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The Toxic Shaming and Blaming of Holding People Accountable at Work
My elementary school sat in front of a junkyard. For years, I gazed in wonder at the treasures that lay beyond the chain-linked fence. In fifth grade, I finally decided to explore it with two classmates. During the journey, we found a piece of metal stretched across a ditch. Like the ten-year-olds we were, we jumped on it to see if it bounced like a trampoline. Nope. I fell, and a scrap of metal gashed my leg, leaving behind a gnarly scar. I got in trouble, but I also answered my question — the only thing beyond the fringe was scrap metal.
You may think that cutting my leg to the bone encouraged me to play it safe. Instead, the scar offers a tangible reminder of my rebel soul. Curiosity deserves to be answered.
Throughout my decade career, I’ve noticed many neither seek to ask nor seek to answer. I see folks carrying a torch for the status quo, happy to follow the rules. There’s something maddening in that to me. The status quo at work isn’t for me𑁋a woman, a mother. And yet, I’m held accountable to it.
As a society, we use “accountability” to enforce our version of morality𑁋right and wrong.
We miss opportunities for learning and create defensive, silent, sunken workforces. When mistakes happen or new ideas proposed, the ideal outcome should be reflection + growth. But to embrace evolution would mean companies and individuals would need to let go of their prized possession, the status quo.
Questioners of the status quo, defiers of “that’s just the way it is,” find punishment and blame are the rewards for their curiosity, their experiments. In HR, it’s an ordinary experience for folks with pitchforks to demand accountability, ask for someone to mold to the norm or bully them into their version of right. There’s only so much one individual can do to redirect that energy to empathy, reflection, and growth.
Being a rebel soul isn’t too easy right now𑁋it’s still a wild time to be alive. One misstep could land you at the mercy of the internet’s rule-keepers. Social media offers a unique glimpse into the underbelly of vengeance and schadenfreude that typically hides in dark corners. Toxic behaviors sit on display𑁋spreading hate…
