Opportunistic behavior of children and businessmen, or How to sell an elephant

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

The Bolsheviks fought against the opportunists, it was one of their favorite pastimes. Those who happened to study the history of the CPSU clearly understood that they, and also the Trotskyists, deviationists and revisionists, are not good people, but they did not always know why exactly. However, teachers usually did not require this.

So what is opportunistic behavior and what is its pernicious nature? It's time to figure it out, and at the same time determine how to deal with it.

Starting from kindergarten, not to mention school years, everyone becomes an opportunist to one degree or another. This is manifested in the fact that he tries to portray any situation in which his role is unsightly in the most favorable light for himself. For example, a first-grader boy who had a fight with a fellow student at recess explains his behavior as follows: “He started first, and I just hit back!” At the same time, the bully prudently keeps silent about the previous events and the initial circumstances of the conflict, when he teased his future victim or offendedher differently, provoking and bullying.

In other words, opportunistic behavior is the one-sided or incomplete provision of information for a beneficial purpose. Adults do this much more often than children, sometimes showing miracles of resourcefulness, but the general principle remains the same, kindergarten. It is unfortunate, but it is almost impossible to do without this technique.

Most often, the opportunistic strategy manifests itself in the behavior of business people. Selling a product is accompanied by focusing the attention of buyers on its advantages and merits. Without this, it is impossible, but, in essence, this is one-sided information. The most sophisticated businessmen even create an appearance of objectivity, pointing out some shortcomings, however, immediately explaining how they can be leveled during operation.

The seller's opportunistic behavior became the subject of a funny story about a man who bought an elephant. After listening to eulogies about what a cheerful animal it is, how it entertains children by blowing water jets with its trunk, and all that. Having acquired it, the new owner realized with horror all the devastating consequences of his act. The clumsy and huge elephant trampled everything, ruined the house, crushed the car … Upset, the man came with a complaint to the seller and heard advice: “It is difficult to sell an elephant with such a mood as you have.”

But opportunistic behavior is not limited to selling, there are many uses for it in business. Distort objectiverealities in a favorable direction for both employers and hired specialists. The former focus on the benefits of employment in their company, while the latter seek to impress as very valuable personnel and super-skilled specialists. Both those and others most often exaggerate somewhat.

In the process of work, opportunism is shown by employees whose form of payment does not stimulate initiatives. The main principle of those who "sit on a bare salary" is to create the effect of vigorous activity, spending a minimum of effort on it. By flaunting the completed task, such a “hard worker” distracts the attention of the authorities from the fact that he is idle most of the working time.

The best way to encourage an employee to work effectively is to properly material and moral incentives for his activities, creating interest in the end result and joining him. This is exactly what the founders of the future industrial and financial giants did, making workers, engineers, clerks shareholders.

In addition, the costs of opportunistic behavior have painful consequences for the lazy people themselves. When their uselessness becomes apparent, they join the army of the unemployed.