Feel Reality

The Treehouse Effect

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

All through life we are exposed to clicks. We would like to believe that these groups are left behind after we exit high school and enter the real world, but it never really works out that way. When clicks move into the work environment, it can be detrimental to company moral. I am not one to stand around the water cooler, but I’ve always enjoyed stirring the pot. I try to avoid these clicks as much as possible while leaving one foot wading in the pool. I don’t want to push things to the point of being ostracized, but I don’t want to be caught wearing the NKOTB slap bracelet either.

I don’t care much for the corporate ladder. Since becoming a web developer I have made it a point to stick to smaller companies. I thought this would cut down on red tape and extinguish title envy. I was sadly mistaken.

Clicks are going to exist in every company with three or more employees. On top of that, no matter what our role may be, you will be forced to adorn a title to let the rest of the world know what you do for your employer.  Titles are arbitrary and unless you’re card has the word “president” or “CEO” on it, it won’t carry much weight. However, titles mean the world to the title holder.  Titles not only encompass what you do, they reinforce your chain of command. You may not like acting like a boss, but given the right situation, you will attempt to pull rank. Your title not only defines who you are in the grand scheme of things, but also who you should associate with when it comes to making the key business decisions.  This is where I believe the system falls apart.

I call it, the Treehouse effect.  When a company is forced into a corner and they have to make key decisions that effect that livelihood of their business, they hold meetings with the “key decision makers”. The problem is, the longer you have been around, the more you have developed the “hive mindset”. Lower employees, who don’t have fancy adjectives on their business card, are often left out. In the corporate world you can’t fit everyone into your conference room, but that doesn’t mean you can’t open up the channels of communication. In a smaller company you can and should fit everyone into a meeting room when it comes to making big decisions. Everyone’s opinion should be taken into consideration and you have to remember that brainstorming is a two way street.

If “Information Sciences Inc” had valued the ideas and input of Bill Gates, you might not have had Microsoft’s name in front of your OS version.  If “Your Business Software” wouldn’t have fired Mark Cuban for failing to open one of it’s chain stores while making a large sales call, you might have heard of them as well.  The point is… You need a hierarchy to establish a pay scale and to enforce the chain of command, but you need to realize that chain works both ways. Take the sign down from your tree house and let everyone else in. Diminish your hive mindset and realize that not everyone sees your business through your eyes. Listen. And people will share their vision.

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