Hanlon’s Razor at Work

This is a story about Hanlon’s Razor at work, and why it might be the most useful mental model you’ve never heard of.

I was facilitating a team-building session last week. It was getting late in the day. People were getting tired. I asked participants to partner up with someone they hadn’t worked with earlier in the day for a follow-up discussion. I watched as people across the room made connections. And then I watched as Stephanie looked across the room and made what she thought was a silent agreement to partner with Ben…

(Law & Order rule: The names have been changed to protect the innocent)

Ben stood up, walked around the tables to where Stephanie sat…and then kept right on walking until he sat down a few chairs down next to someone else. I watched as Stephanie’s face went from confusion to frustration to anger. I could almost see the horns on Ben’s head that Stephanie now thought were growing there.

Enter stage left: Hanlon’s Razor

If you have never heard of Hanlon’s Razor, it says, never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by carelessness.

A close relative of Occam’s Razor, Hanlon’s Razor seeks out the simplest explanation. In the case of Ben and Stephanie it was that Ben simply didn’t see that Stephanie was looking at him to make a connection for the partner activity.

I’m guessing you’ve been in a similar situation to Stephanie. Maybe an email goes unreturned. Someone forgets a topic you wanted to share at the meeting. You did or didn’t get the invite to the afterward gathering. It’s easy to start to weave a complex tale that has a backstory, supporting characters, a villain, and of course you as the hero.

But that’s rarely the case. Usually the simplest explanation is the truest explanation.

Sometimes people truly can be assholes. But I have found that is the exception and not the rule. If you want to go deeper into asshole behavior I highly recommend Assholes: A Theory by Aaron James. It can get a little research and theory heavy at times, but definitely worth a read if you are in a leadership position.

What’s much more likely is that the other person wasn’t doing it out of spite, or vengeance, or for any specific reason against you. It’s much more likely they’re just busy people who sometimes forget. We’re all busy. We all have lots of things going on. We can all be careless at times, not clumsy careless, just the fact that we have other things going on in our heads most of the time.

So the next time you feel that flash of anger, confusion, or frustration and start to imagine the person who slighted you growing little horns, remember Hanlon’s Razor. It’s much more likely they were just careless. And in the story you’re telling yourself, you’re already the hero. Being the hero doesn’t mean you have to choose a villain.