Company Culture—The Person
Many Employees Think One Thing, But Do Another
For many employees, what goes on in their head is not
what they show through their actions. This split between thought and behavior
is stressful and unproductive.
One of the many threads that led to my interest in culture was the book Something Happened by Joseph L. Heller of Catch 22 fame. In his book, Heller chronicles the inner life of Bob Slocum, a corporate middleman acutely conscious of company politics and power.
Like your average corporate employee, Bob Slocum struggles with what to say and what not to say in a meeting. He tries to interpret comments and glances in a hallway. He is uncertain about where he stands in the eyes of those above him. He does not say what he thinks. The contrast between thoughts and actions, feeling and words is jarring. What is real and unreal, true or false, is fuzzy.
"If we all experience this, why don't we talk about it at work?"
This describes my own experiences in my 20s, first as an employee, and later as a supervisor and manager in several companies. I thought, "If Slocum experiences corporate life like I do, perhaps others do. Why don't we talk about it at work?"
Dividing Thought and Action
I learned, as most of us do, that at work we discuss the abstractions, the quantitative details of production—the numbers. In business meetings we rarely discuss the hard data of our work experience. We do not put these facts on the table. We sit in meetings thinking constantly and saying little. If we do talk about our true feelings, it is at lunch, at the water cooler, in the restroom, after the meeting, or to our spouses, or to our friends.
Companies with well-developed cultures allow members to say what they are thinking, to be what they long to be, to hold together thought and action. They are a pleasure to work in and highly productive.
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Developing Your Company Culture, The Joy of Leadership, A Handbook for Leaders and Managers, by Barry Phegan, Ph.D.. This book is a 187 page goldmine of practical information, tools, and examples to help you build a more productive and satisfying workplace. For more information and to buy the book click on the image.
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