Organizational Viruses

I recently heard Dr. Dwayne Dyer, a well known clinical psychologist and spiritual guru speak on public television (PBS). The title of his lecture was "Excuses Begone." He quoted two interesting books that I plan to buy and read. I did not have the time to jot down the authors' name.

The two books are: The Biology of Belief, and Viruses of the Mind. His thesis is that as human beings we become infected by excuses and habits that impact our lives, often in a negative way. Examples, he uses, are:

You are too old, that's impossible, you cannot help it, you are the way you are, no one else does it, you have tried it before, you are tired., etc.

He calls these supposed ways of thinking and acting imbedded in us "memes."

Viruses do three predictable things:

(1) they duplicate (they come from our parents to us via our belief system),
(2) they infiltrate (they go where they cannot be easily found), and
(3) spread (they become our cultural norms).

Interesting stuff!

My mind began to wander as I was listening to Dr. Dyer talk. I thought about how computer viruses and worms can infect our computers, and the havoc they bring into our daily routine.

To protect our valuable data and hardware we purchase anti-virus software. We have developed a defense, although not completely bullet proof.

I have pretty much followed Virginia Wolf's advice along the way: arrange whatever pieces come your way. My father used to say: if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I guess I learned to go with the flow, so to speak. A virus?

I began to wonder about any viruses I might been infected with as I grew up through my parents, grandparents, teachers, parish priests, friends and colleagues. I quickly discovered that my limitations, foibles, and biases are essentially viruses or worms that I might have picked up along the way. An excuse? Possibly!

Unfortunately there are no off-the-shelf anti-viruses, but costly and time consuming sessions on the couch, often with dubious results.

As an organizational observer, I have seen a few great organizations change for the worse, but I had not realized that the cause might be insidious viruses. To escape detection viruses often mutate to make their identification difficult. Upon reflection, I have concluded that "fads" and "magic bullets" can mutate into powerful viruses. Here are some fads that come to mind:

Restructuring -- we all know that it is beneficial for an organization to periodically look at itself and rearrange the way it does business. When restructuring becomes a chronic solution, does the method become the mission? I have seen many organizations cut their vitality and long term viability by over-zealeous cost cutting. I have suspected all along that centralization and decentralization might be placebos for cyclical challenges.

Outsourcing -- it makes a lot of sense to outsource non-critical work to people who can do it better and at a lower cost. But does it make sense to do so to people who do not do it as well as you do, and at a higher cost to boot? Does it make sense for an organization to outsource two of the most vital functions (talking to their customers and talking to their employees) to outsiders? In my view these two functions are CORE, critical, essential. A virus?

Cross-functional teams -- a great organizational tool to break communication barriers and accelerate problem solving and decision making. But do we need to use a 10 pound hammer to drive down a penny nail? On a recent trip I asked a COO what he was doing to improve his organization's performance. he replied; we are doing cross functional teams. Wow! A virus?

Team building -- a great intervention to build cohesiveness and esprit de corps. But building cohesive and rah-rah incompetent teams is no antidote to failure. A virus? Perhaps.

I can go on with examples. The managerial literature is full of breakthrough methods that broke along the way.

Experience teaches me that devotion to a specific method, advocacy of a specific way, and lack of candor ultimately can erode the vibrancy of an organization. We need people who think differently than us. We need to encourage experimentation with different problem solving methods. We need to reward openness and candor. Too often we weed out those who stand out as being different than us. A virus? For sure.

So what can we do to get rid organizations of viruses? Dwyer suggests these steps for renewal:

1. Awareness (viruses do not want to be discovered). Get information from new sources. Cliques and hierarchies have ways to feed the viruses to protect their turf, their agenda. Abolish perceived "culture polices" -- a clever disguise for viruses. Culture police has a lot in common with the secret police -- they spy on people, they report on people, they use informants.

2. Alignment. Examine disconnects between the talk and the walk. Cultural norms are great places where viruses feed. "It is not our culture" is a give away. People will use culture to defend poor stewardship of resources. Excuses are forms of misalignment.

3. Contemplation. Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, said that contemplation is the greatest form of activity. Imagine what it would be like if the organization was pristine, free of viruses. Insights can come from this activity.

4. Willingness. We have to be willing to change, to look an other paradigms, to go into unfamiliar territory. We need to let go in order to start something new. Clinging to practices that are not beneficial is a virus.

5. Passion. Become infected with the habit of enthusiasm. Leave the gloom and doom at the door. Love what you do and who you do it with. Do not be afraid. The worst has already happened.

Enjoy the trip along the learning curve. It is a lot of fun. Your thoughts?