The Formal Stuff Matters, But Not Much
- tom12973
- Jun 14, 2017
- 3 min read
One of the quickest ways to remove some OUCH! from our work environments is to change our perspective on the formal things we do in our work environments. Everything else can look and be exactly the same; everyone else can have lots of OUCH! in the same scenario but you don’t need too.
This is not some magic answer, or some contradiction to most of what I have been writing about for months! It is simply a logical and rational way to think about those formal things we do in organizations. Things like our roles in performance management systems, strategy sessions, learning and team building events, budgeting sessions, sales projection meetings, communication strategy development, change management planning….. and add your own.
Of course these things matter, but not that much. The logical and practical reason for this is that the FORMAL interactions we have in these areas are numerically tiny compared to the number of day-to-day interactions we have about these same topics. The FORMAL interactions are just one or perhaps a few of countless interactions we have in these areas (see this post)!
So the best way to get some OUCH! out of these formal things is to think about them as simply one more interaction about an area of focus that it is important.
There is simply no need to get all hyped up and stressed out about having a huge impact in a performance management meeting, or a strategic planning session. These meetings are nothing more than a different context for interaction! Mathematically they have a much smaller chance of making any difference than your day-to-day interactions about the same thing.
The best way to help yourself think this way is to recognize all those day-to-day interactions that you do have on these topics. What do your performance interactions look like day-to-day; your strategy interactions; those about change? When you recognize these interactions, stepping into the formal context is simply a continuation of existing patterns of interaction. In fact, when you look at these formal things in this way, you can look at these formal interactions as another valuable context, one perhaps more focused and direct than those day-to-day ones. They do not have to be loaded with false expectations however, and it is this that removes so much OUCH!
Now, if you try to recognize day-to-day interactions about a specific area of focus, let’s say performance, and can’t think of any, you are either in denial or in trouble, and 95% of the time its denial; just look honestly harder and you will find them. If it is the 5% at play, you are in trouble since you are not interacting with people nearly enough about these important areas of focus in your organization.
Strategy, performance, learning, change, communication ARE important! It’s just the formal processes we inflict on ourselves to deal with them that are not!
So give it a try:
Think about an important area of focus
Recognize the day-to-day ways that you interact with others regarding that area of focus (you should be able to recognize lots!)
Think about your next formal interaction about this area of focus and see it as simply one more interaction
Reflect on how this ‘feels’
Act on that feeling when it comes time for that formal interaction
You may notice a reduction in OUCH! (as explained in this post). You may also notice an increase in your discomfort with your day-to-day interactions in these areas of focus. You may also notice that the reasons the formal things are important in your organization have nothing to do with that actual thing! They are just means of social control and a misguided sense of understanding organizations. Reducing OUCH! doesn’t necessarily make things wonderful. It just means you probably have more important and realistic things to think about and act on. It means there is a better fit between your experience of being in your organization and how you understand your organization.
If we are going to be concerned, let’s be concerned and focus on things that actually matter. The above may help you do that….
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