Blog Post
Ever hear of the Region Beta Paradox?
by Ed Murphy

๐„๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ž๐ญ๐š ๐๐š๐ซ๐š๐๐จ๐ฑ?

It says:

We often endure things that are โ€œnot-so-bad,โ€ but this stops us from flourishing into truly good situations. The paradox is that when situations are sort-of bad, weโ€™d actually be better off if they were worseโ—

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐›๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฎ๐จ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐œ๐ก ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ซ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ.

And nobody says anything. And nothing changes. And we keep soldiering on.

I was on a call last week and this happened:

๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿฝ VP presents problem to CEO

๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผ CEO asks, with incredulity, why nothing was done about it

๐Ÿ‘จ๐ŸฝVP hems and haws, says itโ€™s not really his focus, and it wasnโ€™t really that bad

๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผ CEO reconfirms that the VP KNEW it was happening

๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿฝ VP admits that yes, he did

๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผ CEO is frustrated

๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿฝ VP lost face and realized he should accept ownership and tackle the problem

๐Ÿ˜ฎ Yikes ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

The Homeland Security campaign comes to mind. โ€œIf you see something, say something.โ€

But Iโ€™d like to change that to โ€œIf you see something, START something.โ€

A conversation. A project. A meeting. An initiative. An inquiry. Some research.

Youโ€™re probably thinking: But Edโ€ฆ.

๐Ÿคฒ๐Ÿผ Itโ€™s hard to speak up, what if I risk my job!

๐Ÿคฒ๐Ÿผ I donโ€™t know who to tell!

๐Ÿคฒ๐Ÿผ What if the person I tellโ€ฆ.tells me to fix it?

๐Ÿคฒ๐Ÿผ I donโ€™t want to get involved, itโ€™s too messy.

๐Ÿคฒ๐Ÿผ Itโ€™s not my responsibility.

With so many remote employees now, anonymity has been both intensified (no face, but plenty of trace details) and eliminated (thereโ€™s no way to send an anonymous email). Whatโ€™s a person to do?

The message for EMPLOYEESโ€ฆ

๐Ÿ’ก Consider different forms of communication.

๐Ÿ’ก Talk to a trusted colleague and discuss the risks.

๐Ÿ’ก Write a structured, well-written email with your thoughts, fears, solutions, and suggestions.

๐Ÿ’ก List the ways this impacts the business and find someone who cares about that.

Ultimately, if this issue is even somewhat related to what youโ€™re doing at work, then youโ€™ll be impacted. Itโ€™s just a matter of where and when.

The message for EMPLOYERSโ€ฆ

๐Ÿ’ก Do your employees feel safe speaking up?

๐Ÿ’ก Do you have an anonymous employee feedback survey?

๐Ÿ’ก Does feedback submitted visibly and promptly lead to action or change?

๐Ÿ’ก Do you have a consistent container where troubles are brought to the table?

๐Ÿ’ก What is your typical reaction when problems are brought to your attention?

๐Ÿ’ก Do you have a feedback structure in quarterly reviews?

Have you ever spoken up and were sorry you did?

Ever spoken up and were happy you did?

What happened?

 

If this resonates, letโ€™s talk.