On Codes of Conduct and Social Change
I was chatting with a friend who had been asked to speak at a tech conference. She noticed that there was no Code of Conduct and sent an email to the organizers with explanations of why they should adopt one, resources for doing so and even templates that they could just copy and paste.
The organizers politely waved my friend off with a vague email about how they have “core principles” and a “strategic plan”.
My friend was frustrated, but she also wanted the gig. Should she say “No I can’t do this conference unless you have a Code of Conduct”, knowing that she does not yet have the clout to force the issue? Or just let it go? I mean she tried, so that should count for something. Right?
It reminded me of a story that an architect recounted to me during my ethnographic field research studying the emergence of green buildings.
This architect had been working with a well-respected law firm on their new building and had suggested that they consider building a LEED certified green building. He made the argument that having a LEED building would not only signal their commitment to the environment but it would also be cost effective as it would help them with their energy efficiency, water usage and environmental footprint.
The law firm was flatly not interested. They said it sounded expensive and they didn’t need to signal their environmental… whatever. They just want a nice building, so could you please just make us something that looks good. The architect went back to work on the drawings.
A few weeks later, the law firm called the architect back up and said, “So about that green building certification thing… tell us more.”
The architect had to ask what had changed since they had last spoken.
It turns out that during that period, the law firm had been interviewing new associates. This is a competitive process and often the new associates are choosing between several different offers. That means the firms themselves want to seem enticing to these young lawyers by showing that their firm is cutting edge and an exciting place to work.
When the law firm told potential new associates that they were building a new office space, every single prospective associate asked them if they were planning to build a LEED certified building in their interview.
Every. Single. One.
This is what social change looks like. Yes it is awesome when folks who have the power and authority can encourage an organization to make a wide sweeping change.
But for those of us who may not yet have the big name leverage to force an issue, we DO actually have something we can say that can make change happen.
People with privilege can calmly say:
“Huh, that’s unusual that you’re not considering building a LEED building. Why wouldn’t you?”
Or in this case,
“Huh, that’s really unusual that your tech conference doesn’t have a code of conduct. Why wouldn’t you?”
Looking for a Code of conduct to adopt at your conference? Here’s one to start with.
Beth M. Duckles is a researcher and ethnographer based in Portland, Oregon. Find her at bethduckles.com
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