Cockroach theory
date
Dec 25, 2020
type
Post
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slug
cockroach-theory
status
Published
tags
psychology
summary
Lesson on responding and not reacting.
Last updated
Dec 13, 2022 05:16 PM
Well, the internet attributes this story to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google.
At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away. It landed on another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.
The waitress rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waitress. The waitress stood firm, composed herself and observed the behaviour of the cockroach on her dress. When she was confident enough, she grabbed it with her fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.
Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behaviour?
If so, then why was the waitress not disturbed? It is not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach, that disturbed the group. I realised that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, it’s my inability to manage my reaction to the words around me.
Everyone reacts, few respond.
Conversations can sometimes go nowhere, sometimes they go to places we are uncomfortable with. The waitress leads the way on how to respond.