We all have flaws. Most of us, anyway. What light would you prefer those flaws to be seen in?
You haven’t been able to accomplish some task by the deadline. There’s no excuse for it. Would you rather your boss thought you to be: incompetent or lazy?
You’ve just spouted a patently incorrect fact on national tv. Would you rather be considered: ignorant or dishonest?
For the ladies: You’ve lost your temper and said something nasty. Would you rather let people think you are: unable to deal with your pre-menstrual hormones or spiteful?
You’ve cut someone off in traffic. Do you want them to believe you’re: oblivious or inconsiderate?
Lazy. Between the two, laziness would imply that I’m just not using my competence. I can always take my competence to another company. True incompetence is a real crapshoot; at some companies it’s lethal while at others it’s the surest path to a management position.
Dishonest. Nobody respects an ignoramus, but at least some people enjoy a lying rogue.
n/a
Oblivious. Inconsideration on the road can be a plea for a bullet.
I’ll take inability over a lack of character every time.
People aren’t perfect, but they can learn or at least do better next time. On the other hand, you can’t make a liar into an honest person. Beyond that, I don’t think most managers want any more conflict than is necessary and don’t want to have to confront slackers.
On the third hand, there is such a thing as selective laziness. If the assignment in example 1 is something that is either a guaranteed waste of time or something that will get the organization in trouble for no benefit, then I might never get around to finishing it. You won’t get promoted up the ladder for this, but it’s a good way to gain tenure.
The obliviousness could easily be attributed to a bad or stressful day. Someone was running a radio PSA to that effect a couple months ago, the idea being to drive carefully because you don’t know what’s going through the minds of the other drivers around you.
The whole PMS excuse thing is one of my pet peeves. I hate it when anytime a women says something nasty, or anytime a woman is in a bad mood, it gets written off due to PMS. If I’m cranky about something, there’s probably a legitimate reason for my crankiness, but someone shrugging it off as “just PMS” seems to have the idea that they don’t have to take my gripes seriously because I have no control over my hormones.
For the other two … pretty much what OrcaChow said.
I’d rather be thought spiteful. I really, really, really get angry when people blame a woman’s perfectly valid emotion on PMS. I blame the media for perpetuating this stereotype. For the record, I’ve never had PMS, I’m just a bitch at times.