Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Humanvirusesthatundermineproductivitythreatenorganizationsin
powerfulways.Inthisseries,FredKofmantakesalookathowthey
reachthecoreofbusinessandhowwecancombatthem.
1. Productivity Killers
2. Ethical Myopia
4. Ontological Arrogance
2011AxialentInc.Allrightsreserved.
5. Narcissistic Negotiation
Productivity
Killers
By Fred Kofman
individualexample:achildclaimsthetoybroke(heorshe
had nothing to do with it). An organizational example: a
manager says the project slowed down (he or she had
nothingtodowithit).
Ontologicalarrogance:thebeliefthatmyperceptionofthe
worldconstitutestheobjectivetruth;thatthosewhodonot
seewhatIseeareblind.Theinfectedpartyregardshimor
herself as the owner of reality and reason and hence
demandsobedience.Anindividualexample:achilddoesnot
not eat broccoli because its yucky, but rather because he
doesnt like the taste. An organizational example: the
customersarenotbeingdifficult,but
rather the salesperson does not know
howtomakeanattractivesalespitch.
How do we safeguard
organizations from
cultural viruses?
First,howdothesevirusesreachtheorganizationaloperative
system? Hidden in a Trojan horse: in the mind of each
member.Howdotheyreachtheindividualmind?Peopleare
born with certain weaknesses that are exploited by
ideological viruses latent in the social atmosphere. Every
human being (and every human organization) suffers the
consequencesoffivevirusesthatwereinstalledinhisorher
biosoftwareduringearlychildhood:
Ethicalmyopia:valuesaresubordinatedtoimmediatesuccess
Victimhood:irresponsibility;beingavictimofcircumstances
Ontologicalarrogance:mytruthistheonlytruth
Narcissisticnegotiation:Ionlywiniftherestloses
Dishonoredcommitments:lackofintegrityandcreditorcare
Productivity Killers
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Ethical Myopia
By Fred Kofman
restonourdiscipline,forexampleresistingthetemptationof
aneasyorfastsolution.
Similarly, companies can reap positive effects by exercising
disclipine. For instance, organziations that subordinate
seemingly urgent matters to important matters generate
greaterprofitability,growthandvalueforshareholdersthan
those that focus only on the current issues. As Jim Collins
explainsinthebookGoodtoGreat,extraordinarycompanies
have disciplined people, disciplined thought and disciplined
action.
Homer provides an example of
disclipline and forwardthinking in The
Odyssey when Odysseus sails near an
island of Sirens, famous for their
enthralling song that lures sailors to
their demise at the reefs. To avoid
disaster,Odysseusplugsthesailorsears
withwax,tieshimselftotheshipsmast
and tells the sailors to ignore his next
orders. This restriction allows him to experience the
temptationwithoutfallingpreytoit.
Ethical Myopia
OrganizationalseasareplaguedwithSirens.Theirsongssay:
To make this sale dont tell the customer that you cant
possibly meet the promised delivery date; To get the loan
donttellthebankthatoneofyourmajorcustomersisgoing
bankrupt;Ifsomeonedoesntsupportyourideas,consider
that person an enemy and get him out of your way. For
manymanagers(andtheirorganizations),thesesongsareas
irresistibleastheyaredisastrous.
We cannot afford to plug our ears we need to use all our
sensestonavigateturbulentwaters.Towhatmastcanwetie
ourselvestostayontherighttrackwhiletheSirenssing?The
only enduring security is the commitment to transcendent
values like responsibility, honesty, respect, and integrity.
Whenweare notundercharms,weknowthatthesevalues
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Ethical Myopia
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The Victim
Virus
By Fred Kofman
Regrettably,manypeoplechoosetofocustheirattentionon
theaspectsoutsidetheircontrol.Thesepeopleareinfected
withthevictimvirus,andwhensomethinggoeswrong,they
explain blame away as fate or
somebody elses fault, just as my
daughter did in regard to her broken
dolls.
Regrettably, many
people choose
to focus their
attention on the
aspects outside
their control.
Fromanearlyage,wearetaughtthatresponibilityandguilt
are intertwined and that both should be avoided at all
costs. In my house, this became evident through dialogues
withmy5yearolddaughter,whosebeheadeddollsIusedto
fix. What happened? Id ask when she would bring me a
doll.Itbroke,shedsay,distancingherselffromanycausal
role. It seems that her dolls had a habit of committing
suicide
Unfortunately, examples of victimhood also abound among
adultsandintheworkplace.Forexample,anITmanagerwho
receives a complaint from a customer may blame the
programmers. His story may be true, but it also may
conveniently overlook his role in supervising the
programmers work. In another case, an account executive
may claim to have lost a client because the logistics
department fell behind with the order. Though true, the
explanation may omit that the executive never asked the
TheVictimVirus
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Unlikevictims,playersseethemselvesasanintegralpartof
thesystemthatgeneratedanunwantedresult,andassuch,a
leveragepointforchange.
By simply changing our perspective, we can shed light on a
fundamental truth: we have the unconditional power to
chooseourbehavior.
Playersrejectthecausaldefinitionofresponsibility.Rather,
they take on responseability, or the ability to respond in
thefaceofanysituation,interpretingfactorsoutsideoftheir
controlaschallengesinvitingaresponse.
