Page 227 - The Power to Change Anything

216 INFLUENCER

result of the discourse, but by putting into place harsh punish-
ment for what had previously been rewarded. Now, if a man
assaults a young girl, instead of being allowed to keep the vic-
tim as his wife, he is put in prison.
Finally, a corporate example. One of the first questions we
(the authors) ask employees in companies that complain about
a lack of accountability is, “What does it take to get fired around
here?” Almost always the answers have nothing to do with poor
performance. “Embarrass the boss,” is a common response.
Another is a sarcastic, “Kill a really valuable coworker.” In other
words, only raging violations of ethics or political faux pas get
the boot. When you hear these types of stories, you can bet that
the lack of punishment for routine infractions is sending a loud
message across the organization. The point isn’t that people
need to be threatened in order to perform. The point is that if
you aren’t willing to go to the mat when people violate a core
value (such as giving their best effort), that value loses its
moral force in the organization.
On the other hand, you send a powerful message about
your values when you do hold employees accountable. For
instance, the authors worked with a large consumer-goods
company in Georgia where company leaders decided to take
a harsh stance against racist behavior. To take on a norm that
had lasted for a centuries, the leaders decided to pick a com-
mon racist behavior and annihilate it through the judicious use
of punishment. They started with something simple. No longer
would the company tolerate racist jokes.
To put the plan into action, the leaders explained their
stance, the first behavior they were going to eliminate, and the
action they would take. Anyone who told a racist joke would
be fired on the spot, without any warning or grace period. The
leaders then told their employees that they would be looking
to make an example of anyone who dared violate the policy,
and the first time someone did, they fired him. That was the
end of racist jokes in that company.