Do you justify the bad behavior of other people?
Is this helping or hurting the situation?
First of all let’s look at the word justification, and what it means. It is my understanding that justification is the action of showing something to be reasonable. So let’s take this a step further.
If someone is doing something irresponsible or bad in your eyes, is justifying that behavior the right thing to do? Would it be better to ignore the behavior?
It is my firm belief that to justify or ignore bad behavior is wrong! I say that because by ignoring it or justifying someone’s bad actions all that you are doing is giving the person the go-ahead to continue to take their actions to the dark side. The dark side is when they feel they can do anything and people will accept it.
So the next time some exhibits bad behavior, are you going to justify it?
What will you do to help this person move away from the dark side and become a more responsible person?
Good post, but this is a tricky one Tim.
In many situations, I agree 100% with you that we should not justify other people’s bad behaviour. Some times, we have to do more than ignore it and comment on it.
We need to temper the urge to point out bad behaviour with the wisdom that in some cases it is safer to ignore it and wait for some one with more resources, power or authority to take the necessary action.
I am referring to examples like bad driving and “road rage” where intervention or even calling attention to an incident by flashing lights or using the horn can escalate an annoying incident into a potentially deadly one.
Peter
Of course there situations that caution is the better decision. The situations I am speaking about are relationships with people that have a grasp on reality. In fact I believe that instead of pointing out bad behavior it is even better to ask a question relating to the behavior. This is because questions stop us in our tracks and cause us to change our focus. Thus by asking a question of the person who is showing the bad behavior, you will cause him or her to think.