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Reading the discussion on this question, I can't help wondering: does
society place too much emphasis on getting along with everybody in the
workplace?
In some ways, the emphasis makes sense. After all, at least part of the
time, many of us spend more time with those we work with than with our
friends and families. But how much of this emphasis is due simply to HR
and executives adapting the latest flavour-of-the-month popular
psychology? I often encounter people talking about the importance of
building a team, but I can't remember the last time I heard or read
someone worrying about how to make employees make better use of their
time or more knowledgable about their jobs.
The assumption, I suppose, is that, if you can build a team, then better
work habits follow. However, that isn't necessarily the case. A few
years ago, I was working for a company whose team-building was second to
none. Employees frequently socialized with one another, and all sorts of
office traditions were established. Many employees said it was their
dream job. But the company took twice as long as it should have to
develop the second version of its main product, never had a clear
business plan, and went bankrupt last year. Many of the employes still
keep in touch with each other, so the team-building was obviously highly
successful. Yet team-building didn't produce a sustainable company.
Personally, I can develop a decent working relation with almost anyone
(or so I tell myself). But, given that the people I work with are chance
acquaintances, what are the odds that I'm going to have a lot in common
with more than two or three of them? Besides, one problem with
socializing with people you work with is that you tend to talk shop in
your leisure time, which isn't very restful.
Ultimately, companies are what Kurt Vonnegut called granfalloons:
arbitrary groups of people with no real connection to each other. The
people in them draw pay cheques from the same source, and work towards a
common goal for a while, and that's it. So, as long as they're not
assaulting each other in the aisles or sniping at each other verbally,
why do we worry so much about how they get along?
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"I have lead a good life, quiet and artistic,
Now I shall have an old age, coarse and anarchistic."
- Utah Phillips
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