Goingfromvictimtoplayerentailsachangeofconsciousness
thatrequiresleavingbehindourattachmenttobeingright
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Ontological
Arrogance
By Fred Kofman
MyclientMarcelooftenremindsmeofmydaughterMichelle
whenshewasjust5yearsold.Atthatage,Michellerefused
toeatbroccoli,claimingitwasyucky.Marcelo,ontheother
hand, refuses to discuss business issues with Gustavo,
claiminghesanidiot.
Of course, Marcelos behavior has significantly more serious
consequences.HeisthemarketingmanagerforLatinAmerica
ofawellknownmultinational,andGustavoisinchargeofthe
companys most important line
of products for the region. If
Marcelo acts unilaterally, he will
causeadisaster;notonlywillhe
create operative problems, but
he will also jeopardize the
relations between his function
andGustavosdivision.
But,sinceitisimpossibletooperatewithoutopinions,whatis
the alternative? How do we express an opinion without
arrogance? The key is adopting a humble attitude, and
accepting that our perspective is not the only possible one.
Our opinions reflect our personal reactions to facts rather
thanthefactsthemselves.Andourreactionsareconditioned
byouraccesstoinformation,ourinterestsandneeds.Ifother
people are otherwise informed, or have different needs or
interests,itfollowsthattheiropinionswillbedifferenteven
regardingtheexactsamefacts.
Thus follows that the language of ontological humility is
based on the appropriation of our opinions and the
considerationoftheopinionsofothers.Inordertoestablisha
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dialogueofmutualacceptanceandrespect,wemustnotonly
learntoexpressouropinions,butalsothethoughtprocesses
behind them and their consequences. Similarly, we must
learn to inquire about the thought processes behind the
other persons opinions and the recommendations derived
from them. These are fundamental competencies that most
professionalsfailtoacquire.
A persons maturity is reflected by his or her capacity to
integrate different points of view. To achieve this, we must
overcome our attachment to our own perspectives and
Ontological Arrogance
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Narcissistic
Negotiation
By Fred Kofman
Whetherornotyouhavekids,thisconversationwillprobably
soundfamiliar:Thecookieismine.No,itsmine.Isawit
first.Iclaimeditfirst.andsoon.
As basic as it sounds, I believe its worth giving this childish
conflict deeper thought. Whats happening beneath the
surface here points to widely unacknowledged challenges
lurking in our own, adult conversations, from everday
communicationtohighstakesnegotiations.
Thechildrensargument(andanyother)canbeexplainedin
two ways, maintaining one key principle of negotiation
theory:conflictisalwaysbornfromscarcity.(Inotherwords,
when there is enough for everybody,
there is no conflict.) The kids could be
having a straightforward conflict over
materialscarcity,orthesinglecookiethat
theybothwanttoeat.Ifenoughcookies
for both were provided, the conflict
would only continue due to a deeper
source emotional scarcity. In this case,
thechildrenwouldengageincompetition
staged around the cookie(s), with the
scarce resource simply being the act of
winning(andbydoingso,provingonesworth).
Narcissistic Negotiation
Butitsnotsosimple.Withinthisseeminglymaterialconflict
hidvolatileemotionalelements.Thesearecommonlycaused
by people identifying closely with their positions and
reacting defensively in the face of threatening
modifications.
Imagine someone telling you that your proposal was stupid.
Howwouldyoufeel?Despitethecommentsreferencetothe
proposal rather than the person presenting it, most of us
wouldtakeitasapersonalattack.Ourdefensivereactionhas
the following base logic: only a stupid person makes stupid
proposals; therefore, calling my proposal stupid amounts to
callingmestupid.
By the same logic, anyone opposing my position necessarily
opposes me, and becomes a threat to my wellbeing, public
image and selfesteem. Thus, it becomes paramount to
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Narcissistic Negotiation
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Our Word
Dishonored
By Fred Kofman
Togetbyintodaysworld,wedependonthecooperationof
an incredible number of people. Consider, for instance, just
how many people contribute to your morning coffee:
producers,carriers,retailersandsecondaryserviceproviders,
amongmanyothers.Allofthemindividualsandcompanies
alikeformanimpressivenetworkofcoordinatedactionsto
eventuallydeliverthatfinaloutcome.
This coordination directly influences the success of our
businesses and economy. As the economist and philospher
Francis Fukuyama said, Economic life depends on moral
bonds of social trust the unspoken, unwritten bond
between fellow citizens that
facilitates
transactions,
empowers individual creativity,
and justifies collective action.
Thesocialcapitalrepresentedby
trust is as important as physical
capital.
Ahighlevelofconsciousnessisessentialtomakingeffective
commitments and avoid entering into agreements lightly.
We must be aware of the impact that we have, not only on
the outcomes of specific projects or tasks but also on our
relationshipswithothersandourpersonalintegrity.Itiskey
that we exercise the concsiousness and care that
demonstrate this broader understanding and this includes
establishinglimitsorsayingnoratherthansettingyourself
upfordishonoringyourwordlater.
A clear commitment begins with a clear request: To obtain
(A),Iaskapersontodo(B)during(C).(A)isadeclarationof
objectivesitcanbeasbroadas
youwish;eventoreduceworld
suffering would work here. (B)
is a specific, verifiable action or
result, also known as a
condition of satisfaction. An
example is I ask Charles to
donate to the Red Cross USD
$10permonthforayear.(C)is
atimeframe,forexample,next
month.
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