When you fail to hire correctly, they begin this way. In many cases, an employee becomes dissatisfied, and then….
Quits Before Leaving
In Adam Grant’s Originals, Grant cites economist Albert Hirschman, book, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States, sharing four different options for handling a dissatisfying situation.
Do you believe you can effect change, and do you care enough to try? If you believe you’re stuck with the status quo, you’ll choose neglect when you’re not committed, and persistence when you are. If you do feel you can make a difference, but you aren’t committed to the person, country, or organization, you’ll leave.
Only when you believe your actions matter and care deeply will you consider speaking up.
A Better Boss – Supportive or Disagreeable?
As much as agreeable people may love us, they often hate conflict even more. Their desire to please others and preserve harmony makes them prone to backing down instead of sticking up for us. “Because agreeable people value cooperation and conform to norms, they should not be inclined to make waves and upset interpersonal relationships,” management researchers Jeff LePine and Linn Van Dyne write after studying voice. It is often the prickly people who are more comfortable taking a stand against others and against convention. A Google employee put it, disagreeable managers may have a bad user interface but a great operating system.
In a study led by psychologist Stéphane Côté, it was discovered, agreeable people are happiest in the moments they dole out compliments and praise, smile and laugh with others, express affection, reassure others, and compromise or make concessions to please others.
Disagreeable people, in contrast, experience the greatest joy when they criticize, confront, or challenge others.
Key Point: In the decision to speak up, whom we choose as our audience matters as much as how we deliver our message. When we speak up to agreeable audiences, their instinct is to nod and smile. They accommodate to avoid conflict, shy away from critical feedback.
Disagreeable managers are more inclined to challenge us, improving our ability to speak up effectively.
Instead of speaking up to audiences who are highly agreeable, we’re better off targeting suggestions to people with a history of originality. Research shows that when managers have a track record of challenging the status quo, they tend to be more open to new ideas and less threatened by contributions from others. They care more about making the organization better than about defending it as it stands. They’re motivated to advance the organization’s mission, which means they’re not so loyal that they turn a blind eye to its shortcomings.
Middle Management Insecurity Stifles Innovation
Social scientists have discovered a middle-status conformity effect. If you’re perched at the top, you’re expected to be different and therefore have the license to deviate. Likewise, if you’re still at the bottom of a status hierarchy, you have little to lose and everything to gain by being original. But the middle segment of that hierarchy—where the majority of people in an organization are found—is dominated by insecurity.
When you have a bit of respect, you value your standing in the group. You don’t want to jeopardize it. To maintain and then gain status, you play a game of follow-the-leader, conforming to prove your worth as a group member. As sociologist George Homans observed, “Middle-status conservatism reflects the anxiety experienced by one who aspires to a social station but fears disenfranchisement.” The fall from low to lower hardly hurts; the fall from middle to low is devastating.
Middle-status conformity leads us to choose the safety of the tried-and-true over the danger of the original.
Growth demands Strategic Discipline.
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