Disgruntled is a term that’s most often applied to workers who snap and commit dramatic acts of violence against their professional colleagues. We hear stories of disgruntled employees who show up at work with a gun and start shooting people.
Of course, most people who feel disgruntled don’t become violent in their workplace. Some of them will commit acts of sabotage. Others will simply withhold their best work, doing only what they have to do to get by. Most will merely hold a grudge, and never act on it.
We feel disgruntled when we have observed a situation that isn’t working, that we don’t believe that we have the power to improve. Often, disgruntled people have tried to communicate their concerns, but have been ignored. They’ve been disrespected, and it’s been made clear that they aren’t among the group of leaders who have a designated right to offer their opinions.
Disgruntled feelings, therefore, aren’t just about the specific, tangible problems that immediately seem to trigger them. Feeling disgruntled is a feeling of powerlessness, of being insulted by fools who don’t deserve the authority that they have been granted.
