education, games, technology: Finding your moral compass #1

Standing up for those who can't

Over the last 2 months, I have been blogging about corporate sanctioned bullying, irrespective of existing corporate policies and occupational health laws. At its core, bullying and harassment in the workplace is the work of sociopaths as narcissists, generally but not always, in positions of power. For those of you who don't watch TedTalks, I would recommend this platform. There are some excellent talks about corporate bullying. One in particular by Clive Boddy about the psychopathology of bullying stands out.
youtube.com/watch?v=tlB1pFwGhA4

There are ways for the individual to prevent bullying, to walk away from a functionally sick organization or to fight it, using policies and laws. But, it presumes that the victim can look after himself.

Often, he can't.
And, like the victims of corporate bullying in the movie Erin Brockovich, the victim needs people who can speak for him.
youtube.com/watch?v=BGX4nMrnxg0

I witnessed a chance meeting a few days ago between a victim, since dismissed from his job, and an ex-colleague of his. He was greeted with all the enthusiasm of a colleague with shared memories of a happy and productive work experience. The ex-colleague had witnessed, although had not, as I learned in a subsequent conversation with the victim, been a party to the 6 years of harassment (which included a group mobbing).

None the less, the ex-colleague had seen imposed on him by their mutual supervisor:

unrelenting and petty controls over the victim's programs and projects;
the assignment of an ever increasing workload, which at the time of dismissal was larger than all 4 of the other managers' workload, combined;
public criticism of the victim for imagined slights
theft of the victim's work by the supervisor and by a colleague
the victim's accomplishments discredited or demeaned despite its praise from senior managers and outside audiences.

Why didn't she speak out?

Martin Neimoller (Lutheran Pastor 1862-1984) wrote a poem about his own cowardice in the face of the rise of Nazism in Germany

First they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the Trade Unionists and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Trade Unionist

Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak out.

We know what happened to the world as a consequence of his cowardice and that of others.

But, is inaction only cowardice?

Although not nearly as dramatic,there were likely several reasons for this manager's silence:

fear of reprisal by the supervisor and others within the organization, including their mutual colleagues
disbelief
avoidance (of a probable unpleasant confrontation)
not expedient. There may have been career interests at play
inured to the culture of abuse for that organization
no moral compass
or she was simply disingenuous

People are conflicted, without doubt.
The Tom Cruise movie about harassment and its consequences are described in " A Few Good Men". The final scene, after the sentence is rendered, portrays how men of honour can march blindly and unthinkingly down the road to, in this case, murder.
youtube.com/watch?v=CQ5KZ0gh2hg

For a culture of harassment to be confronted, individuals are often the only ones who can speak out against bullying. It is not good enough to see what is happening and to do nothing.

One must, after all, have moral voice given to one's moral compass. And a part of one's moral voice includes a demonstrated respect for others, and a demonstrated belief that each person is unique and irreplaceable.

While certainly the abuser is accountable for her conduct

where others on the team and within the organization are silent, they became complicit.

To be otherwise, the victim's colleagues must reflect on and acknowledge what is happening. There are some very simple questions which should be asked in a formal context.