Former Community – We Moved
🆕 Coached community here, for posts & feedback public community here.
Dealing with political and fault-finding cultures
Hello Lucio,
I think we agree on the importance of the growth mindset. One of my goals is to bring it to the workplace. However, in the meantime I am dealing with the common work culture. In my line of work, the whole culture is not at ease with mistakes. There is no positive way of dealing with mistakes so it all becomes a finger-pointing culture. People are then very afraid of making mistakes or being seen making a mistake. So this creates an atmosphere of fear and of mistake-hiding/mistake-finding game.
What is your opinion on this topic?
I think one has to adapt to the culture. Now, I think in any case of doubt I will ask my supervisor. This is what is expected of me but it also takes a lot of autonomy from us. This means that basically we are not really allowed to make mistakes and when mistakes happen, the reaction is to look for the one who did it.
The problem is that in medicine, there are concepts that are known: to find the reason in the system of the mistake, not the person. But the culture and norms have not integrated this yet. Or the ones above have the right to make mistakes but not the ones below.
To me this kind of cultures are quite negative. Especially when you add the politicking and the gossiping.
Hey John,
Well, what are my thoughts about that... I agree with you.
It's definitely not an ideal, or what I refer to as "enlightened" culture, but I'm afraid that's what it's like in many, and possibly most, organizations.
Like you said, you must somewhat adapt.
I wouldn't do the fingerpointing myself and refrain from all nastiness that's not strictly needed. Such as, I'd adapt only insofar as not adapting would damage you.
Limiting your adaptation to the minimum will also best protect your own self-development. And I'd also adapt while keeping in mind that this is temporary.
It's a bit like the escape scene of Shawshank redemption: you gotta swim through some shit before you reach freedom -or the power to change, influence, or dictate a better culture-.
And in a way, it's part of that "knowing how to be bad", too.
Knowing how to work in toxic environments and flourish, while also remembering that you stand for better values, and you will eventually get to a point where you can institutionalize those values.
Thank you very much. I like how you put it: it's encouraging. Yes, that is what I'm standing for!
