Chapter 2
Signs We Have It Wrong
I think it’s safe to assume you know when you are miserable in your job, but let’s start with a really quick test, anyway. On a scale of 1 to 10, how loudly and sincerely would you sing David Allan Coe’s song, “Take This Job and Shove It” at a karaoke bar? If you said 10, let me suggest that there might be room for improvement at your organization. It’s just a guess. If so, feel free to skip the rest of this chapter and move right to Chapter 3. I’d venture that most of you, however, fall somewhere in the middle of the Job-Shove-It scale: Some days you feel good, and generally like the role you play at work, while other days you feel stifled, frustrated, or even appalled about something that happened on the job, whether it is a new policy or some leadership maneuver that has everyone dumbfounded.
The objective of this chapter is to bring awareness to the various aspects of organizational culture that can either lift people up or drag them down, with, perhaps, a little more nuance than on the Job-Shove-It scale. As in any book on change, this one offers hundreds of ideas and suggestions; so the question is, where do you start? Which changes are most important? And how can you embark on a path of change without losing focus or taking on too much at a time?
The quiz in this chapter is designed to help you think about what is working now for you and your organization, and where you have the most room for improvement in the future. You may read some ...
