Fundamental Error

I just finished an amazing book by Patrick Lencioni called Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I learned so much from the book about teamwork and how to function as a great leader. He wrote about something he called "The Fundamental Attribution Error."

"The fundamental attribution error is simply this: human beings tend to falsely attribute the negative behaviors of others to their character (an internal attribution), while they attribute their own negative behaviors to their environment (an external attribution). Why? Because we like to believe that we do bad things because of the situations we are in, but somehow we easily come to the conclusion that others do bad things because they are predisposed to being bad. (Similarly, we often attribute other people's success to their environment and our own success to our character. That's because we like to believe that we are inherently good and talented, while others are merely lucky, beneficiaries of good fortune.)"

What do you think of that paragraph? Do you agree with Lencioni's assessment? Personally, I think he sums up (in general terms) human behavior and I am sorry to admit that I often fall victim of this attribution error. As a believer in Christ, I need to love people more than I love myself and believe that God is working on changing and transforming their lives for His glory (Matthew 19:19).