Oppressive environments often arise from the best intentions. Company leaders and senior managers believe they know what is best for the business because they have the most seniority and experience.

Being "politically correct" may seem like the right thing to do, but a politically correct work environment, where employees are afraid to say what they really think for fear of retribution, damages innovation. This environment may be created by an authoritative superior who perceives all questions as resistance, responding simply with the verbal or implied "because I said so" to any requests for information.

Or, the long-time head of an R&D department believes that anyone who has less seniority has nothing new to offer, shooting down suggestions with “we’ve already tried that.” Or, every time an employee voices an idea, the boss demands immediate facts and figures to back up the suggestion. If the employee cannot comply on the spot, the boss launches into an emotional tirade. Or, an employee asks a question during a senior manager’s presentation and, after a brief, uncomfortable pause, is simply ignored. Later the senior manager speaks to the individual’s supervisor, resulting in a “not a team player” notation on the annual performance review.   

As employees who cross the line are ostracized, marginalized or otherwise penalized in overt or subtle ways, an oppressive climate results. Thoughts, feelings and ideas remain unexpressed, and the status quo rules. Even worse, such an environment of politically correct behavior also silences innovation.

Good Intentions Are Not Enough
Oppressive environments often arise from the best intentions. Company leaders and senior managers believe they know what is best for the business because they have the most seniority and experience. They want the business to thrive, but lack the communication skills to invite other points of view. In other cases, personal motivations are at the root of politically correct climates. Managers feel threatened by new ideas, fearing that a change may diminish their position. Although part of a leader’s job is to maintain stability, he or she also has the responsibility to welcome, embrace and manage innovation. Innovation is crucial not just in product development, but also in optimizing processes for greater efficiency and productivity.

“A politically correct environment, where people have a deathly fear of offending, squashes creativity and innovation. It also suppresses the organization’s ability to be a learning and growing environment,” says Stephen Xavier, president and CEO of Cornerstone Executive Development Group, a Westlake Village, Ca.-based global firm specializing in executive coaching and leadership development. Xavier coaches leaders to break out of such limiting thinking and to encourage people to speak up by setting a good example. “Although people should never speak in offensive ways, they should not be afraid to create constructive disagreement,”  he says.

Breaking Out
Breaking out of a politically correct environment amounts to a culture change, which is always a daunting task. However, any business can begin the process with a few simple steps. First, evaluate the level of trust in the organization by surveying the work force with questions such as:

• How do you handle disagreements or conflict on your team?
• Do you freely disagree with authority, your boss and higher-ups? In public? In private? Do your peers?
• Are you concerned about retribution for stating what you really think?
• Do you give your boss and peers feedback on a regular basis? Do you get regular feedback from them?
• Do you have examples of somebody being punished for speaking their mind?

After assessing the current culture, invite everyone’s participation in creating a set of operating agreements that describe the new, desired behaviors. These agreements might read:

• We invite new ideas.
• We acknowledge the positive intention of those who have created the existing systems and of those who wish to improve them.
• We separate the person from the issue.
• We challenge the status quo with the intent of improvement.
• We provide the thinking behind our decisions to create transparency.

These operating agreements are the beginning of an aligned effort to initiate culture change. Use storytelling to clarify the new standards, demonstrate examples of desired and undesired conduct and show how innovation is rewarded.

Meaningful Conversations
When people in an organization have been silenced by years of oppression, it takes persistent coaching to get them to express their thoughts. If employees are silent after a presentation, have them pair up and discuss questions such as:

• What does it mean to you?
• Where do you agree or disagree?
• What are the challenges in implementing what has been proposed?
• What is missing?
• What do we need to do for this to be successful?
• What questions do you think you will have to answer from your team?
• What would be another way of accomplishing the same goal?

“In a politically correct environment, people have learned not to question things,” Xavier says. “Albert Einstein once said, ‘The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.’ To stimulate people’s thinking, you must create an open, safe environment where people can honestly question and brainstorm to get the broadest possible creative thinking.”

When people have become afraid to speak up in meetings, the real conversations usually happen in the hallways. To reverse the process, propose an idea, pair people up and ask them to imagine they are having a hallway conversation with a trusted associate. Leave the room while they talk. Then return to debrief them as a group. This provides a security blanket where no one is singled out. Remember, the leader’s role in such a discussion is to ask questions, not mandate results.

Innovation 101
“The processes and systems that make a business efficient may appear to be diametrically opposed to creative, out-of-the-box thinking,” says Charlotte Milliner, president and CEO of The Center for Professional Development in Oakland, Calif. “Since both are necessary, that is a dilemma to be managed, not a problem to be solved. A related dilemma to be managed is that between the need for alignment to pursue the company’s desired direction and the need to have many different disciplines and perspectives represented. Out of differences comes the pursuit of opportunity, and a systematic pursuit of opportunity creates an environment of innovation.”

To begin conversations about innovation, a proven successful strategy is for leaders to meet informally with people two levels lower in the organization. The following questions will draw out new ideas in such meetings:

• What changes have you noticed?
• What tough issues have you dealt with?
• What would you say the state of the morale is?
• What would you like to ask that you have hesitated asking?
• What is a process that you think we need to change?
• What one change would make the biggest impact on the firm, your division, for you personally, for the customer?
• What can you see from your perspective that the management team does not seem to be aware of?
• If you could change one thing about how we do business, what would that be and why?

“Be willing to ask tough questions, but make them about issues and perspectives, never about personalities,” Milliner recommends. To keep the culture change process on track, she suggests frequent best practice reviews. “Study both your failures and successes, as well as the assumptions under which people are operating,” she says. “The examination of assumptions will inform you of the fundamental beliefs of the corporate culture. Knowing these will allow you to decide what values are necessary to support both the protection of your revenue stream and the out-of-the box thinking you need for innovation.   

“Innovation depends upon embracing multiple perspectives,” Milliner says. “That could be accomplished by having diverse disciplines represented in groups or by allowing each individual to be a dreamer, a realist and a critic. Another way to incorporate multiple perspectives is to consider an issue from different points of view: your own, your company’s, your investors’, your customers’. Finally, step back into the position of an outside observer who watches these stakeholders interface with each other.”

Recognize the Innovation Killers
Certain types of verbal and nonverbal behaviors are killers. Among them are:

• Interruption – responding with “We already know that,” or demanding immediate factual evidence
• Invalidation – belittling people or shooting down ideas
• Domination – forcing one’s way, often with emotional outbursts
• Ignoring – not listening, hearing or responding to concerns
• Mandating – presenting accomplished fact rather than inviting participation

In general, any verbal or nonverbal behavior that ostracizes, marginalizes or punishes employees for speaking out or stepping up sabotages innovation.   

An environment where people politely say “yes” to everything or are silent altogether may appear harmonious on the surface. Underneath that social veneer, however, most likely festers discontent and resentment. Changing such a climate into an environment of trust is a challenging task, but it’s the only way to improve morale, foster employee engagement and encourage the innovative spirit that will optimize processes and create great new products and services for customers.

James Peal, Ph.D. is president of Leadership Development Group, a leadership and organizational development consulting company dedicated to creating breakthroughs that enhance performance for individuals, teams and businesses worldwide. For further information, visit www.peal.com, or call 805-966-3323.