The Power of Culture

An old Marine - there are no former Marines - once told me about a touchy situation he'd faced while with the Corps. He said, "I had no orders and no access to a superior officer, but I knew how a Marine was supposed to handle such matters."

That is the power of culture speaking.

The Italian journalist and author Luigi Barzini wrote that he wondered why the English were able to perform well more consistently than other Europeans. He said all was revealed one day by a friend, George V. Bernardo, who "believed that it wasn't important for Englishmen to be intelligent (intelligence could be a hindrance) because...they all could act intelligently when the need arose. This is how it worked. They all had a few ideas firmly embedded in their heads. He said 'seven ideas,' but his figure was probably too low. Whatever the number, the ideas were exactly identical and universal. That was why, in older days, in distant lands with no possibility of communicating with their superiors, weeks or months by sailing ship away from London, admirals, generals, governors, ambassadors, or young administrators alone in their immense districts, captains of merchant ships, subalterns in command of a handful of native troops in an isolated outpost, or even common ordinary Englishmen, facing a dangerous crisis, had always known exactly what to do, with the certainty that the prime minister, the foreign secretary, the cabinet, the queen, the archbishop of Canterbury, the ale drinkers in any pub, or the editor of the Times would have approved heartily, because they too had the same seven, or whatever, ideas in their heads and would have behaved in the same way, in the same circumstances."

I'll leave it to you as to whether the English still have that advantage (The current hostage crisis may argue against it) but the point is still powerful: there can be something very liberating and powerful about a culture that inculcates its members with positive principles; guidelines that they can carry with them and use when those are the only available guidance.

What is surprising is how seldom companies and organizations go beyond simply posting a list of values, assuming they even do that. They wonder why employees kick decisions upstairs but there is little discussion of what it means to be a member of the organization and what expectations are always present.

In other words, they don't talk to their employees about what it means to be a "Marine."

Quote of the Day

It is usually expensive and lonely to be principled.

- Paul Theroux

Fantasy Break: Lamborghini Roadster

Let's look at the numbers.

640 hp
0 to 62 in 3.4 seconds
$400,000

The Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Roadster

Fortune's Susan Zesigner Callaway takes one for a spin.

Proposals Sought

We invite interested companies to submit proposals on the Widget Re-Modernization Project, of which you can find a vague description at TAB A.

Please note that this is a separate RFP from the previously-issued RFPs for the Widget Modernization Project, the Widget Modernization Project II, and the Widget De-Modernization Project. If your firm submitted proposals for those earlier projects, be assured that a decision is expected any day now within a reasonable amount of time given the totality of the circumstances. In the meantime, a new proposal will have to be submitted in response to this RFP.

All proposals must be in the designated format at TAB B. The format may not neatly match the project, but any proposal that is not in proper format will be null and void. Not just null but also void. This may seem arbitrary, but it helps us immeasurably. For elaboration on our reasons, read Darwin.

All proposals must be leather-bound and submitted by no later than 5:00 PM on April 6, 2007 by courier or by certified mail. E-mail and fax submissions will not be accepted. Ten copies of each proposal must be provided because there are nine people on the selection committee and we want you to bear the expense of reproducing the copies. The tenth copy is saved in case the committee deadlocks, in which event it is placed on a large bulletin board alongside the other proposals. If it is returned to you later, please ignore what may appear to be dart holes.

If your proposal is accepted, this does not mean that you have the contract. It means that you are now on the eligible list of those who might get a contract. We do not in any way wish to imply that any person, organization, thing, or animal will get a contract, including those who get on the eligible list. Sometimes, our departments ask for proposals and then do nothing. [See above reference to Widget Modernization Project, Widget Modernization Project II, and Widget De-Modernization Project.]

If you suspect that we already have the successful bidder in mind and have contacted you simply because of some arcane rule that we have at least three bids, you may be too clever to be in our bidding pool. Be sure to submit a bid anyway.

If you suspect that no one in the purchasing office has ever run a small business, we will be happy to discuss your theory at a special meeting which is scheduled for just such topics. Bring your unsubmitted proposal to the meeting, which will be in our offices on April 20, 2007.

Speaking Up

Just when should we expect people to speak up about a problem at work?

We know that having an "open door" policy doesn't work. Many an executive, manager, and supervisor sits behind a desk, stares out an open door, and hears nothing. "Open door" only works if the leader walks through the door and finds out what's happening in the rest of the workplace.

We know that telling people to "Speak up if you're uncomfortable about anything that has been said or done" misses part of the picture: that people often are afraid of being ostracized or retaliated against if they do speak up. Besides, such ground rules are remedial. Once the problem is reported, the offensive behavior has already happened. In some cases, that is way too late for management to initiate any meaningful correction.

To focus on the act of speaking up is to miss the target. The real issue is trust. If trust is present, the odds of people being candid will increase enormously. If it isn't present, all of the policies and declarations about open doors won't make a bit of difference.

Trust, however, carries responsibilities on both sides. Management should act to build trust but so too must employees. People who refuse to use credible procedures for reporting problems are not building trust because they are pushing conflict underground. People who don't confront co-workers about significant problems are also failing to contribute to trust.

There are clear exceptions. For example, in harassment cases and matters of the "Clyde has a gun in his desk" variety, the employee may feel uncomfortable with direct confrontation and the matter should be reported through the appropriate channels.

The ideal, trustworthy, workplace, however, is one in which people do speak up about problems and where, if there is a problem with a co-worker, the employee with the problem first goes to the co-worker and says, "We need to talk about something." If the two of them cannot work out a solution, then the problem can be bounced up the ladder. Although there will be situations in which such direct communication may not be feasible, it is the goal of any open workplace and an important component of one is which trust flourishes.

Offices and Happiness

Corner office and you're the boss: 100 points

Corner office on same floor as a great boss: 70 points

Corner office on same floor as a terrible boss: Minus 60 points

Corner office with great view: 50 points

Corner office with bad view: 30 points

Office: 10 points

Cubicle: 5 points

Office shared with obnoxious co-worker: Minus 20 points

You love or hate your job: None of the above matters

Quote of the Day

It is well known what a middleman is: he is the man who bamboozles one party and plunders the other.

- Benjamin Disraeli

Rewards and Motivation

Years ago, some researchers looked at the concept of reward. They found that the following must be present in order for rewards to work:

1. The employee's increased efforts must result in a perceived improvement. [This may sound obvious, but in some jobs you can knock yourself out and things still won't improve.]


2. The improvement must result in an outcome that the employee likes.

The last one is the real challenge. There are many workplaces where achieving goals simply means that more demanding work is piled on and many others where the employees who work the hardest are given more to do than the ones who coast along. In short, achievement is punished.

To complicate matters further, the outcome that an employee likes can differ dramatically. A young employee who is saving up for a house is more likely to be interested in money than an older one with a paid mortgage and the children out of the house. The second employee may be more pleased with new job challenges and flex-time. It varies with individual circumstances.

That's why "one size fits all" motivation programs need to be carefully considered. Handing a plaque to someone who already has an office (or garage) wall full of them might be intended as a reward but it might not be perceived as one.

How Busy People Tick Off Co-Workers

• Never returning phone calls;


• Frequently failing to keep promises;


• Sending abrupt e-mail messages;


• Changing prior plans and not telling others of the changes;


• Routinely missing deadlines;


• Failing to give appropriate credit;


• Treating subordinates as intellectual inferiors;


• Not considering the work loads of others;


• Making casually cruel remarks.

Quote of the Day

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

- Kahlil Gibran