
A scene from the Orphan Girl Theatre's production of Antigone at the Butte Center for the Performing Arts in 2003. Sophocles' play Antigone contains one of the earliest known references to the idea of "killing the messenger." It is safe to assume that the idea is eons older than that. Photo courtesy the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts and the Butte Center for the Performing Arts.
Because we cannot fix what we cannot talk about, the "elephant in the room" can remain at large indefinitely, causing organizational difficulty, creating stress, raising costs and even creating catastrophes. Often, the elephant becomes discussible only after the damage becomes so obvious as to become undeniable.
Here's Part II of a set of indicators that a group or organization may be harboring elephants. This part emphasizes organizational attributes and policies. See "Stalking the Elephant in the Room: I," Point Lookout for June 9, 2010, for some indicators related to personal behavior.
- Messengers have been "killed"
- Some of those with power have occasionally "killed the messenger" as retribution for delivering bad news. This practice encourages others to withhold bad news, or to misrepresent situations as benign when they are not, which provides cover for elephants. To provide cover for elephants, metaphorically killing messengers isn't necessary; metaphorically wounding one now and then is almost as effective.
- High prices for asking for what you need
- When resources are inadequate, those who ask for what they actually need to carry out their responsibilities pay a high price. Their integrity is questioned, they might be relieved of their responsibilities, or they might find future assignments unappealing or degrading. This practice deters others from asking for what they need, and encourages people to believe the unbelievable.
- You've definitely found one elephant
- Elephants like to travel in small herds. An organization capable of tiptoeing around one elephant can probably find the means to tiptoe around several.
- Love-hate relationships
- In the Love form, We cannot fix what
we cannot talk aboutwhenever A speaks, B supports A, even if A is withdrawing a statement previously supported by B. In the Hate form, B opposes A, no matter what. No one ever comments about this pattern. - Unresolved feuds
- A feud is a Hate relationship involving more than two individuals. Several different factions might be involved in a long-running feud.
- Abrupt, mysterious turnover
- Someone recently quit or was "terminated." The departed provides no satisfactory reason for leaving, and we sometimes don't even know whether the departure was voluntary.
- The existence of organizational black holes
- When organizational problems are reported through appropriate channels to the appropriate people in appropriate ways, there's no evidence of investigation or corrective action of any kind. The report simply disappears as if into a black hole.
- Deft use of "spin"
- When the leaders of an organization deftly use "spin" to mitigate the organizational impact of bad news, either internally or externally, they model that pattern for everyone else. People learn to see what is not there, and to not see what is there. These skills are essential to organizations that harbor elephants.
The items in both parts of this catalog are merely indicators of the possibility of elephants roaming about. Noticing them once in a while isn't proof of elephants, but the more frequently the indicators do occur, the stronger the possibility of elephants. First in this series Top
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Related articles
More articles on Workplace Politics:
Breaking the Rules
- Many outstanding advances are due to those who broke rules to get things done. And some of those who
break rules get fired or disciplined. When is rule breaking a useful tactic?
Obstructionist Tactics: II
- Teams and groups depend for their success on highly effective cooperation between their members. If
even one person is unable or unwilling to cooperate, the team's performance is limited. Here's Part
II of a little catalog of tactics.
How Did I Come to Be So Overworked?
- You're good at your job, but there's just too much of it, and it keeps on coming. Your boss doesn't
seem to realize how much work you do. How does this happen?
Impasses in Group Decision-Making: III
- In group decision-making, impasses can develop. Some are related to the substance of the issue at hand.
With some effort, we can usually resolve substantive impasses. But treating nonsubstantive impasses
in the same way doesn't work. Here's why.
Grace Under Fire: IV
- People can be astonishingly inventive when trying to harm others. Some strategies involve driving to
distraction the target of their malevolence by humiliating the target and lying about the target's character,
deeds, or abilities. Targets who recognize these methods are more likely to be able to maintain composure.
See also Workplace Politics and Conflict Management for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming January 27: Cost Concerns: Comparisons
- When we assess the costs of different options for solving a problem, we must take care not to commit a variety of errors in approach. These errors can lead to flawed decisions. One activity at risk for error is comparing the costs of two options. Available here and by RSS on January 27.
And on February 3: Cost Concerns: Bias
- When we consider the costs of problem solutions too early in the problem-solving process, the results of comparing alternatives might be unreliable. Deferring cost concerns until we fully understand the problem can yield more options and better decisions. Available here and by RSS on February 3.
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ion-makers in modern organizations commonly demand briefings in the form of bullet points or a series of series of bullet points. But this form of presentation has limited value for complex decisions. We need something more. We actually need to think. Briefers who combine the bullet-point format with a variety of persuasion techniques can mislead decision-makers, guiding them into making poor decisions. Read more about this program.
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Beware any resource that speaks of "winning" at workplace politics or "defeating" it. You can benefit or not, but there is no score-keeping, and it isn't a game.
- Wikipedia has a nice article with a list of additional resources
- Some public libraries offer collections. Here's an example from Saskatoon.
- Check my own links collection
- LinkedIn's Office Politics discussion group