Artifacts, culture shifting, ethics, and finally Babs’ take on Ashes to Ashes’ bad cops.
Here are a handful of the readings, viewings, and listenings that have recently caught my attention and left a mark on my thinking.
1
In the May 7th list I claimed that I was re-reading Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar H. Schein and that I had a few questions, the last one being “Will I re-read the whole book?”.
It turns out that the answer was “no”.
But I recently picked it up again and despite the passing of years since its publication (first edition, 1985), or perhaps because of the 40 years of this work being foundational to how we think about workplace culture and the role of leadership in shaping that culture, I found it totally re-readable and relevant.
I have two thoughts on recommending you to take a fresh look at this Schein classic.
- Schein’s work provides a fulsome background or context as to why we need to purposefully cultivate psychological safety in our organizations. You most likely know how I feel about psychological safety* (short version, it’s important) and if you haven’t yet encountered Amy Edmundson work, I invite you to do so.
- Schein’s work on artifacts implores us to get curious about the construct, story, and impact of everyday work things such as desk arrangements, staff room signage, wellness post-its, sick-day policies, and staff gatherings (my list, not his). These artifacts have much to say about the culture of an organization and yet their importance, compared to the carefully crafted artifacts of websites, annual reports and media campaigns, is too often overlooked in the haste or thoughtlessness of daily organizational decisions and directions.
Schein was groundbreaking in putting the responsibility of organizational culture on leadership.
If we aren’t paying attention to psychological safety and to everyday workplace artifacts, we aren’t paying attention to organizational culture.
2
What You Still Can’t Say at Work
Jim Detert, October 14, 2024, MIT Sloan Management Review
Speaking of organizational culture (smooth eh?), this article is a must read.
I don’t want to say much about it, because I really really want you to read it, but just in case you need them, here’s a few teaser quotes.
Deep rules reflect the unwritten understanding of what can’t be said, even in places that have surface-level psychological safety. This form of hidden power undermines well-being for most people and, in many cases, ultimately undermines even the leaders who seemingly benefit.
As for employee engagement, Gallup’s annual poll on this topic shows only modest improvement during the past two decades, with somewhere between one-fifth and one-third of all employees surveyed in 2023 saying they are engaged at work.
At most organizations — my own included — history and culture mean that certain statements draw negative knee-jerk reactions. And I fear that this is getting worse because we live in a world where language is weaponized to shut down serious discussion as soon as someone feels threatened.
Turns out I do have something to say.
Deep rules exist in all organizations and in all relationships. They aren’t necessarily a problem; they are part of how we build social contracts and navigate work and life. They are a problem when we don’t have the space or psychological safety (there it is again) to poke at them and to openly discuss how they shape, for better or worse, our experiences.
Personal Story
Some years ago I was hired into a management position with the explicit direction to bring about a culture shift in the management team (I didn’t know back then that this is an organizational red flag). Great I thought, this will be challenging, fun, and I’m just the person for the job (I didn’t know back then that for me this was a personal red flag).
I was being mentored by a senior executive who was a champion of this culture shift. After a period of time observing management and executive team meetings I asked my mentor about how “speaking truth to power” happens in the organization. They said, “we don’t”. Given what the leadership of the organization said they wanted to achieve, I found this hard to believe.
It turned out to be true. They wanted a culture shift, but they did not want to talk about “deep rules”. That doesn’t work and eventually I left the organization slightly disillusioned, but wiser and better able to support others in leading a culture shift (small plug for my coaching work).
I’ll end with one last quote from the article.
What can you do to change the situation at your organization? To start, people with more power must take the lead on change. Expecting people below you to stick their necks further out isn’t just unfair. It’s unrealistic.
I know that my work is making a difference and I am full on committed to growing it’s reach. And I need a little help from you. Refer five friends to this newsletter and as my way of saying thank you, you will receive the gift of a Just for You coaching session. (via Zoom)
3
Nobel in economics awarded for research into why countries with poor institutions don’t thrive
From the CBC news announcement:
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson “have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity,” the Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said at the announcement in Stockholm.
While the news announcements didn’t delve into how these societal institutions are led, it’s a sure bet that courageous leaders (what I mean by courageous) are more likely to lead courageous institutions, and that courageous institutions have a greater positive impact on prosperity and the ongoing development of democracy (the two go nicely together).
Which all goes to say that your work as a courageous leader is the special sauce of Nobel prize discussions. You are welcome to quote me on that at your next performance and compensation review.
4
Navigating Ethical Leadership in the Age of AI
I have a nagging disquiet about AI and ethics. Not just in the development of AI, but how we manage AI in the work of our organizations.
It seems that Annette Bühler has a similar disquiet that compelled her to write (and I believe self-publish) this book and to develop what she calls the “ethic pocketknife” – a toolkit for applying ethics in an increasingly AI driven work world.
I’m not sure if it started with my dislike of the book cover (I found it weirdly trite) even though, you know, don’t judge a book by its cover or if it is that I’m not the reader for this book, but I found the case studies a slog to read, the technical details beyond me, and the “ethic pocketknife” simplistic (the transparency tweezers?) . Admittedly I didn’t make it far into the book (see #3 on The Rights of the Reader)
So why is it on the list?
Because I applaud Bühler for drawing our attention to something we need to think, talk, and act on more – ethics. And maybe some of you are the right readers for this book.
5
Extras
Here are the odd bits that stuck out and so are tacked on at the end. Kind of like my Halloween decorating.
“What?” you say. “Did Babs really watch this strange show that portrays corrupt, gun brandishing, sexist, homophobic, racist, abusive cops as sympathetic characters?. Yep, and the prequel, Life on Mars.
I won’t bother defending it as a psychological drama that explores the big existential questions about the meaning of life and death. I know that my reasons for watching it weren’t always that high-falutin.
But I will point out that it wonderfully captured the challenges with shifting organizational culture. In the show’s 1973 and early 1980s characters we see the fear of losing individual and shared identities built on smoking in the office, irregular paper work, abusive policing, and a camaraderie of assumed shared experiences through insults, othering, and drinking.
The future/present, when briefly seen, is sterile, by-the-books, efficient, and lonely.
Soundtrack and clothing aside, which era or culture is right or wrong isn’t really the point here or the point of the show (maybe). The point is, that as necessary and compelling as a culture shift might be, something will, just by the nature of it being a shift, be lost.
For some that loss may be a workplace or broader social identity. When we then shame or unwisely punish people for this, we risk creating environments where, and you may have to watch the show to get this, the devil shows up.
AND
- If you are at the Reimagining Non-Profits | Integrating Radical Approaches to Equity conference in Regina later this week, come find me. I will have chocolates.
- There is still time to register for the November 20th online Psych Safety Day. I’ll be there, please say “hello”.
- I am working on the content and courage for a Youtube channel. One is easier than the other. Stay posted.
You can find out more about the Courageous Leaders Project and my work as a coach at courageousleaders.ca.
*That’s right, here I am again promoting the need to purposefully cultivate a workplace culture of psychological safety. It is so important that this year I received a Master Certificate in Mental Health and Psychological Safety at Work so that I can better support you with this work.