The Brand Guy

The smell of the place. 

Creating a workplace where people will thrive.

Every time I first walk into a new client’s offices I get an instant feeling for the place. The energy. The vibe. The smell of the place.

Same as when I visit new places and cities. I recently visited a small regional city [population 5 million] in India. Went for an afternoon stroll in the main local shopping and business district. And I gotta say that life for the 1.24 billion who live in India is pretty tough. Noisy. Hectic. Busy. All crammed in. Very stressful. And it showed on the faces of the people I passed. No smiles. Negative body language. A slightly tense look in their eyes. And that pretty much summed up the smell of the place for me in downtown regional India.

Then there are places I love. The smell of Byron Bay. Soak up the sun. Cool off in the ocean. Chill and chat. Be yourself. People who smile, have relaxed and open body language, and look you in the eyes.

It’s exactly the same in companies. Some companies have a constrained culture of compliance, control, and contract. These are the employees who don’t smile, have negative body language and a slightly tense look in their eyes.

And some companies have an exciting culture of promotion, positivity, and possibility. These are the people who do smile, have positive body language and a look of excitement in their eyes.

It all comes down to the smell of the place. The smell you get by taking a 5 minute walk through their offices. It has nothing to do with the actual people who work there. It has everything to do with the context in which they are working. Because it’s the context that shapes the way people feel and behave.

And so the task for companies who want to create a workplace filled with thriving employees is to change the context, not the people who work there. Create Byron Bay in your company. Or New York. Or Shanghai. Whatever your preference, and whatever works for your company’s needs. Just don’t create a context that is contaminated with bad memories, negativity and constraints.

Oh, and by the way, if you’re working at the wrong place, and you want to be working at “New York”, move to “New York”.

Old habits die hard

I’ve met many people and companies who are fuelled by habit. And, like a goldfish trapped inside its own little bowl, they are incapable of seeing this for themselves. That is because their habits have disguised themselves so cunningly they are totally oblivious to its presence.

This is a natural human phenomenon (as David Attenborough would say). Our brains are programmed for survival, which means taking less risks and sticking to what we know. And so it’s the reassuring nature of habit that makes it so attractive, and sticky.

It’s power is in its stealth. It flies out of sight, under the radar, and slowly but surely nibbles away at anything and everything that swims against the tide. In this was habit becomes the enemy of difference, originality, creativity and curiosity. And nobody even knows its happening.

Not only do people not recognise habit, they congregate around and hide in it. Habit attracts followers, and the more followers the stronger the habit. There is, after all, great comfort in tracking the footsteps of those in front of you. That way you don’t have to worry where you’re going, or if you’re on the right track or not.

Also, the more followers the better, because habit give people what they crave most: safety in numbers. Like when you have a disagreement with a work colleague, and she (or he) says, “Well I’ve spoken to a few other members of the team, and they all agree with me”. Ah, you must therefore be right, and I must be wrong. Which also makes me the outsider, since I’m out of step with the majority view. Oh what a terrible feeling. Heck, I better get back in line.

I like to call such companies Country Club places. No one disagrees with anyone else in a substantive way. When asked for an opinion, they’ll check with the boss, swiftly agree, or hide through clichés. Questions are discouraged and giving answers is avoided. No-one contradicts a position already taken. People avoid conflict and accountability by not talking to each other. All because old habits rule supreme.

And then, just in case anyone as much as even thinks of stepping out of line, the Corporate Thought Police are always on hand to maintain law and order. They are the high priests of conventional wisdom and habit. They live to articulate what is and what shall be. Even though their knowledge is meant to fuel the activities of today and tomorrow, they got their knowledge in the past—yesterday. And yet, somehow, this ancient wisdom is way more deeply rooted and valid in the world of habit.

Nothing is more futile and depressing than being in a room with people who are fuelled by habit. People who have had their originality, creativity, and instinct beaten out of them. They look at you with the doleful eyes of an obedient dog.

If you ever find yourself in such a situation, I dare you to speak up, to speak out, and to throw caution to the wind. Sure, you may be mentally labelled by everyone else in the room as “the outsider”—rather be an outsider than a trapped goldfish I say.