KINDNESS IN THE WORKPLACE? REALLY?
The Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
I remember it well, since it coincided with me doing a three week programme at London Business School.
Did the programme make me a better manager? Let’s go with “probably”.
But I do remember writing this on my feedback form on the course:
“Altruism in organisations does exist you know”.
I had been forcibly and negatively struck by the cynical attitude to human behaviour which permeated the teaching over the three weeks.
I thought about this again when reading Rutger Bregman’s book “Humankind” this week.
Whilst not blind to the fact that we humans have a dark side, he makes the point in multiple ways over 400 pages, that humanity is basically kind, and that if we work from that premise, kindness is what we will ultimately get in return.
That in turn made me think of Sir David Barnes, the former CEO of Zeneca and an architect of the AstraZeneca merger, whom I once heard say that in all of his business career he had always started from a position of trusting those with whom he came into contact, and only been let down twice.
There is no naivety here. Of course, as humans we have a good side and a not-so-good side. The question is which starting point we choose when forming relationships.
Mike was telling me recently about a tough relationship with his manager Claire. In Mike’s mind, Claire was behaving badly towards him. To which Mike was responding badly in turn. And on it went.
“But” said I, with the benefit of distance, “what if there’s a different way of looking at Claire’s behaviour? Maybe your attribution of her motive is skewed”.
So Mike started to assume the best of Claire. And guess what? “The best” was what he got.
Had Mike read it wrong initially? We don’t know. It actually doesn’t matter.
But what we do know is that by assuming the best, he got the best.
Whereas when he assumed the worst, he appeared to get the worst.
Cynicism abounds in organisational life. As I found, it’s there in Business Schools. And it doesn’t stop there. Just switch on the TV.
Not a plea for naivety then. Not an invitation to let others walk all over us. We need to remain alert to that and draw a line when necessary.
But giving trust and therefore kindness a go might just make our bit of the workplace a better bit of the workplace. It worked for David Barnes. It’s worked for me.
Is it a risk? Absolutely. But trust can be contagious. So can cynicism.
Somebody has to make the first move though. Maybe you? Maybe me?
FANCY A SLIGHTLY LONGER READ?
Maybe try one or more of the books
