Encourage "talking back"
Does "talking back" still exist in the workplace?
I've been re-reading a novel from the 90s1, and I've been struck by how often characters at work are apologising for, or being told off for, "talking back" or offering opinions for things where "it's not their place".
EG: An advertising agency Account Director is told "it's not his place" to have views about how the team should be arranged across accounts by the Client Partner he reports to.
EG: the 2nd in command at a TV production company apologises for "talking back" to the CEO when he asked her to explain her reasoning as to why he can't serve as a Producer on the show they are creating.
This strikes me as... just utterly bizarre. But I can't tell if these are concepts from the past that are basically dead now or if I've just spent too long working in deliberately egalitarian start-up environments.
I was thinking "oh maybe in very complex surgery it's important to just do what you're told if you're the theatre nurse" - but actually The Checklist Manifesto highlights all the ways in which that isn't true even in that specific, highly skilled, high stakes, hierarchical context. In fact, one of the things we learn from that book is how important it is for senior people to be open to information coming to the from junior people.
When you punish people for “talking back” you close this valuable feedback loop, and you discourage people from taking ownership of their work. Both of these things undermine high performance.
Douglas Chirnside’s Basket Case