Lynch mobs and the workplace

Bear with me for a moment because I am going to mention a Facebook phenomena and this is Linkedin but there is a work related reason for it.

I came across a meme on Facebook, it was a clear picture of a man who supposedly kicked a woman’s dog in the face then verbally abused her. The comments below the photograph were pretty much like the baying of a lynch mob. A couple of people put the little crying emogee on it but many put the angry emogee and a lot of angry comments below the picture.

All based on what?

All based on one person saying it had happened and no evidence other than that…but the FB masses had that mine tried and convicted within minutes. Of course kicking a dog in the face then abusing its owner would be a wicked thing to do but was it done?

I have no idea whether that particular event happened at all. I have seen many such pictures and I keep reporting them to Facebook as possibly inciting violence. In fact if you want to get someone hurt just post a picture of them with a comment along the lines of ‘This person is scum because…’

The fact is people often believe the first thing they hear whether it is from a credible source or not. In fact crime authors depend on that as one of their tricks to get you thinking maybe you know who the guilty party is right at the start. 

The same thing often happens in the workplace. It tends not to happen when HR, EHS or other managers are told something but more than likely with workplace gossip. Someone will say ‘X did a lousy job on ….’ and some will believe it. Worse still others will pass it on and embellish it.

It is a genuinely difficult subject to tackle directly without being accused of running a nanny state/business. It is also very stressful for the business. Rather than tackling each individual instance try running some critical thinking sessions. They don’t have to be long and could even involve clips of various crime dramas to show how people can be misled. Showing an opening part of a drama and then asking “What can we learn from that?” can get people making suggestions that extrapolate a lot from what they have seen and going down the wrong path with a lot of confidence.

It is that element of critical thinking that I believe is overlooked. Not that good managers such as yourselves don’t know how to think critically in the workplace but it rarely trained out to everyone.  If you want to cut out the stressful gossip make sure everyone gets briefed – not just management.

Do I offer such training? Not yet but I may do later in the year. In the meantime there are other course providers.

On a lighter note I also saw a photo with the comment ‘Thank goodness April Fools day is over. Now I can trust everything I see on the internet.’

Yes…quite.