Your culture, buy-in, and the corporate kool-aide

There are plenty of things that annoy me about how companies run things, from the compute environments that we all work with, to the red tape and paperwork that is mandated by every organization that I have ever worked for. None of these items is nearly as annoying as missing the opportunity to set a culture, to create a feeling of community for all the people that work in the organization. Having a culture established and providing a framework for how everyone behaves and considers their role within the organization is vital - in my opinion more so than simply 'making money'.  I have not seen anything be nearly as essential as the shared culture a company (and their staff) has.

A tale of two situations

Situation one:

I used to work for a company long long ago in a land far far away in my youth (ok, it was my 20s... but I might as well have been five). In this company when we were on-boarded - all of us went through the same training, we were all told what the values of the company and the values of its people/staff were. All new staff were introduced to existing staff in the company that held those same described beliefs and values. Now - It didn't hit me then, but this was one of the most powerful things I have ever been involved with. This company was taking steps to align all the staff to the same culture, to the same goals, to the same ideals. In short - they were working to get everyone pointed towards the same North Star set of values. 

Aligned to the North Star....

This on-boarding, described the values everyone was asked to be beholden to. This process allowed people to know what the company was doing and why they were doing it. The Kool-aide (TM) gave permission to all the staff to BEHAVE in a way that aligned with those values, and invite them into also owning them, espousing them, and upholding them in the interactions and work they were doing. In short - this 'training' actually got everyone in the company roughly pulling in the very same direction. Making the entire company a force to be reckoned with.

In contrast to the above, I have also had the cliche experience of having zero buy in and zero involvement in the values of the company I am working for - the difference is striking.

Situation two:

In this situation - the company is new and small, not yet having all the trimmings and trappings of a larger organization. In this case, the values of the company have not yet been established let alone written down. Training/on-boarding is not really yet defined, hiring practices and interview type/style not yet clarified etc etc. As the company is growing and changing - there exists an opportunity to both define the values and get the staff bought into those values, have them "Drink the kool-aide" if you will. There exists a unique opportunity to get everyone marching towards the same North Star, going in the same direction. Getting EVERYONE pulling for the same things. 

What actually happened was values got defined with no involvement of the staff. Everyone was introduced to the values created long after the values had been launched into the public eye. A huge miss - allowing silos, and poor communication to continue rather than have the staff buy in at even the basic of levels.

We are more powerful marching together - and even MORE powerful marching in ONE direction

A common value, a common direction, a common goal that everyone shares IS powerful. Having this alignment up and down the chain of command enables staff to make independent decisions that are in line with the company North Star using the corporate values as guiding bumpers. This alignment allows all the staff to challenge choices one another are making. This alignment allows for empowerment and flexibility. Without this buy in - lots of meetings to get alignment, lots of items where management feels the need to intervene because the decisions don't have the necessary context and framework. In the end even if it were the case that corporate values were going to be decided only by Upper Management - for everyone else the illusion of having a choice matters in winning them to your side. If they can actually BUY IN - it would be even more powerful leading to great outcomes. Flexibility, and and and - your company more powerful than it was.

In the end "Its how we win that matters" - Enders Game

There are plenty of cliches out there about corporate values and how they are created. IT IS POSSIBLE however to create values and have them be meaningful and fulfilling and direction setting for the staff and the market as a whole. WHEN you can do this - there is no telling what you can accomplish. When you don't do this - you and your staff will just be blah, jumping over a broom stick that has been placed on the floor. We should all strive for something better.

I am broken, but don't require fixing

Was sitting in church listening to the sermon and contemplating all that has happened in the past few months of my life. The sermon this past Sunday was addressing those times when we are sure we are right and those times when we need to be nudged out of our comfort zone. It was the latter of these things that lead me to this post's title "I am broken, but I don't require fixing".

I AM BROKEN

Life has thrown me a series of curve balls
-----------------------

There are times in our lives when something, someone, some situation comes along that pushes or nudges us out of our comfort zone. There are times when we have our notions challenged such that we need to stop and contemplate them beyond just a cursory "Oh isn't that interesting..." This sermon was one of those times for me as I began to realize that my current life state was "Broken" but broken by the situation/choice such that it doesn't require fixing. I am broken in a way that doesn't require someone to come along and lift me up and dust me off. I am broken because what I thought was true, or the things that modeled my world have been disproved. I am broken in a way that allows me to stop and consider what about my world model was wrong. I am broken in a way that provides the opportunity to change how I go about moving forward in the world. For me I have found the following to be my 'Broken' process.

