Trained to Fit In - The Impact of Sociology on Voice Diversity
With a school teacher as a mother and a headmaster as a grandfather, it's not surprising there were many rules in my family growing up.
There was no watching television during the day, leaving the dinner table without asking to be excused, saying anything unless it was something nice, and there was certainly no swearing or our mouth would be "washed out with soap" (not sure how that would be executed but the threat was enough to be effective).
This family culture was complimented by societal expectations encouraging following the rules and fitting in.
At school, the threat of a disciplinary note being sent home for disobedience was enough to keep me in-line and when joining the workforce, the need to follow procedures, standards and job descriptions, all served to create compliance.
Stepping back and viewing these influences from a broader perspective, it's easy to see how useful they are. Rules, standards, procedures and compliance all help to promote a more predictable, safe, polite and well functioning society and organised, efficient workplaces.
On the flip side however, consistent 'training' in compliance and obedience can create a gap between our authentic voice on the inside, and what we actually say on the outside.
By encouraging conformity over self-connection, we're not taught how to speak up for ourselves, to listen to ourselves and to say what we really think.
Seth Godin in his book The Practise, spells out the challenge.
He says our lives follow a pattern that was set a long time ago. It’s a pattern that values compliance and convenience over being real. We’re trained not to trust ourselves and told we’re not entitled to speak up.
Given this common background, when team members are asked to bring their authentic self to work, to speak up and contribute, it may trigger resistance. That's because what they're really being asked is to push back against a tidal wave of training in caution, compliance and obedience.
Raising awareness of the influence of sociology and cultural upbringing as a barrier to voice diversity is a useful first step in breaking through. As Eckhart Tolle says "awareness is the greatest agent for change".
If you're a leader with people on your team who hold back from speaking up and sharing their authentic selves, here are three ideas that may help to start breaking through the barriers created by cultural training in compliance and obedience:
Shift from workplace 'rules' to culture lead 'rituals'. Rules signal confinement while rituals signal openness and self selection.
Regularly ask team members 'what do you think?' This question helps encourage independent thought and authentic ideation.
Incorporate mindfulness practises into health and wellbeing programs to encourage self-connection and develop self-trust.
By encouraging independent thought, letting go of judgement and welcoming all contributions, leaders and organisations benefit from greater voice diversity which in turn, contributes to better decision making, more effective innovation and enhanced overall performance.