The Mini-Me Syndrome

When you are brainstorming, doesn't it become distracting when someone tries to push themselves instead of just sharing their ideas?

Isn't it annoying when someone tries to stick to their idea and justify that their idea is the one which gets implemented irrespective of whether it is flawed?

Isn't it enervating when someone says that it is only because of them & only them that everything is going great in the whole organization or the universe?

ALERT! You are near someone who has the Mini-Me Syndrome. This Mini-Me syndrome is very contagious. It drains your energy every time you are near the infected and gives you an impression of pseudo energy when you get infected.

We all thrive to be at our best. We all have our genius moments and we come up with great ideas to improve. We show signs of evolution when we express our ideas in a constructive manner but our true nature shows up when our idea gets rejected. If you take a moment to reflect you will realize that we have been in both the sides of the fence (Perceived Genius - the "Mini-Me" & Perceived Dumbo - the "Mini-Me" prey) in different situations.

How to handle a situation when you are near someone infected by the "Mini-Me Syndrome"?

If it is a hallway discussion:

• Discourage behavior by politely excusing yourself from the scene. You can focus on better things in life instead of hearing their Mini-Me stories.
• There is no use in arguing when they think the whole world revolves around them.
• The pause will help the "Mini-Me" infected friend to realize and get back to normal.

If it is an organized meeting:

• Get to the root cause so that everybody's focus can be on the problem instead of their "Mini-Me" area.
• Always be alert to bring the discussion back on track with the focus on "task at hand".     
• "Mini-Me" will keep popping up, politely make it clear to all in the discussion that the focus should be on the problem statement instead of creating new problems due to the "Mini-Me" syndrome.

How to share your views without being infected by the "Mini-Me Syndrome"?

• Don't think you are the only smart person in the room! (read this again & again)
• Understand the situation from all possible perspectives and share your "genius" solution along with the details on why you think it will help.
• When someone says "No", instead of pressing the panic button, ask respectfully and understand why they feel it will not work.
• If you feel lost that your idea is not accepted then understand that you are getting infected or already infected by the "Mini-Me" syndrome.
• ANTIDOTE: Change your focus "from you to the problem" and "from you to others" in the room. You will be able to come up with better suggestions.
• Encourage all in the room to come up with solutions. The timid ones might have the greatest of all the ideas.
• List all ideas from all in the room along with pros & cons.
• Take the best of all the ideas and finalize the approach as a group.
• If you don't have an agreement, meet again later to give enough time for all to digest the "task at hand" and possible solutions.
• Ensure everybody feels appreciated for their contribution & everyone should feel like a winner at the end of the discussion!  

Tell me how you deal with the "Mini-Me"s at work or elsewhere.

Hopefully your company culture strongly DISCOURAGES "Mini-Me" behavior and encourages collaboration. If not, try changing the company culture or simply join Lowe's (http://careers.lowes.com)!


"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Interesting article on similar lines - http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140418192430-15342750-working-with-a-narcissist-tips-to-identify-the-signs?trk=tod-home-art-list-large_0