Mourning the Broken

Large life events all have a process that they will trigger and that process may be long or short. It is hard to tell in advance how long a given event may cause one to feel that they are in mourning but it is an important aspect of being broken I believe. In the cases where I have been broken in my life there is always a feeling of loss. The loss can be physical - meaning someone passing or perhaps the lost of a possession, or something emotional like a good friend moving far away or someone you once talked to all the time falling out of touch. Time has to be taken to consider the loss what impact it has had and why has it had that impact in order to attempt to move forward from it. Cry, laugh, smile, focus on the content of the event so that you can feel it fully. In order to mourn it properly you have to be able to see it fully for a moment in your life and its meaning to you. In order to mourn you have to be able to see what needs of your own that thing, that person was filling for you.

Picking up the pieces

As you consider in your mourning what is it that is left behind? What can I take from what has happened? Sometimes you may even be tempted to ask why me? Coming forward from a position of brokenness requires, I believe, that you be able to look at your own reaction to what has happened and understand why you have reacted in a given way. Are you angry? Are you sad? Are you feeling a mix of different emotions? Why are those emotions the ones that have arisen in the current broken state. Maybe you are upset with yourself for feeling, maybe you are upset with some other external factor for how it is or how another individual appears to feel. All of these things, all of these questions and their answers are part and parcel to being broken. Like looking at a bit of sea glass carefully and wondering how it came to be at your feet - each instance and question above needs similar scrutiny.

I don't need fixing

In short I don't need fixing - I need support. I need to be able to put the situations of my life into words, feelings and context that I understand. Moving forward, one step at a time, requires an ability to process without stuffing or ignoring the situation that created the brokenness. Being broken, I think, is like having a surgery scar but on your psyche ... its permanent and part of the story of your life. Scars don't require fixing - just time to heal.

Closing

While I was writing this post originally (now a long time ago in relative terms) I found the following quote:

Treat things as "habit not hill." Meaning excellence is a minute-at-a-time habit, not a hill to climb. Same is true of being less broken, it's a minute at a time habit to improve, not a hill you are standing at the bottom of looking up at the top saying "I need to climb THIS?".

Invisibility - Rise above background noise

There was an article published by Technically Philly recently entitled:

"Does Philly’s tech scene have a sexual harassment problem?"

The article seems to have had precious little to say about sexual harassment or the role that it does or doesn't play in Philadelphia's technology scene. Let's just address things head on shall we?

Philly's tech scene absolutely has a sexual harassment problem. Why? Because Philly does, because tech in general does, because people do. No way around this fact of life.

There has been a great deal of press about the sexual harassment in tech in California and the Silicon Valley and while those places are not 100% representative of tech across the U.S.A. it would be disingenuous to think that problems there are not even a little bit reflective of possible, well hidden problems elsewhere, including HERE.

Privilege, Challenged

The news has been awash recently of commentary relating to race, nationality, skin color and most recently the events that occurred in Charlottesville, VA. I would observe that there is a common thread in them all - being a white person in the US confers a blindness on many that prevents them from seeing the benefits of their own privilege as a result of their background or skin color. The same is true for gender.

• Sexual harassment hasn't happened to me...so it must not be wide spread
• Sexual harassment must not be happening because I haven't seen it...so it must not be wide spread
• Sexual harassment happens in a small percentage of cases...so it must not be wide spread

I observe that sexual harassment happens all the time, however most of the time people are willing to look the other way, give the benefit of the doubt, or somehow explain away that thing that they actually saw occur because "reason". It hardly matters what the reason is. As a result of this we are collectively part of the problem that continues to compound. I want to encourage people to recognize the differences in their reactions as a result of privilege they may enjoy, to see and call people out for their harassing behavior.

Screaming, Fatigue

Like other forms of discrimination - sexual harassment is 100% real and it gets tiring pointing it out:

I admit that I don't know about my circle of friends’ and acquaintances’ experiences - because I haven't asked - however I would venture to say that the majority of my circle of friends have also had some form of harassment (from mild to outlandish) leveled against them. The article from Technically hurts efforts to raise visibility for harassment because, as one person I follow said:

"...this [article] does not help the lack of belief in the problem. 'Cause now people can share this [article] link & be all, "What? Nothing to see here."

Take the time, read, open your eyes & mind

It takes diligence to acknowledge that there might be a gap in your knowledge, or a gap in your vision. The idea of modifying your default stance for a given situation likely needs to be actively (mentally) challenged in order to be able to see situations differently or to see situations are/were not what you assumed them to be. Time and effort has to be put in to understand others’ points of view, others’ feelings. Speak up, speak out at any an all opportunities that present themselves.

* Authors note: It is my intention to compile additional helpful reading links, things that I found helpful, that have opened my eyes or provided me insight into who I am. I'll try to post those in a day or two.

Examples:
https://technical.ly/philly/2017/09/18/amber-wanner-linkedin
https://technical.ly/philly/2017/09/05/sexual-harassment-problem/