Lessons Your Company Culture Can Learn from Ghost Hunting
My wife and I, are historical travelers. By this, I mean that we like to go places that have a story. While many of the people we know head for tropical destinations, we look to go places where we can learn about the area. I’ll just say that Hawaii has never been at the top of my list. Although, I’m sure there are some extremely interesting things that you can learn there. In our travels, one of the things that we have found that provides you some of the best background for any given area, is to participate in what is referred to as a “haunted tour”. I call them Ghost Tours. Typically speaking, these are led by a person that is VERY theatrical and typically is a fan favorite in Community Theater. They are usually very talented in what they do. They take you around the areas and buildings of the city and tell you stories of the history of the location, peppered with instances when people have seen ghosts.
Our last conquest was San Diego. Now, yes, I understand that it is somewhat tropical, but there is a reason we chose this as our destination. You see, in Old Town San Diego, there is what is referred to as the “Whaley House”. Purchased by the Thomas Whaley family in August of 1857. This house is actually recognized as one of the most “haunted houses” in America. They have paranormal activity on a daily basis.
While at the Whaley House, we spoke to the tour guide there who has seen Thomas Whaley. Also, he’s been dead for 117 years. Now, as she told us about her experience, she made reference to a time when she saw a man dressed in period clothing (essentially, the styles that were popular when they died) walk through the hallway and into a room at the end of said hallway. Being a tour guide, it was her duty to make sure that everyone in the house was always present and accounted for. Having not seen this man as part of her group, she went to confront him. As she went in to the room that he turned into, it was empty. You might call this hullaballoo, but this is a fairly common occurrence with hauntings.
There are, in theory, seven different kinds of haunting. For today’s purpose, I’ll mention two. The first is what is referred to as a “Residual Haunting”. This is similar to a recording. It essentially plays over and over again and never changes. This is the kind of haunting that was experienced by our tour guide. Thomas Whaley was “going about his business”. This type of haunting rarely, if ever, interacts with you. You are seeing their life and their daily activities on a continuous loop. It does the same thing over and over again. When most people see him, he’s doing the same thing.
A company culture can be like a residual haunting. A company may have an engaging culture, meaning that it is there and it exists, but there’s really no interaction. Your employees go day-in, day-out, minding their business and following their routine. Sure, there’s a ping-pong table, and occasionally, the team goes to lunch. But what real impact is being made for the employee. What kind of meaningful work is part of their day? How are you as their manager impacting their life? This is where the second form of haunting comes in to play.
The second kind of haunting is an “Intelligent” haunting. This means that there is a personality attached to that spirit. It will interact with you. It will respond to questions. It is looking for that engagement with you. In the same house, you have Violet Whaley. She is an intelligent haunt kind of girl. In short, she was married to her first cousin, who ended up being a con-artist and just wanted to marry Violet for the dowry. In other words, he was a scumbag. She awoke one morning and he was gone. She divorced him. Divorce was very uncommon back then, and because she was divorced as well as other reasons, she sank into a deep depression, and felt that her only option was to commit suicide. Since then, she has haunted the house. She gets people to follow her. She pushes her sadness and emotions off on to the visitors of the house. She provides and experience that will last with your forever!
An “Engagement” work culture is by far, the better approach to your company culture. When surveyed, many employees said that one of the greatest cultural benefits is feeling like you are part of something. An environment where you make the difference. Engagement means having meaningful conversations. I am a part of decision making, and my opinion matters, not just to me, but to my management team as well. I begin to provide meaningful work, and I’m not just going with the flow. So often we get to a point in our day where we are just counting the minutes until that clock strikes five! Engagement means that there’s not enough time in the day for me to share all of my ideas.
You begin to live and breathe your company culture. It becomes part of who you are. The Whaley House is not just a destination because Thomas Whaley was rich and owned some stores in the area. People go because of the stories. Travelers want to feel the icy touch of Violet Whaley against their arm. They want to see if they can get Thomas Whaley’s granddaughter, Mary, to tug on their hand. They want to feel part of the experience. Not just to see it, but to feel it.
This is why an “Engagement” culture is so much stronger than an “Engaged” culture. There is so much more conviction and loyalty when I feel as though I am an acting part of my workplace culture. If I am involved with the culture, rather than part of a company that has a company culture, then I have the potential to become the company’s greatest fan and supporter. You need that form of dedication. Otherwise, I just become a residual haunting that does the same thing day after day, with no deviation. And that, does nothing to make me believe!
