On March 28 this year, Thai people experienced not only the strongest earthquake in the country’s modern history but also the tragedy of the State Audit Office collapse. It took just eight seconds for the impact of the tremor to reduce the 30-floor under-construction building to rubble. More than 90 people lost their lives.
Investigations into the cause of the tragedy raised many disturbing questions. Given what we know now about its fatal flaws, how was it possible that such a major public project passed official auditing, approval by professional organisations, and the main contractors responsible?
In my opinion, such a breakdown can happen in any society or organisation if the leader of that particular societal unit does not fully commit to guide members in the right practice.
The root cause of the problem could lie in the habit of practising a “passive” style of administration and leadership. This is a style of management in which the leader tends to direct people using a rule-following mindset, with expectations of compliance as a priority.
People in this kind of organisation are likely to behave in ways that ensure they can protect and maintain their personal security first, before taking care of their true responsibilities.
This behavioural approach reflects a thinking style in which members of the organisation do things by the book to avoid disagreement and confrontation, depend on others to make decisions, adopt conventional practices and rely on approval from others.
Because such people publicly demonstrate that they always comply with rules and conventional practices, nobody — especially people at higher levels with oversight authority — will scrutinise their actions very closely.
By following these practices, people and leaders who have adopted a passive style can work, survive and prosper in the organisation, and society, without having to worry about any threats to their status or position.
As more people adopt this sort of unwanted behaviour, which can also be termed as defensive, it will become the normal practice of the organisation or society as well.
BROKEN WINDOWS
What happens when the wider society starts to behave in the manner described above? In their famous 1982 article “Broken Windows”, the social scientists James Wilson and George Kelling wrote: “One unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing.”
“Broken windows” has since become a metaphor for how a society or organisation starts to fall apart. Ignoring proper procedures to prevent wrongdoing, bribery, corruption, harassment, etc, can end up causing damage beyond imagination to a business, organisation or society.
In order to prevent the consequence of “broken windows”, the culture of a business or organisation — which essentially refers to “the way we do things around here” — can play a major role in this regard.
Let’s use a simple example. We all eat at food courts now and then, and you probably have noticed that some require their customers to bring their plates back to a collection counter, while others might not require this cooperation from customers at all.
The immediate benefit of promoting self-collection for a food court is less expense for hiring a worker to collect plates and trash from each table. There is also the indirect benefit to society. Being disciplined and clearing one’s own table, thinking of others before one’s own benefit, is a valuable trait to pass on to children, so that they grow up to be disciplined, considerate grown-ups.
Once when I was having lunch at the canteen of a Japanese factory, I noticed that not only did customers have to return their dishes to a central location, but they also had to ensure the cleanliness of their own table by using the cleaning towel placed inside a small box in the middle of the table. There was no sign or placard on the table instructing people to do this, but everyone did it, and tables were always clean and ready for the next users.
Little things can send a powerful message. In this case, the factory is communicating with its workers that the company expects accountability (taking care your own things), discipline (to ensure effective processes) and empathy (thinking of others/society).
MAKE IT STICK
Besides consistently addressing and practising the right set of corporate cultures and values, role modelling is also far more important than one can imagine. If leaders of a firm, organisational unit or society behave in a way that does not correspond to the message stated in the corporate values, people will be confused since they typically focus on action not words.
Therefore, if the organisation consistently reiterates its core values and culture, together with role modelling from leaders (directors, top executives, middle managers and line supervisors), people in the organisation can see a clear direction, because they see clear expectations from leaders, and behave accordingly.
I still recall my conversation with Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, a former Bank of Thailand governor, in which he nicely summed up how to communicate an organisational culture. He told me:
“Three core values — being principled [??????], having foresight [??????] and acting down-to-earth [??????] — were introduced before my time. On my first day as governor, I sent out a letter to all the central bank staff reiterating these values and including a fourth — reaching out [???????].”
With proper management, these core values are still applied as the central bank’s guiding practice.
Last but not least is letting the right behaviour become a habit. If the leaders provide the right atmosphere, members feel comfortable practising good behaviour and it becomes the norm.
By allowing these three components to work in harmony — the right set of core values, role modelling by leaders and an appropriate environment — an organisation or society can ensure that the rule of law will not become a tool of flaw.
Sorayuth Vathanavisuth, PhD, is Principal at the Center for Southeast Asia Leadership. His areas of interest are executive coaching, leadership development and succession planning. He can be reached at sorayuth@sealeadership.com.