Demystifying workplace culture — In the times of HBO Chernobyl
Everyone’s talking about the latest docudrama from HBO — Chernobyl, it’s cinematic brilliance, exceptional performances, and screenplay so powerful it wonderfully captures the Soviet grimness (tension so strong you can almost cut it through a knife). After the letdown of the final season of Game of Thrones, watching Chernobyl’s very first episode makes you consider redeeming HBO; or not.
Anyhow, this article is based on the third episode, a particular statement of the third episode rather. When Valery Legasov confronts KGB Chairman Charkov for the arrest of nuclear scientist Khomyuk, Charvok takes a moment to deconstruct the KGB
“KGB is a circle of accountability”
This statement grows on you, it certainly did on me. Coming to workplace culture — Now I’m not an HR by anyway, but organisational design and workplace dynamics is something I take a keen interest in. This statement made me think more deeply, of how teams’ behaviour and in turn workplace culture can be affected by it.
Building blocks of an organisation’s culture are a set of values. The guiding principles which direct, and define how a company stands for, for the things it does. These values then trickle down to what we then define as acceptable behaviour. This, I believe, is the tricky bit. How does an organisation determine, and lay down what’s acceptable? The set of behaviours, in my opinion, and experience, are determined at site level (in smaller organisations)/team level (in mid-size or bigger orgs). The only criteria being — the set of acceptable behaviours should resonate, and uplift the values laid down by the organisation. It is this collection of these behaviours exhibited by the team members which ultimately built our workplace culture.
Now let’s go back to the picture and the statement of the episode — “KGB is a circle of accountability”. At modern workplaces, it often translates to a culture of gossip. This often results in employees being apprehensive about bringing out their personalities, and often stick to what they know and see as popular and accepted. A place in which accountability is measured and even tested at all times. Workplaces can come up with sophisticated models of preserving their culture, they may even allot budgets for engaging their employees through activities. However, all efforts are zeroed down if that workplaces allow, flourish or even promote the habit of testing the accountability — and thereby giving rise to dissatisfaction.
Sure, we as humans, tend to engage in gossip from time to time. Or even question the authenticity of employees’ intent and commitment. At workplaces, we must do so with caution. When we see our mentors, role models or figures of inspiration promoting it, we often subconsciously act display and follow, the same set of behaviours as well.
Whenever we find ourselves in a situation of fixing the so-called “office culture”, let’s take a moment to introspect and see things bottom-up instead of top-down.
For workplace culture may be imagined in a boardroom, but gets certainly built near the water cooler.
