I was introduced to the “management by wandering around” style back in the 1980’s while at a large multinational corporation.
One aspect of this style that was never emphasized was how employees communicate their true feelings with subtle humor.BC, Wizard of ID, Doonesbury, and now Dilbert clippings are often posted on cube walls when a strip hits amazingly close to reality of a particular firm.
Other statements in humor are made with subtle choices in tunes whistled or hummed at appropriate times.
My current favorite is a report of a favorite tune making its appearance whenever the CEO at a particular company did a corporate wide internal presentation on his vision or on quaterly results. Apparently, the Scarecrow song from “Wizard of Oz” became the exit tune of choice. For those who did not grow up on an annual viewing of the Wizard, the Scarecrow theme was “If I Only Had a Brain”. The company has had its stock value halved and the CEO quit during the past year.
What tunes are showing up in your workplace? What comic strips seems to dominate the cubes walls? What message are your employees trying to subtley convey through humor? What other signs do you see that all is not well with the rank and file?
