I've got to admit that my first impulse would definitely have been to declare a moral judgement regarding toxic culture. A good reminder that being "correct" isn't enough to produce positive change.
That’s a fair reaction, but also a reason why we must train ourselves to not stop at the surface or obvious reaction. In the example story I’m telling here, there absolutely was a toxic culture. But, to your point, if I left it there and dealt with only that I both wouldn’t have gotten to the true root cause(s), and wouldn’t have been able to materially move the conversation beyond “this is toxic, stop doing it.”
We often ignore or don’t even consider second- and third-order effects, and often times the most interesting ways to affect change or help people grow are hiding there.
I've got to admit that my first impulse would definitely have been to declare a moral judgement regarding toxic culture. A good reminder that being "correct" isn't enough to produce positive change.
That’s a fair reaction, but also a reason why we must train ourselves to not stop at the surface or obvious reaction. In the example story I’m telling here, there absolutely was a toxic culture. But, to your point, if I left it there and dealt with only that I both wouldn’t have gotten to the true root cause(s), and wouldn’t have been able to materially move the conversation beyond “this is toxic, stop doing it.”
We often ignore or don’t even consider second- and third-order effects, and often times the most interesting ways to affect change or help people grow are hiding there.