Nonsense at Work

Stuffiness has purpose:

Did you hear the one about the banker who spent $1.2 million last year to redecorate his office?

I remember a time when bankers were stuffy and so were their offices.  I remember how uncomfortable that stuffiness made me feel when I asked for a loan, but also how that same stuffiness made me comfortable that my money would still be there in the bank when I needed it.

It seems our money started disappearing when that stuffiness went out of style.

Please, all you leaders out there, don’t mess with the culture and values that you have inherited with your position.  Old cultures have reasons for those values.  If you fiddle with the culture without understanding the reasons, you risk the continuity of your organization.  You will create a mind-set that debunks values without understanding consequences.

Because of that mind-set the same banker now stands accused of paying out $4 billion in bonuses even though his bank lost $27 billion.

I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork dot com