The work ethic is ingrained in our social consciousness. We like to contribute, take pride in our effort and get compensated financially and emotionally. Work is about integrating our personal rhythm with daily routines and other people. As we get busy, life gets rushed; our personal equilibrium gets harder to maintain and as a result we are giving others partial attention. We make mistakes and misunderstandings occur. That’s when negative "situations" begin to occur at the workplace.
Here’s a case study: Mark and Tom who work for a software company were assigned a prominent market research project to evaluate the competition for the company’s new software product. During the first week of the project Mark kept seeing Tom working on other assignments and finally lashed out at him for not pulling his weight. Fortunately, Tom calmly explained that he was tying up loose ends, clearing his desk, so that he could devote his complete attention to their project. Mark’s mind reading almost sabotaged the team spirit.