The late comedian George Carlin once said: ‘My sh*t is stuff. Your stuff is sh*t.’

Ain’t that the truth?

In their book, ‘The Friction Project’, authors Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao explain how our ‘stuff’ – whether that’s meetings, emails, presentations or Justin Bieber memorabilia – feels important and vital.

But other people’s stuff? A pain in the backside.

Our 500-word email? Critical detail.

The 500-word email we see pop up in our inbox? ARGGGHHHHHH!

Sutton and Rao write how these ‘self-serving biases’ allow us to:

‘justify – indeed glorify – creating that new procedure, form or rule that makes your job easier (and everyone else’s harder) […] or calling a meeting on that pet project (even though no one else cares about it).’

So, ask yourself next time you’re communicating:

Is this really important stuff?

Or is it just my sh*t?

(Yes, I’m feeling feisty today.)