You guys will notice that I love to read a lot of children's books, as I will reference them regularly :) One of my favorite books as a child was Chicken Little. For those of you who aren't familiar, Chicken Little is obviously a chicken who was enjoying her lunch one day when an acorn falls and hits her on the head. As a result, she believes the sky is falling and goes on to tell the King and meets many others in her journey and spreads the news to them as well. Finally, they come across a Fox who offers to help Chicken Little and her newfound friends. (Sidebar: When was the last time a fox was ever helpful in a children's story?) Instead the Fox leads them into his foxhole and attempts to eat them. Of course there's a happy ending and Chicken Little and friends were saved by the King's hunting dogs. But a story ain't a story until you get to the moral.
The moral is usually interpreted as "don't believe everything you hear". See, Chicken Little jumped to a conclusion, spread it like it was gospel, and got everybody worked up into a frenzy. The Fox uses the vulnerability and panic to manipulate the crowd. While every workplace may not have a Fox nearby, they most certainly have a Chicken Little.
In my time in HR, I've dealt with several Chicken Little's. They are the one's who are so easily swayed and influenced. If they hear something from somebody else, their mood and decisions are controlled by that piece of information. Oftentimes, it's incorrect information and they are stuck beating themselves up for believing (again).
I feel sorry for these types of people but I always remember Chicken Little's umbrella. You see, after the King heard about the adventure with the Fox, he gifted Chicken Little an umbrella. She always carried the umbrella with her and if an acorn fell, she didn't even care. Hell, she didn't even notice it. The umbrella didn't stop the acorns from falling, but it did stop her from reacting.
I'm in the umbrella business, I make sure that nobody leaves my office without one.
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