Unintended Consequences
In the name of political correctness, and a knee-jerk, do-good reaction to anything, companies often forget the laws of unintended consequences and never think through major culture shifts to appease a few who are the loudest. There is one very basic rule in life. You can’t grant someone a right without taking another away from someone, and sometimes it’s the very same person who was granted the right in the first place. For that reason, you have to think about your rules and what’s ultimately lost versus gained.
Some people love to virtue signal and throw out words about “inclusive” and “tolerance” when what they didn’t think through was how others define that same term. Does it means the same thing for everyone? When you say “inclusive,” how inclusive? Over the years, I’ve watched companies fall into the same trap again and again where they claim to be something when the reality is they are not that at all. This eventually leads to a fight.
We see this in the car community when we try and define the word “exotic” or who should be allowed to display a car at a “Cars and Coffee” is it any car? Where do you draw that “inclusive” line that’s so hip to throw around. Dare I even bring it up.
Basecamp, the software company, just lost a chunk of their employees because they decided that political speech would not be allowed. They said it was a distraction. It could be that they never defined their work culture or how to best hold a debate.
I can’t think of anything more important in a company than fostering a culture of debate. It’s how you get to great decisions. Sure, set some guardrails, but don’t kill off debate. All you’re doing is driving the discussion underground.
I don’t know Basecamp well enough to know, but I’ll bet they didn’t think they needed a COO. They even bragged about it as I recall. A good one would have resolved this problem before it was a problem. Yet, like so many companies, “yeah, we’re doing fine without a COO.” Sure you are, until you’re not.
If I were to look at foundational elements that led to my achieving success, one core step is the the application of the rule of unintended consequences to just about anything I consider. It’s served me well. It’s that inversion thinking again. I love the core concept of turning the conventional on its ear, but first discover why conventional became popular in the first place.
Some companies never make it clear about who they are and where they are going, then leave it up to debate and disagreement. This could be the core problem at Basecamp. It could be that their “big tent” includes very different ideas about the course of the company. It’s a shame they didn’t take the time to better define it early in their success. It’s the cost of not having a good COO.