Credit where Credit is Due
I’m not talking about credit cards or loans. I am talking about credit for accomplishments.
My corporate mentor taught that giving credit to others for work well done is unlimited, that giving credit does not diminish your own, and that it should be dished out liberally. This advice was given independent of the gender of the mentored worker. My mentor was male, and the strategy worked well for not only him but for many of us who worked for him.
A recent study says such a strategy can be a disaster for a female worker. Basically, it proves many senior men are happy to take advantage of women’s work, and don’t give credit in return. Does that mean females shouldn’t use a free credit strategy at all, or does it mean more men should use it more and that women should demand their own credit when it is due while continuing to give to others?
There is a game they teach in classes about highly effective leaders taught by Steven Covey. It has to do with “white balls” — giving positive credit or reference, helping out, playing nice, or “black balls” — negative support, sabotaging, moving to win in ways that force others to lose, working in ways that fall short of teamwork. There is a small credit for a positive ball , and a big credit for a negative ball, unless both people give negative balls in which case there is a large negative score for each. The character dilemma to study is who will throw negative balls and how will they game theory it?
My mentor, who grew up on city streets, tempted us saying to throw positive balls on all but the last round, then throw your single negative ball hoping and persuading everyone else in your group to throw a positive. But he had a bigger lesson in mind. He invented more rounds once we got back to the office. If anyone threw a negative ball on the last round, they learned the hard way the resentment is real and long lasting. His lesson: there is no “last round”. The only safe strategy is to throw positive balls. Corallary: once the negative balls start, it is really hard to get them to stop.
Recently Trump came to speak in Phoenix and there were many protestors, and the police had a challenge and a dilemma. Should they crack down on protestors and free speech to ensure civil peace? That would have been a negative ball as in the game above. The governor might have been more comfortable with that approach, but he let those working for him, including Police Chief Jeri Williams, use a more win-win and tolerant approach that respected freedom. Protestors on different sides were separated and the peaceful ones that followed orders were protected. The situation was agitated and dangerous, but no one died, in contrast to recent events in Charlottesville.
Even when it came time to disperse and it appeared some weren’t following police orders, the police used rubber bullets. No one died. No one that was keeping the civil peace appears to have been seriously injured. This is an actual result, not theoretical, that deserves a lot of credit, as it is major accomplishment. Most protestors kept the civil peace even though they really didn’t feel like doing so.
Thank you to Jeri Williams, every officer involved, to most of the people attending the rally and most of the protestors. Should Governor Ducey also be thanked? I thought so, working out of a spirit that credit is free and he did decide to trust his people. It is easy in a law and order state like Arizona to use real bullets with little provocation. When I moved here it was common to relegate free speech to a small back corner without microphones where it would not be heard. To the Governor’s credit, and against his own instincts, he allowed a different plan to execute, a more dangerously free plan. I thank him for that.
It is important to throw out positive credit right now. Once the negative balls are thrown, it takes a concerted approach to see positive balls again. Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams showed herself to able to command a tough situation with valor and balance. Others supported her. All should get credit. Take a minute and recognize what it means to be in a country able to hear both sides at such an event, and to have no one killed while doing it. That is what a free country looks like on a good day. The best peace is free, not forced.
There are others that will want to investigate. Another one of my mentor’s sayings: every significant action is controversial to someone. Hopefully the investigation will help us be even more free next time, with a little less danger.
