Two points here stand out to me the most: the avoidance of conflict or discord and the collective cohesion of functions across the organizations.
Conflict always exists. It’s a matter of whether it exists in the open or in the back channels. One leads to productive debate (with guiding values and principles) and the other to inner turmoil.
In a dysfunctional organization, leaders often have to “protect” their teams, which leads to the each function for itself mentality. What’s unfortunate is that it’s likely that some of those leaders of functions are good leaders, but the lack of cohesion across the team degrades their ability to encourage change. Especially if the CEO allows or instigates this behavior.
I’ve seen that happen a lot in bigger teams - such as a department, or a company. A meeting where people ridicule the CEO in private slack conversations, and are very skeptic of everything presented, but don’t say anything.
I think the biggest contributor to this is brushing off or ignoring ‘complainers’. When you feel that issues you raise are not addressed, you’ll start to go to the back channels to talk about them.
Yep, agree -- it can happen in small teams but especially in larger teams. And it's so true that ignoring complainers contributes greatly to this. Another contributor is overlooking the really quiet people in the meeting.
Two points here stand out to me the most: the avoidance of conflict or discord and the collective cohesion of functions across the organizations.
Conflict always exists. It’s a matter of whether it exists in the open or in the back channels. One leads to productive debate (with guiding values and principles) and the other to inner turmoil.
In a dysfunctional organization, leaders often have to “protect” their teams, which leads to the each function for itself mentality. What’s unfortunate is that it’s likely that some of those leaders of functions are good leaders, but the lack of cohesion across the team degrades their ability to encourage change. Especially if the CEO allows or instigates this behavior.
Well written!
Thanks for sharing what stood out to you and for the kind words -- I love what I do so it means a lot.
Such an interesting read. Toxic positivity and wearing masks are so exhausting and unproductive
I actually had Dr Paul Furey in my podcast a few episodes ago and he talked about openness on boards, specifically. Really aligns with what you say
Agreed. Pretending everything is ok is so exhausting and gets in the way of actually moving forward.
I’ve seen that happen a lot in bigger teams - such as a department, or a company. A meeting where people ridicule the CEO in private slack conversations, and are very skeptic of everything presented, but don’t say anything.
I think the biggest contributor to this is brushing off or ignoring ‘complainers’. When you feel that issues you raise are not addressed, you’ll start to go to the back channels to talk about them.
Yep, agree -- it can happen in small teams but especially in larger teams. And it's so true that ignoring complainers contributes greatly to this. Another contributor is overlooking the really quiet people in the meeting.