February 6, 2012
The Pleasures and Perils of Working “Under the Radar”
“So how do you like the midnight shift,” I asked the security guard. It was 7:00 a.m., and he was just finishing up his “day” by escorting me to the conference room where I was scheduled to give a breakfast talk.
Even though it was just the two of us in the elevator, he adopted a conspiratorial tone. “I love it!” he whispered. Then he winked, leaned a little closer, and confided, “I stay under the radar!”
He was still smiling and nodding when he dropped me off at my destination a few minutes later. There was no question about it. He absolutely loved midnights.
It wasn’t hard to imagine what my new friend meant by “staying ‘under the radar.” The midnight shift was a quiet gig that didn’t place a whole lot of demands on him. He was spared the nuisance and pressure of close supervision. There were fewer demands, fewer hassles – a comfortable haven of low expectations.
Ironically, the topic of my presentation that morning was two different ways of relating to our work – the constructive attitude vs. the passive-defensive attitude. It struck me that “under the radar” was an apt summary of the latter: an outlook that avoids initiative, neglects opportunity, and stifles high achievement in many work cultures. In fact, it’s hard to think of a better umbrella term for this mindset than the motto my escort suggested – “Stay under the radar.” It’s safer down there.
Naps and Feigned Diligence
I must admit embarrassment as I recalled some of the strategies I used when I worked midnights back in my college years. My employer was a large automotive plant in Detroit. I had a little corner behind racks of equipment where I would nap on a crude cardboard mattress between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. A second sweet spot harbored my books (I was a college student, after all) and magazines for more leisure reading. And of course, I was adept at leaping to my feet and feigning diligence when I spotted the night foreman entering my area.
The Organizational Cultural Inventory lists four related positions or styles in the Passive-Defensive cluster, all of which create an atmosphere where employees feel more like passengers than players:
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It wasn’t that I didn’t do my job. I did. I was a good passive-defensive employee in a passive-defensive culture. No muss, no fuss. I did what was expected … and no more. Apparently, the enterprise was content with being just marginally productive, and so was I.
The passive-defensive style of work is rooted in Level 1 and 2 desires. It doesn’t ascend to Level 3, the desire to contribute and make a difference. Its primary motivations are pleasure and ego gratification – or in this case, ego protection.
My sleeping and reading during the midnight shift brought me considerable Level 1 happiness. For others with more conventional working hours, it’s the immediate gratification of handling emails, chatting on the phone, and fiddling with simple, agreeable tasks while deferring work that requires sweat or hard thinking.
Passive-defensive cultures tend to be fear-based, meaning that employees are more concerned with protecting their egos than exalting them. When this desire for self-preservation arises, I’ll do whatever it takes to remain well liked, to keep others’ approval, and not rock the boat. So I won’t speak up when I disagree with a superior’s directive. I’ll fulfill my duties according to the specs, never engaging my creativity to improve processes or products. I’ll put aside solutions that might seem unusual or risky for fear of some Level 2 loss of respect if I fail.
In a certain way, these attitudes are forgivable. They aren’t rooted in malice or unfairness (though they can easily lead to unfairness). As Fr. Spitzer says, Levels 1 and 2 are our default drive. We go to them naturally and easily. That’s why such a culture is very easy to build, but it can’t compete with cultures that value real contribution and encourage achievement, opportunity seeking, creativity, and teamwork.
While a passive-defensive culture may stay under the radar for awhile, it will never soar, and it may eventually crash. The only long-term solution is to build a contributive culture. But in doing so, you need to avoid the trap of competing for status and the rewards of being viewed as the top contributor. That can lead to an aggressive-defensive culture – the topic of my next article.
– Jim Berlucchi
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Last changed: Aug 27 2010 at 12:12 PM