It is said that a large percentage of heart attacks happen on Monday mornings. I wouldn’t be surprised. In my many years of coaching and consulting in organizations, I often hear people speak of their work experience as if they are in a war-zone.
A war-like mentality causes people to struggle against those they should be cooperating with. Everyone becomes “the enemy.” For example, some salespeople think of customers as people they “target.” They can get angry at these “targets” when they don’t buy and “waste” the salesperson’s time. Does anyone in your workplace feel as if they are “under siege?” Do you make decisions in terms of “which battles to fight?” How do you feel on Monday mornings?
When the war mindset is the primary operating at work, it contributes to ongoing destructive conflict and makes true cooperation difficult or virtually impossible.
Practice waking-up to war as the unconscious metaphor you participate in at work. Do different work groups ever speak of or act like they are enemies?
How much do you and/or colleagues unconsciously talk about work matters as if we are at war? For example, do your marketing people sharpen their marketing “weapons” to use on “target markets?” Brainstorm the use of war language and talk about how it plays out daily.
Choose another metaphor to describe your workplace. One of the popular metaphors my clients choose is gardening. What would your workplace be like if you approached work as a gardener or a tree instead of a warrior or victim of war? Or an orchestra with conductor, and each musician and section working literally in concert.
Practice consciously selecting a metaphor that serves you better to frame the way you work.
- How would you think about the work, yourself all other stake-holders (clients, vendors, leaders, investors, etc) based on the new metaphor?
- How would everyday language change?
- What alternatives to “battles and trenches” would pepper daily conversation?
- How would the energy at work shift?
- What are the likely outcomes of your new metaphor?
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