Leadership and Self Deception - Arbinger Institute (4 of 5 Enlightened Coporate Executives)

A few weeks ago at lunch, some of my co-workers began talking about the Arbinger Institute. It is a consulting group based on the idea of combating self-deception, loosely related to Brigham Young University. Obviously, because it's never fun to be left out of a discussion, I decided to do some research.

The idea of self-deception is outlined through a conversation between a small group of corporate executives. A new manager Tom, has been recently hired by the company Zagrem. A month into his employment he is called in to speak with his boss Bud. During their conversation they are joined two other executives who provide personal stories and insight.

The idea of the box is defined as a condition in which a person's distorted perception of the world justifies their own bad behavior. One enters the box by rejecting the impulse to help someone else in need. When that happens, the person tends to see himself as a better person while their opinion of the other is lowered. If we deny these impulses consistently, we develop a permanent box, or permanent state of self deception. Collusion is defined by the event in which two self-deceived people mutually infect each other with their negative behavior.

The way out of the box is to do everything we can to follow the positive impulses when they come, while attempting to see others as people and not as objects to manipulate.

Clearly, you can see some ties between this corporate philosophy and the Gospel of Christ and the Atonement. It is no wonder that there are ties between the Arbinger Institute and BYU. I liked the book for its corporate application of the gospel. The presentation I thought was however lacking. It should have either remained superficial and short, or been long and deep. I found myself often saying, "Yes, I get it already. I'm in the box. Tell me how to get out."