When a co-worker or boss misses a deadline or disappoints us in some way, it's easy to tell ourselves that it's due to some character flaw -- a phenomenon called the "fundamental attribution error" -- when it may be that they're overwhelmed or dealing with a crisis away from work, writes executive coach Naphtali Hoff. "You do not have to assume the best, but you can assume you do not know everything. That small shift opens the door to better understanding and better problem-solving," Hoff writes.

Put it into practice: It can be helpful to remember that while you're judging someone else, they could easily be judging you in the same way, Hoff notes. "Would you say you were lazy, or would you point to circumstances? That comparison exposes the double standard we rarely notice."