Since When is An Email a Rorschach Test?

In 1921, the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach invented the Rorschach test, also known as the inkblot test. This psychological test asks the subject to evaluate a series of inkblots and report what shapes or images they see. Then the subject’s perceptions are assessed to determine their thought processes, preoccupations, and personality. For example, when you look at one of the inkblots, do you see the wings of a bat or a butterfly? Two hands cupped in prayer? The answers say next to nothing about the inkblot, but they reveal a lot about how you function emotionally.

At work, we come up against the equivalent of inkblots every day. Here’s one in the form of an email: 

From: Jane Robinson

To: Erica Dhawan

Re: 

Why didn’t you finish this? -Jane

At first glance, this is a straightforward bit of communication, probably written in a hurry. But what does Jane’s email really mean? Is this just how she learned to send emails in business school, or is there something else going on, e.g., a digital power play?

I’ll throw it back to you, Rorschach style, as we explore two common types of anxiety-provoking digital body language. 

• Brevity

• Passive-aggressiveness

Brevity

An early experience I had working at a large consulting firm taught me a lot about how stressful short, to-the-point communications can be. At the time, I thought I understood signals and...

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