Values in the workplace?

We take ourselves with us when we go to work. Every day, we show up as us. Or a version thereof. So does everyone else. In recent years, the belief that we should be unabashedly ourselves in the workplace? Well, it’s led to some interesting displays of behavior. OK to lie? You betcha, and we’re pretty sure everyone else does, so it must be ok? OK to behave in ways that used to be called “rude”? Everyone else does.

Organizational values are important. Most (but not all) workplaces rent your behavior and expect at least the amount of work you’re paid for; done to specific standards relative to quality, schedule, and budget; with at least a neutral if not pleasant presence. Fair enough.

Where’s the room for problem-solving skills, one of those required for innovation as well as for recovery from trauma? Sometimes it’s less valued than the ability to manage reactions (another of those skills) and to prioritize information (and another), arriving at the conclusion to do what is necessary to conform to the required standards while maintaining a sense of self outside of the work setting.

I knew a guy in Spring Hill, Tennessee who worked at the GM plant that made Saturns. This guy was an operating technician, and no one really thought much of him. He showed up, he did the job the way it was written, cooperated and collaborated, and left his spot in the line looking good for the next team member. He also taught himself spoken German--and Arabic--while he was working. Seriously. He stood for the company’s values, and his, simultaneously. That’s the goal.