Seth Godin recently ran an excerpt from his book Free Prize Inside that got us thinking about fear in the workplace. Godin finds the root of workplace angst in Henry Ford’s decision to pay workers based on productivity rather than replacement value. His take is that we’re insecure in our jobs because deep down we know that we’re replaceable.
We’d like to add another source of our insecurity. When you go into work today you have two responsibilities. One is to get your job done. The other is to meet the cultural expectations of your workplace. The cultural expectations are the unwritten rules and codes that add a layer of complexity to your job. Some of those cultural expectations may include:
1. Being on time
2. Showing obedience to your boss
3. Using certain buzzwords or slogans
4. Sending ideas up through “proper channels”
Not all cultural expectations are bad. There are work cultures that genuinely value transparency, innovation, community involvement, and so forth.
But there are also cultural expectations that are crippling and destructive. If you’re stuck in a workplace that has any of the unwritten rules we mentioned above, then you know what we mean.
Take the relatively common example of a workplace that strictly enforces traditional working hours. You may be absolutely terrific at your job, but if you’re not on time every day (or if you leave “early” one day) then you’re branded a bad worker. So you have to be afraid of your kids taking too long to get ready. You have to be afraid of catching a bad break during your commute. You have to be afraid of something coming up in your life that might require you to leave at 4:00 instead of 5:00.
You’re afraid of being replaced not only because someone else could do your job, but because someone else might be more willing to tolerate the culture. We wonder how much workplace insecurity out there actually has to do with people worrying about not being able to do their jobs. How many people are in over their heads when it comes to the task at hand? And how many people feel like they’re drowning because of the culture of their workplace? Let us know.
