entire (and entirely inexplicable) industry. Said Woods: “Hey, I had to listen to this touchy feely crap at work, so they are going to have to now, too!”
Added Woods: “You gonna cry about it?”