“The New Face of Community” is the title of a discussion thread in the World Cafe Community that has been running for two years, and has produced some thought-provoking entries.
One contributor was a petty criminal in his youth. He no longer follows this ‘career’, and has spent a great deal of time thinking about what prompted his choice in the first place. The ultimate reason was that “our greater community wasn’t our community.” In other words, he chose not to be a responsible member of his society, because that society did not want him to have a say in how it was run. Perhaps a typical adolescent view, but it does give pause for thought.
For me, it was an opportunity to reflect on workplaces and workplace culture, and the reminder that each organization is a mini-society, often with multiple communities. In following the above logic, then: If we want to feel part of the community (the corporate or departmental culture), then the society (organization) needs to consciously want us and give us the opportunity to have a say. This means responsibility on the part of the leadership team to be a role model and put the processes in place that enable safe dialogue (ie no fear of reprisal if people don’t like what they hear or think the idea is bonkers). It also means responsibility on the part of followers, who have a responsibility to trust the intention behind the leadership and their colleagues even if they don’t always get it right.
Do you see your workplace culture as a mini-society? Do you feel part of the community? If not, what would help you feel part of that community? If you have committed a ‘crime’ in your corporate society, what was the ‘crime’ and what was the ‘punishment’?
Tags: corporate culture