Diagnosing Notmyitis: A Cure for the Common Coldness

A clinical paper by Dr. G-Fab*

We've all had a touch of it before. Perhaps you've felt a bit overwhelmed in your work. Requests are coming at you from left and right. Everyone seems to expect miracles from you. Your help is requested on matters that, to you, seem distant and far removed from your immediate responsibilities. You feel bossed around by people other than your supervisor. You find yourself using phrases such as "it's not my problem," "that's not my job," or "you're not my boss." Sound familiar? Once a patient presents with these types of symptoms, the diagnosis is clear: this is a case of notmyitis.

No one is immune from this common organizational ailment. We pass it back and forth freely as part of our daily worklife. Notmyitis can have a chilling impact on the workplace, as it distances people from pressing issues that are unlikely to go away on their own. This is why notmyitis has been informally labeled “the common coldness.” The bad news is that cases of notmyitis are very much on the rise in our constantly changing, fast-paced work environment. The good news is that the condition is treatable. Some recent experiences of mine have led me to develop what I believe to be a 100% effective treatment.

Emerging Research on Effective Notmyitis Therapies

My treatment for notmyitis is to prescribe heavy doses of probative strategic questions. Linguistic research in discourse analysis has shown questions to be the most powerful utterances in any language. In early clinical studies, the simple act of asking a set of powerful questions when a notmyitis symptom presents has resulted in a near 100% recovery. The table below outlines effective treatment regimens for the three major types of notmyitis, which are sub-classified as notmyproblem, notmyjob, and notmyboss.

[click on the table below to examine symptoms, treatments, and clinical discussion].

Participate in a Clinical Trial

Because I can specifically recall times in my career when I have been plagued with the symptoms of notmyitis, I have begun a clinical trial of the above treatment plans in my own worklife. I plan to follow the prescriptions above when I feel the onset of symptoms. This is an open clinical trial, and any willing candidates are eligible to participate. Please report your results to me so we may document our findings in the appropriate journals.

* G-Fab is not a medical doctor.