There are two types of people
There are two types of people. Usually, when someone makes a statement like this, I immediately go into defensive mode. I throw a barrage of nonsensical arguments all in the vain attempt to protect my idea of Humans being kaleidoscopic creatures. Creatures that can’t be distilled into simple types. But on this, I had to concede. Not only because the person was on the other side of a podcast but also because the complete statement was; There are two types of people in any given situation, You are either a person who absorbs the responsibility or a person who shifts it. It just made sense.
Think of the last time you did a presentation, there were probably five or six people in the group but in the end, only two did the work not because they were the smartest but because they are responsibility absorbers. Always taking accountability even when no one asked, the first to apologize and take the L, true living breathing Steve Rogers( Captain America). The ones who gladly passed the workload you can call responsibility shifters. They are really good at having other people do all the work and take no fault if things go wrong. They can shift blame to anything the dog, the weather, or even call it God’s will (Yes, people say that). Someone once sat and broke my PS3 disk and called it God’s will.
It is easy to want more responsibility absorbers around you but there’s a problem. Absorbers can take on more work than they need to. They take the blame for things that aren’t in their control. Find themselves apologizing for something someone else did wrong (Yes, you who keeps saying sorry all the time). It isn’t immediately bad but does no one any good in the long run.
Shifters are great at finding smarter and more capable people to achieve a goal. Even if it is just doing their homework. (That friend who pretends to not know how to do anything or say I like the way you do it). The major downside is the lack of personal growth from not owning up for anything.
Knowing whether one is a shifter or absorber is empowering. It makes you aware of not only your tendencies but those of others. Simplifying interactions we have on a day-to-day basis. Hope this made you understand yourself and the world around you better. Thanks for reading this far, let me know what you think about absorbers and shifters
