4 ms·

Sadly, such an obvious concept but weirdly ignored by a lot of executives. I remember being at a company with "Don't be a jerk" as one of the top culture line

Sadly, such an obvious concept but weirdly ignored by a lot of executives. I remember being at a company with "Don't be a jerk" as one of the top culture lines but one of the most senior executives was probably the craziest jerk you've ever met.

Sevrene 7y ago
There's probably a reason they have to tout that, right. I think one of the most reliable lines I've encountered like that is "I don't like drama". People who say that tend to always be involved in drama, which is why they have to verbalise that they don't like it in the first place. I also do not like drama, but I don't verbalise this, but rather I just avoid it. If you have to say "dont be a jerk", rather than just do it, what does that really say?
- mojuba 7y ago
  I think in psychology it's called mirroring, if I'm not mistaken. A lot of the times those who lecture others (especially when nobody asked them to) are lecturing themselves without realizing it.
hinkley 7y ago
Someone once explained to me that group slogans and mottos are often aspirational rather than descriptive or even prescriptive. I wish I could say I’ve never forgotten that lesson, but the fact is I forget it quite often. I feel a little bit dumber every time mistake a value statement for actual values.
stuart78 7y ago
I worked at a company with the same slogan and the same situation. In that case, the team that made the culture code did not have actual buy in from anybody, they just put up a bunch of signs, partially as a passive aggressive rebuke to the perceived jerk. Always felt like culture is the behavior we tolerate, not the virtues we post in culture guides, and tolerance of bad behavior was a weak point of that management team. All that said, there is often more happening than we know, so I try to keep my own judgmental feelings in check.
kristianc 7y ago
"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sevrene 7y ago

There's probably a reason they have to tout that, right. I think one of the most reliable lines I've encountered like that is "I don't like drama". People who say that tend to always be involved in drama, which is why they have to verbalise that they don't like it in the first place. I also do not like drama, but I don't verbalise this, but rather I just avoid it. If you have to say "dont be a jerk", rather than just do it, what does that really say?

mojuba 7y ago
I think in psychology it's called mirroring, if I'm not mistaken. A lot of the times those who lecture others (especially when nobody asked them to) are lecturing themselves without realizing it.

hinkley 7y ago

Someone once explained to me that group slogans and mottos are often aspirational rather than descriptive or even prescriptive. I wish I could say I’ve never forgotten that lesson, but the fact is I forget it quite often. I feel a little bit dumber every time mistake a value statement for actual values.

stuart78 7y ago

I worked at a company with the same slogan and the same situation. In that case, the team that made the culture code did not have actual buy in from anybody, they just put up a bunch of signs, partially as a passive aggressive rebuke to the perceived jerk. Always felt like culture is the behavior we tolerate, not the virtues we post in culture guides, and tolerance of bad behavior was a weak point of that management team. All that said, there is often more happening than we know, so I try to keep my own judgmental feelings in check.

kristianc 7y ago

"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons" - Ralph Waldo Emerson