Not too long after college,
two of my sons wanted to have a tattoo and they asked for my permission. I
didn’t like it. But I realized I knew
tattooed people who were good people.
So, I said “ If you want to
sport a tattoo or wear earrings, you must be really good at something. I think rockers wrote good music before they
were tattooed. Michael Jordan was already Jordan before he had an earring. “ In
other words, I wanted them to earn it. “You have to be fierce before you try to
look fierce.”
I said the same thing to my
ad agency art director who asked me if it was a good idea to dye his hair all
white. He wanted to look like a cool
creative guy.
In any creative department, it’s so hard to
implement office rules on attire. Every now and then I tell young guys “if you
want to show individuality through your fashion, show it in your craft as well.
Don’t show me work that looks generic. “
Some people break more rules
than just the dress code. They come to work
very late every day. Others smoke in prohibited areas. Some refuse to meet with clients or love to
curse the people they work with. Yes, there are people who think they are the
geniuses who have earned the right to be eccentric, difficult or offensive.
This is why we need to
appreciate the social contract theory.
The social contract is the
concept behind organized society. It is the voluntary agreement among
individuals to surrender some of their freedoms in exchange for the protection of
their other rights.
Society preserves itself when
citizens adhere to some traditions and norms or conform to rules sometimes at the expense
of their own preferences and comforts. Social contract is a means to avoid
chaos, anarchy and the total collapse of society.
So, even though we are the office
superstar, we must agree to come on time, wear occasion-appropriate attire and always
use respectful language, among other acceptable actions. We sacrifice some of
our preferences and comforts so that the company can protect our jobs.
There are well-known
mavericks who inspire us instead of offend us because they respect our sensibility.
Richard Branson’s extreme adventures are a metaphor for his daring business
style. Pope Francis’ simplicity is a demonstration of the essence of Christianity.
Leaders must be very careful
with a nonconformist posture if they're doing it for shock value. That's because the boss’s behavior is often
symbolic. If they contest people’s
values, resent criticism and disregard due process, for example, people might
see their actions as the new norm. Their unorthodox style may be multiplied by lower-tiered clones.
Once the social contract is fragmented,
the organization may fall into a state of confusion and uncertainty. It may become too dependent on the single leader
who will appear to be rewriting all the rules. The initial gains of quick
decisions and radical results will not be sustained unless the rules and the
roles become clear again.
If we break a rule, we must
be sure we are breaking new ground. If we change the rules, we should be replacing them with better ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment