Working Smarter

1. Saying "NO": Being selective is self-protective
2. Dealing with deadlines
3. Peer pressure and corporate culture
4. It's time to speak up
5. Stop multi-tasking and start multi-plexing

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Early in my career I worked with a group of excellent, dedicated physicians. It didn't take me long to see that they seemed to have little life beyond their medical practice. They were proud to be "doctors first and everything else second."

Naturally, they expected me to work like they did. But I was a single guy with a lot of interests and I wanted more of a life than that. So I left the group and told them why. Two years later another member left, later telling me, "You really taught me something. You got me thinking that there's more to life than work."

I didn't change the whole practice, but my individual behaviour and attitudes did influence another person.

Anyone can affect corporate culture. Change does not come only from the top down. Take dress codes as an example. The trend to more casual and comfortable clothing came as much from ordinary employees as from senior management.

Another example is the long-standing tradition of frequent job transfers if you wanted to move ahead in a company. Recently young professionals started saying no - they simply didn't want to uproot their families every few years. Organizations lost excellent people who were unwilling to relocate. Eventually, many companies stopped insisting on this policy as a pre-requisite for promotion.

There are other examples of positive changes in corporate culture. "Liquid lunches" where people downed a couple of martinis at noon have almost disappeared. People realized how they hampered their productivity and their health. Ditto for "all-nighters" - marathon work sessions that left everyone feeling wasted the next day.

The concern about "work-life balance" only became a workplace issue because more and more ordinary people spoke out against crazy work hours that robbed them of personal and family time.

How can you individually make a difference?

• Inquire and investigate. Check out the organization before you join. Ask employees, "What's it like to work here?" Ask specific questions about corporate culture, expectations, morale, and individual personalities.
• Bide your time. Observe the corporate climate and your new colleagues when you first join an organization. Don't flaunt the unwritten rules on day one of a new job.
• Be selective. Decide which aspects of corporate culture you'll buy into, and which you will quietly avoid. Be guided by your values, personality and preferences.
• Lead by quiet example. Don't call attention to what you're doing - just leave on time, take a proper lunch hour, and don't be available at all hours of the evening and weekend. Other people may follow your lead.
• Build consensus. Talk informally with others, see who agrees with you, try to convince others, and develop a group of people to lobby for changes. If you want to make changes in an organization, don't take on the system alone. The collective influence will be stronger than one lone voice.
• Support initiatives proposed by others. This is a corollary of the last one. Get behind attitudes and behaviour that you agree with.
• Challenge the status quo. Question things you disagree with. For example, if your cafeteria has an elitist seating code where people gather by rank and title, ask if you can join a senior group---or at least ask, "Why are we segregated by category?"
• Dare to be different. Have the courage of your convictions. Introduce some humour into a stodgy company or meetings that get too serious. Organize a group to play Frisbee at lunchtime or to go for a mid-afternoon walk.
• Don't assume that the corporate culture is static and can't be changed You can make a contribution to the evolution of company practices. If you're a new hire, you can bring fresh ideas to an organization. If you're a veteran, you have added influence based on seniority---an extra opportunity (and responsibility) to shape and move the corporate culture in positive directions.

We're all stakeholders at companies in which we work. We're all part of the corporate entity and can have as much input in shaping the culture as anyone else in the organization. It's time to speak up.

All material copyrighted, David B. Posen M.D.