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Why Your Brain Turns Colleagues Into Enemies
Description
In this episode of The Office Politics Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the out-group homogeneity effect and how it silently shapes office alliances, blame, and collaboration. They unpack a telling case: a marketing team that blamed the IT department for every software glitch, even when the issue was a typo in their own brief. Listeners learn why we instinctively see 'us' as complex individuals but 'them' as interchangeable types, and how that bias fuels friction between departments, remote and in-office staff, and different generations. The conversation offers practical moves — like forcing yourself to notice the one person who breaks the stereotype — to loosen the grip of mental shortcuts and build more honest working relationships. If you've ever wondered why a minor disagreement escalates into a full-blown office feud, this episode gives you the psychological wiring behind it and a few tools to switch it off.