How - Dov Seidman [123]
• Self-governing cultures, by contrast, require conditions of transparency to thrive. If individuals, inspired by the core values of the group, are to be truly trusted to self-govern then they must have free and unfettered access to the information they need to make sound and reasonable judgments. At Nordstrom, for example, new employees receive a very simple statement that tells them almost everything they need to know about the company’s culture. First, it states Nordstrom’s fundamental commitment, “To provide outstanding customer service.” Then it lists the Nordstrom rules: “Use good judgment. We trust one another’s integrity and ability. Our only rule: Use good judgment in all situations.”6 Perhaps no finer statement of self-governance exists today. But the key to the Nordstrom culture lies in the next statement, the last new employees receive: “Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.” Deeply imbedded within the self-governing culture of Nordstrom is the idea that all information is accessible to everyone, regardless of seniority or status.
How We Behave
There are three basic ways that people can compel action in others: (1) They can coerce them, bullying, threatening, or cajoling them to do something against their will; (2) they can motivate them, using promises of reward or fear and threats of repercussion to get them to willingly agree that the desired action is in their best interest; or (3) they can inspire them, connect with them in a way that the desired action become a common goal. The second HOW of culture broadly encompasses the source and reason for personal or group behavior. Why do people do what they do? What keeps them from doing A rather than B?
• In blind obedience cultures, people obey. Autocratic leaders keep people in line by coercing them to comply. “Wear blue pants or you’ll be fired” is a clear indicator of a coercive relationship between leaders and followers. If you imagine a spectrum between internal and external control of behavior, blind obedience falls furthest toward the latter. The source of authority (i.e., who gets to decide things) falls to a power figure who can make unilateral decisions and wield that authority without recourse over those below them. To accommodate this sort of power structure, blind obedience cultures tend to have extremely vertical management structures, with authority concentrated in the hands of the few. Each boss rules his or her domain like an independent silo and fiefdom. The boss keeps everyone in line, decides what’s right and wrong, and provides clear marching orders.
If this sounds like the Army, you would not be far from wrong. Modern military cultures, which grew out of the experience of World War I, made blind obedience culture into a high art, and with great success. Unquestioning submission to central authority, they believed, built the floors of certainty, predictability, and unit cohesion necessary for soldiers to lay down their lives for one another. Though it may not sound like the most appealing culture in which to work, you might be surprised to learn that the movie business grew up in the same model. The fledgling motion picture industry took off just after the First World War. Returning veterans, looking for new opportunity, flocked to the West Coast to take up crew positions in this fast-growing new field. Film crews, like armies, are large mobile units that must move people and machinery from location to location in response to every changing demand. It made perfect