{"id":2231,"date":"2013-03-18T15:50:06","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T15:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icebreakerexecutive.com\/?p=2231"},"modified":"2013-03-18T15:50:06","modified_gmt":"2013-03-18T15:50:06","slug":"icebreaker-executive-incite-the-tyranny-of-tolerance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winningthinking.co.uk\/?p=2231","title":{"rendered":"Courage & Truth ensure winners but then there is the Tyranny of Tolerance!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courage, Truth and The Pitfall of a flawed Culture \u2013 the “Tyranny of Tolerance”<\/span><\/p>\n

The factors that set successful enduring businesses apart when they face adversity are real courage and truth. Conversely the \u201cculture of tolerance\u201d in both corporate and public sectors raises some interesting questions – affecting many of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whilst I don\u2019t regard David Starkey as a management role model, I notice with interest his identification of an emerging paradox \u2013 the \u201ctyranny of tolerance\u201d. Tolerance leads to a disregard for the diversity that the tolerant policy was intended to protect.<\/span><\/p>\n

The outcome of “tolerance” is telling people how to behave or how to do things which fundamentally challenges their integrity, and undermines trust. This is further exacerbated as freethinking becomes strangled by the supporting training, structures and in some cases laws. Highest achieving employees, deprived of the opportunity to adopt a challenging mindset will simply become alienated or, at best, ignore all instruction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although examples are rife within the public sector, large corporates exhibit the same characteristics under the banner of \u201cnormalising culture and cascading values\u201d. This is a common approach but an odd solution to Gen X or Y or the employee engagement challenges. Undermining trust can be subtle and go undetected but is a sure way to fast-track a distressed organisation to fail, or create a \u201cskills gap\u201d as businesses fail to attract the best.<\/span><\/p>\n

BUT surely it is thinking without boundaries and INtolerance which is the main business value driver? Furthermore these initiatives should be rooted in truth, or from the start the precedents set and FOLLOW becomes a falsehood! These are the symptoms of a Tyranny?<\/span><\/p>\n

The culture of Tolerance therefore leads to a disregard of diversity of view or even fails to recognise it at all. Consensual decisions that accompany it leave the beholder unaccountable, and unable to address difficult issues. Truth is driven underground and employees justify their actions through simply following a third party instruction. From the outside this creates a \u201czombie like\u201d customer experience where orchestrators carry on regardless. \u00a0They are seen to distance and justify their actions by using motherhood statements such as \u201ccreating fairness or equality\u201d – generalisations often without truth. This is the political mechanism that is often adopted to mob a strong leader, for example the late Mrs Thatcher.<\/span><\/p>\n

Converesely, the most effective global organisations respect their diversity as a means to create \u201cproductive friction\u201d. This productive friction is often generated by a request to do something (better), based on truth or facts, in a way that challenges the norm. It occurs on the fringes and effectively releases incremental value within those businesses where it is practiced. The orchestrator in these environments earns their position to do so solely by the value they realise for all.<\/span><\/p>\n

So without such friction, how does the lurking tyranny manifest itself? Here are some striking examples;<\/span><\/p>\n