This has bothered me for a long time. First – there is no Steve in real life. No Steves were harmed during the development of this blog post. No Steves will be harmed by reading this post. Steve was a random name randomly selected to illustrate a point.
On transparency and communication in corporations and other government organizations. Decoding the secret language of bureaucracies.
The best way to describe the way that some of these organizations operate is by example. Meet Steve. Steve is a mid-level employee and has been for several years. Steve gets along well with his coworkers, does his job and doesn’t complain.
Steve has been taking peoples’ food and drinks from the employee breakroom for at least a year. Everyone knows that Steve does this. There is a running joke in the department about something being “Steved” or taken without permission. Nobody has ever said a word to Steve about this.
Obviously they have spoken to each other about it. Some of his coworkers have reported it to their supervisors or management or HR, rather than talking to Steve. Their response was to send memo to the entire agency, rather than speaking to Steve. Although it was sent to everyone, they all knew it was directed at Steve.
The Memo
Dear (agency) Talent Givers and Energy Sharers, We just want a quick 2 minutes out of your workday journey to get an empowerment vibe going. We need your help. We need you to lock-in and walk alongside us on our journey together of achieving the Mission of our organizational family. It has been said that an individual or individuals are not respecting the equitable nutrition space and not honoring the belongings of their partner Givers and Sharers as we are all encouraged to do, per the (company name) Vibe-N-Guide Giver and Sharer Advancement Roadmap to Authenticity and Daily Affirmations handbook everyone received when we welcomed you in.
Translation – your coworkers snitched, everyone knows and everyone is watching you, consult your handbook for disciplinary actions (Steve) and remember, we gave you this job and we can take it right back.
Steve, knowing this was about him and realizing that his coworkers and supervisors thought he was a thief for who knows how long was so embarrassed that he took medical leave and so angry that he sued and won.
Why do we have to go through all of this when anyone at anytime could tell Steve to stop taking their stuff? Or better yet, ask him. If they had, Steve would have told them it was him and explained why he was surprised that anyone was upset.
He would have told them that when he first started, he asked his coworker if he had anything to eat. Steve was on a deadline and couldn’t leave or get anything delivered. His coworker said sure, “go to the breakroom and help yourself, it’s totally fine”. Steve thought that meant the food in the breakroom was for anyone unless it had a name or don’t touch written on the packaging. He had been doing it the entire time he worked there. He even “donated” a few times.
This story was symbolic of the way that people in corporations and other government agencies respond to and attempt to resolve conflicts. This notion that the best way to resolve a problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist, avoid the person or people involved, make jokes and host of series of closed door meetings to discuss the problem without speaking to the person or people involved, is dumb.