14 May 2009
A psychological line has been crossed
The only thing that holds any culture together is their tacit agreement to an overarching goal and to the application of a set of rules that are applied equally to all concerned. Every historical experience of communities, countries or cultures disintegrating into chaos begins with a breakdown of one or both of these issues. Once the line has been crossed and trust broken, it cannot be put right without the experience of significant change. To pretend otherwise is as self deluding as one who was once in a loving relationship that has now lost the trust of their partner, and is hoping that things will be OK in time. The lack of trust eats away at their relationship like a cancer and (unless something significant changes in their relationship) will eventually destroy them.
Reactions to the news that members of parliament have been breaking their own rules in respect of expense have been varied
They all however share the common theme of outrage that these ‘trusted’ guardians of our wellbeing were prepared to break the rules. They are angered that to accept cash that was not rightfully theirs is bad enough, but to be happy to do it so long as their activity remained undetected is unforgivable. Examples of employees feeling hard done to, and thence helping themselves to company goods or ‘fiddling’ expense claims are legion. When caught their justifications hold no water; they get fired. It is as simple and straightforward as that. Offers to give back ill-gotten gains are as irrelevant in the dismissal process as any ‘explanation’ that might be proffered. It is true that all of us make our decisions based on our emotions; and that often these are at odds with our intellectual understanding of the situation; rarely will an embezzling employee have been unable to follow the logical conclusion to their actions. However having the ability to see what the outcome must be doesn’t mean that they will have actually thought it through. The culprit was (as always) their emotions, but (sadly for anyone caught up in such events) it is not an acceptable excuse.
Cause and effect
While the psychology underpinning their actions is understandable and a clear link between cause and effect can be established, it does not alter the fact that trust has been broken. A line has been crossed. Any empathy that might be felt is far outweighed by the breaking of an established and implicitly agreed to 'cultural norm'; that of trust to comply with an agreed set of rules. In the case of the disgruntled employee those rules will be clearly laid out in their employee terms and conditions. In the case of Members of Parliament the rules are equally as explicit. Any feelings individual members might have had with regard to the fairness of their pay-freeze or the inequality of public service remuneration compared to that available in private enterprise are irrelevant.
Fire them all
There appears to be only one remedy and that is for parliament to effectively ‘fire’ them; to resign on mass and force a general election. Of course they will argue that this is not the right time, or that it will do more harm than good, but the truth is there is never a good time; there is never a break in international politics to allow for an election. The world will roll on regardless and we have to organise ourselves within it. Pundits will try and second guess what might happen and commentators may wring their hands in pessimistic glee; the truth is however that a line has been crossed.
The system did not cross the line
No change of rules will erase the knowledge that trust has been broken. Remedial options are limited. The relationship with the electorate must significantly change if it is to be maintained. This is not a political matter but a straightforward case of relationship management and the psychology of those relations. Forgiveness may be forthcoming, but it must come from the partner in therelationship and not by the perpetrator of the mistrust. This is as true with Parliament as it is within our own businesses.
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10 May 2009
Ban the ladder... just in case!
For reasons best known to themselves and after a couple of hundred years of quiet and sensible functioning, the British Library no longer allows the use of the iconic ladders to access books on high shelves. The ‘potential dangers’ of harm that may result from their use has meant that some research material literally is now out of reach.
Only last week on prime time national radio, a female health and safety official from one of the large trade unions was interviewed about working temperatures; apparently there is no upper limit on temperature in the workplace, and as some optimistic forecasters are suggesting the sun might actually shine over the summer, this has become a cause for (her) concern. Under close questioning from the radio show host she gave such an absurd justification for her call for draconian legislation for ‘worker protection’ that I could not have been the only listener left wondering if the world has actually gone completely bonkers! When pressed about the fact that kitchens are always hot (and have been since a couple of sticks were rubbed together for a sabre-toothed spit roast), this spokeswoman for health and safety vehemently asserted that it was about time something was done about it! She claimed that it could not be good for the workers and that there was a real and present danger that… someone might sweat into the food! It is a tribute to the host that he managed to avoid either convulsing with laughter or being derisive. Instead he gave her the opportunity to retreat; she however dug herself in further adamantly trying to convince the audience that a bead of perspiration might make it into their shrimp cocktail or Ceasar salad.
Unfortunately for all of us, far from being an isolated incident of madness, this is a real example of cultural manipulation in action. When a person says something with conviction and that person is presented as a figure of authority
The need to ask better questions
Cognitive dissonance is the popular terminology for the difficulty a human being has in holding two conflicting thoughts at the same time; even though it may not make any sense in isolation, people will find themselves unconsciously acting and responding to avoid such internal conflict. Sadly, our brains also seek the ‘easiest’ route to avoiding such conflict. This means that without thinking we accept things that if presented in a different way would cause us to question them and possibly even reject them. The reality is that we unconsciously give too much credence to any figure of authority with properly questioning its veracity or appropriateness; the truth is that very often we need to take back control and ask better questions.
Common goals
If we share a common goal (and there is no reason why we should not), then the only question that really matters is if what is proposed is taking us closer or further away from the achievement of that goal. Unfortunately for those wrapped up in health and safety it is not a common goal to protect people from themselves. However it may be a common goal to work for the greater good for human prosperity and world betterment; in which case asking the question if being able to easily access research material in the British Library would take us closer or further away from that goal, is clear. Applying the same question to allowing kitchens to operate and feed people is equally clear. Allowing teams of workers and employers to decide themselves if it appropriate and necessary to work whatever the weather is another no-brainer. If the question is applied to some jobs; ‘does having this job take us closer or further away from the ultimate goal?’ then some people might find their futures ‘freed up’ to do something a little more productive.
Please note that this applies in a positive way to much of the good work undertaken by health and safety professionals; the world IS a better place for much of what they do. The issue here is not the efficacy or otherwise of health and safety protocols but the clarity of objective towards which they are employed.
If you are a business owner who wants to thrive rather than survive, I recommend joining the ‘Business Success Strategies’ monthly audio coaching programme from BusinessCoaching.co.uk . They are offering £800 of FREE material just to take a RISK FREE trial. Take a look at http://tinyurl.com/yhh6zjb
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