Okay, So Here’s the Simple Problem with Puerto Rico
I don’t know if this is a straw man argument or what, but let me set it up this way. There are two basic styles of leadership, one held as the Asian ideal, is that an employee will not toot their own horn. You will not speak unless spoken too. You will show deference and respect. Your manager knows you are there. Your manager, if competent, will engage you in dialog at their choosing. They will ask your opinion, you will render it, and the company will move forward.
In the second more American model, the employee will offer unsolicited opinions. The American manager will not be offended by this. The American manager, if competent, will take those opinions, process them and act upon them. The manager will listen and promote good information and ignore or demote the bad. Your value to the company is proportional to your valuable input. If your opinion or advice is rendered in a respectful manner and is supported by facts, it has a good chance of being implemented.
In the first case, the manager solicits information from the employee to create a flow of dialog.
In the second case, the employee offers information to the manager to create a flow of dialog.
Now, these are generalities, theoretical constructs, because, let’s face it, these two perfect paradigms don’t really exist. In Asian cultures, employees offer at times, and in American culture, managers solicit. But let’s stick to the two extremes for a little while longer.
What happens when you have managers that will not extract opinions from employees AND employees that are so deferential they will not offer them.
Well, my friends, you have Puerto Rico, a workforce culture that combines two models in the worst possible way, an employee class waiting to be utilized and a management class that will not seek information.
In either case, Asian or American, there is a flow of dialog. Managers may initiate in general in Asia. Employees may engage more in America. In Puerto Rico, the two are completely disconnected. Managers want to play golf and receive the treatment and privilege of royalty without having to speak to the help, and employees are scared to stick their necks out for fear of being whacked.
Does that sound like a recipe for success?
Actually it sounds to me like a recipe for revolt.
[...] opinions from employees AND employees that are so deferential they will not offer them”: El Gringoqueno thinks he has identified the simple problem with Puerto Rico. Share [...]