Attitude

It seems like it's that time of year again, when new people arrive to work in the lab.

This is interesting. Last year I was one of the new people so I didn't get to observe things the way I do this year.

Some thoughts:

1. I think it's best to come into a new place humble and willing to learn. I find it amazing how many people show up seeming to think they know everything already. Now, I am willing to admit that I don't know how much of this attitude is just a defense mechanism / a way to make themselves feel better. Regardless, I can't make myself like/respect these people. I just can't relate to it.

2. How much of the attitude a new person adopts has to do with the person training them? There are 2 new people here that I'm thinking of. One being trained by a quiet diligent worker and one being trained by a loud, fairly lazy worker. It appears at this point, that they are adopting the attitudes of the people training them. Is this the case? Or do they get assigned to be trained by people that the PIs think are most like them? I don't know if there's an answer to this question, but I'm curious to see if other people see this too.

3. Smiling makes a huge difference in how I see people. Of the 2 new people, one smiles all the time, the other doesn't. I like the one that smiles and really dislike the one that doesn't. Is this just me too?

4. I'm sure there is a TON of social psych research on this topic, but it's amazing to me how I decide a person's merit and worth based on their outward attitude and appearance. Maybe I'm shallow, but the new person who is cranky and frowning all the time...I just don't like them. They've been here a few weeks and I've tried, but I can't get past the outward attitude.

I guess what I'm saying here is what has been said a million times in other places...attitude is everything.

I've just never seen it presented quite like this before.