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I like the metaphor of "bad apples vs bad barrels" But to me, that raises the question of how to tell the difference. Clearly, there can be individual instanc
by steve_g 5y ago
I like the metaphor of "bad apples vs bad barrels" But to me, that raises the question of how to tell the difference. Clearly, there can be individual instances of unique malfeasance in an organization. But I think it's mostly culture and expectations that allow for bad behavior.
Maybe the difference between bad apples and bad barrels is that the bad apples fear being found out by their organization. Average apples in a bad barrel believe that their actions are tacitly approved, even if the explicit "values" of the organization wouldn't allow them.
- 8note 5y agoBad apples and barrels are a bad metaphor because there's been efforts made to claim that good apples stay good when beside bad apples. To avoid this confusion, you can refer to rolling a ball on a curve. A ball at the top of a hill is the bad apple case - any nudge and the ball will roll down. A ball in a valley will always roll down till it's at the bottom.
- notsureaboutpg 5y agoOnly when people buy into culture / expectations can those be the things that allow for bad behavior. Human beings range on the spectrum from follow-the-herd to contrarian-just-for-the-sake-of-it, which really confounds the ability to place blame for bad behavior here.