Is the workplace the culmination of our attitudes and behaviors?

Can the workplace foster one’s courageous spirit…? Is this a “Design” question…? (1)

courtesy of OverTheMoon Productions

Yes, I believe this is a Design question and a “special” one at that… as Design, foundationally permeates all we are; all we think, do and recognize plus all else we may be too preoccupied or blind to consider.

Thus and within this context, the workplace – like a passive mirror – will only ‘reflect’ our attitudes and behaviors but… it could ‘become the culmination’ of such if/when ‘by Design’, it intentionally seeks to influence the quality of such attitudes and behaviors and thus, no longer is a “passive” element but rather becomes an interactive contributor to the very human engagement that generates them.

Not unlike the ‘uplifting’ one experiences when attending a well conceived play where; the script, the actors and the stage-set, all combine to produce an intended reaction impactful to both; the audience (aka company or organization) and the play itself (aka desired results).

This is a small but important distinction which I think begins to address main query… Although important, the ‘workplace’ is but one of the key elements essential to foster the unfolding of a courageous spirit.

It takes ‘us’ (aka the actors), the truth & comfort with our selves; recognizing that which is deeply imbedded within our spirits… our foundational ‘North’, to enable us to interact with others and explore new directions and roles without fear of getting self ‘lost’. It takes a well thought-through and collectively endorsed ‘script’ (aka vision & objectives), to be a directional ‘map’ enabling us to understand, coalesce and improvise our actions and thus, to ultimately give such ‘script’ form.

Finally, it takes a powerful and well conceived ‘stage-set’ (aka workplace), a necessarily fluid and emotive environment that responds to our needs enhancing our performance and is designed to evolve on-the-fly in-sync with the nuances of the play.

When these three key elements are present and in-sync, the play will be memorable and successful; it becomes natural and ‘easy’ to deliver its objectives whilst being our-selves… speaking and acting transparently from within and without fears. When they are not; when one or more components are inappropriate or missing, the results will not be stellar and both the audience and the play will be left wanting.

This I believe.

(1) Questions posed on a B.B.S. discussion by Alan Colley