Hi! For my book, I would like to gather a set of beliefs that govern how people operate in organizations. I’m especially looking for beliefs that really drive people’s behavior, decision-making, etc. Contradictions and alternate viewpoints welcome and encouraged. For example:
- Never help out a colleague too much, because they’re just competition for the top spot.
- Always help your colleagues, because when we work together, we accomplish more than when we work alone.
- Our competitors will never be able to produce a product as good as ours.
- Management is stupid and doesn’t know what they’re doing.
I will be using these in my book. By submitting them here, you give me permission to do so. I would like to list everyone who contributes in the acknowledgements section. If you wish to be acknowledged, just sign your comment with your desired name (first name, full name, etc.).
Thanks!
My favorites are:
“It’s never worked before and not going to work now so no sense trying.” or the cousin to that “It’s always been like that.”
My company changed ownership and people continue to say those things in spite of new ownership and a hugely different management style. It makes me want to pound my head on the desk.. but no sense in doing that… we’ve always done things like that. *grin*
Don’t do too good of a job or they’ll start expecting MORE of you (without additional pay).
- “No one is watching” or “No one will ever know”.
- The attitude “I will give my best to my company” versus “I deserve everything I can get out of my company”.
- The focus on self-promoting efforts instead of team focused efforts.
Omar
The one I encounter that really drives me over the edge is the belief that no one you currently employ knows anything at all. You have to pay more to bring in outside consultants to spend weeks learning your business….
And then they tell you exactly the same thing your current employees tell you.
It wastes money, wastes time, GRINDS morale into the dirt, and sends the message, “Your input is worthless.” It makes an employee wonder why s/he even bothers to try.
I’ve been involved in many projects over the years in which this has cost the companies literally millions of dollars…and yet it continues.
Great topic.
Beliefs in organizations:
*Other people are out to get me
*I can’t really trust anyone here
*To succeed you have to be a ‘yes man’
Hey Stever,
- Our competitors do it differently because they are stupid / don’t know what we know
- Rocking the boat / pointing out organizational failings will hurt your career
- The way we are doing (x) is good enough
- We need to make radical changes to catch up with the times
- Your boss (supervisor) wants to help you to suceed. (sometimes they do, sometimes they just want you to conform to their needs)
- The secret to rapid promotion is being in the right (powerful, fastest growing) group, or working for the right boss
- Organizations reward loyalty
- Appearances matter more than results
- Appearances don’t matter, only results
- If I am very busy, my job can’t be eliminated
- Other executives are jockying to make themselves look better than me
- Its vital we follow the official process, no matter what the circumstances
… I’m sure I’ll think of more later. Take a nap!
Hi Stever,
I’m a regular listener to your Get It Done Guy podcast –you’re my favorite podcaster! I look forward to your weekly tips for a better life.
I sell a high-end product, with a competing brand directly across the street. My philosphy is “Service sets me apart”.
…That said, I met a colleague at a networking event that talked about a philosophy prevalent at his workplace: “You can’t fix stupid”.
One belief system that has permeated every single workplace I have ever worked is a fundamental distrust of all layers above your own in the TOO. A second common theme is that there is always a stated reason why you have been hired and a real reason,a nd the two are different. A third pervasive and usually accurate belief is that special treatment is accorded to some but not to others.
I cannot remember ever working anywhere where a question, statement or request could be or should be taken at face value. “XXX will never ask a question that he/she does not already know the answer to. The only point of the question is to see what you will do. Will you rat out your buddy or will you get caught in a lie covering for him?” etc. The book “The 48 laws of power” captures most of this set of behavior.
Oooh! Oooh! I forgot this one. It sets my teeth on edge.
“I’ll start doing more when they start paying more.”
The order gets reversed in their heads somehow.
The decision of when to interfere with how my employees govern themselves is two-fold; effectiveness vs. annoyance. Effective meaning how good they are at doing their job. Annoyance meaning how much do they rub people the wrong way during the process of doing their job. Those that are very effective can get away with being more annoying before management steps in. And those that aren’t as effective? Tolerance for them isn’t near as high.
But don’t confuse annoyance with attitude. Bad attitude is a no brainer – that can spread through an organization like a cancer and must be removed quickly without hesitation!
There are some proverbs or sayings that absolutely apply to organizations:
When the elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.
The tongue is the enemy of the neck.
The blade of grass that rises above others attracts the sickle.
Three can keep a secret if two are dead.
My enemies I can handle. Lord deliver me from my friends.
The ulterior motive has an ulterior motive.
Ensure you are the means to another’s ends.
Between the stick and the carrot, the carrot is eaten and the stick may still be used tomorrow.
Anything worth having is worth cheating for.
Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.
@william fissel
I really like the first two a lot. If I had a nickel for every time my tongue got my butt in trouble I’d have a whole lot of nickels… suddenly the neck part sounds better than the way I just said it lol.
Although, to be fair… it’s usually on e-mail that I slip the noose around my neck.
Too many companies (especially upper management) believes that people care about the products or services the company makes/provides. Nobody really cares about them. People care about solutions to their problems, wants and needs.
And, the worst from my standpoint, is that the organization supports marketing and sales. It’s the other way around and everybody in the organization needs to be a marketer.
Well, I’m going to not go down the cynical path, but instead look for some beliefs which really are core to organizational functioning.
1. The guy above you on the org chart has the right to make decisions for you – without this, a hierarchy wouldn’t be possible.
2. Big problems can be broken into smaller, somewhat independent problems – otherwise, everybody would have to be involved in everything and you could never grow larger than 10 people.
3. What we do tomorrow is 99% the same as what we did yesterday – so we have stability, consistent expectations between people, and can move in a cohesive direction.
I find it very interesting to be a part of groups (not companies, mind you) which violate these principles.
People believe there is a corporate and professional way of doing things. There are processes to follow, employee contracts to sign, office hours, limited flexability, vacation time, a secretary, dress code, rented office space, company phone number, fax number, staff meetings and a chain of command. They do not question whether or not it is truly moving their business forward.