Bad Reception? When Signals Get Distorted, Culture Starts to Crumble

Posted on November 20, 2024 in #Leadership. Reading time: 5 minutes

Are you a good signal reader? Maybe now is the time to harness this leadership power.

In 1945, the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren graced the world with a character known to most of us: Pippi Longstocking. A little girl, equipped with superhuman strength and a wild imagination that enables her to live and thrive all on her own at the tender age of 9. Girlpower, if I’ve ever seen it!

What makes Pippi relevant to today’s article is her theme song in its German iteration. Verbatim it goes as follows:

2 x 3 macht 4, widdewiddewit und 3 macht 9. Ich mach mir die Welt widdewidde wie sie mir gefällt.

Pippi is singing that 2 times 3 equals 4, a blatant declaration of war against mathematically reality and objectivity. She goes on to say “I will make the world in such a way that pleases me.”

Relationship System Theory knows a domain that deals with what Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking does purposefully as an act of rebellion. Unwittingly, we forgo rhyme, reason and facts to perceive the world through interpretative filters. They are of our own unconscious choosing, designed to corroborate our existing world view. If left unchecked, this phenomenon can have grave consequences for the communication culture in our organizations and teams. Let me explain.

While equipped with the intellectual capacity for rational thinking, the human mind is wired to assess its environment and inputs based on emotional experiences and instinctive pattern recognition. We see what we expect to see and interpret a first and foremost neutral “signal,” such as a look on someone’s face or their tone of voice, against our individual, erratic internal filters. A joke that was perceived as light-hearted on a Tuesday may be perceived as inappropriate and harmful on a Wednesday. Our frame of mind can often change due to unrelated experiences in a short window of time.

Relationship System Theory provides us with a series of practical guideposts on how to navigate this space. Let’s unpack some of these using an example rooted in an organization that has a hard time acknowledging and celebrating successes and runs with low trust among teams. I call that a Scarcity of Success Culture.

Setting The Scene

From my real-life experience in a complex multinational, a manager saw a big project pointing south. The scope was too big, the work complex with little time and not enough people available to succeed. The project didn’t sit exactly in the manager’s remit, but they took heart, stepped up and moved mountains to pull the project off to the benefit of the entire department. It was a project with high visibility to senior stakeholders and the manager offered them numerous touch-points throughout the process, as well as opportunities for others to get in on the action. Nobody took initiative to support the project that was never to be the manager’s to begin with.

Exhausted, but triumphant, the manager was expecting no praise or well-wishes, they were simply content for a job well done. What followed however was a surprise. Some senior leaders in the department had started to talk behind their back and tarnish their reputation. Word on the floor suddenly was that the manager was a political player, hungry to rise through the ranks and uncollaborative. Not once during the project was the manager approached directly, all they received was friendly encouragement.

Let’s look at what happened here from a perspective of signals, communication and culture.

Existing Culture Dictates How Signals Are Unfolded

If you want to move the culture in your company, department or team into a certain direction, you have to first understand what it is today. Understanding how initially neutral signals unfold emotionally can be very revealing to that effect.

In our story, the manager sent multiple signals. They were loud in their enthusiasm, but looked stressed at times. They showed up in meetings with senior stakeholders light-heartedly (instead of doggedly or shyly). They weren’t quiet about the challenges associated with the project. As we saw, one of the ways in which these signals were unfolded in the present cultural context was an appearance of political climbing and overstepped hierarchical divides. This insight allows us to peek behind the curtain of courtesy and politeness, to reveal a culture of Scarcity of Success. The driving force behind the interpretative bias in the team is the assumption that success equals “being better than someone else.” Success is measured competitively and in this project was unbecoming for the station of the manager in the eyes of more senior stakeholders.

Understanding how signals are unfolded allows us to identify and address the root-cause of an undesirable culture. From there, introspection and change can begin. Would we want to reshape the cultural context into one in which the success of one is the success of all?

Double Signals Complicate Matters

Double signals pose doubly the challenge. They can create in us something called cognitive dissonance, the mental discomfort created by trying to hold two (or more) conflicting beliefs or values. In our story, one signal were the words of encouragement with friendly smiles our manager received throughout the project. A verbal signal. Our manager was watchful however and noticed a second signal in the mix, one transmitted by the body language and the somewhat “forced” friendly demeanor of the people who would later berate them. We notice when people smile at us with malice in their eyes, right?

The challenge with double signals is that they create inner conflict in our sense-making apparatus. Our gut tells us that something is afoot, but the factual proof (smiles and thanks) contradicts this feeling.

The way through a prevailing culture of outward politeness and inner malice is fearless and kind curiosity in action. Follow the inkling, ask the open question in a safe and calm moment: “Is everything alright? I am sensing tension and want to make sure that we act and feel like a team.” Naming is both hard and essential. It is hard, especially if we feel wronged. But it is essential as it can prevent a small spark or misinterpretation of signals growing into a hot blaze.

Low Trust Environments

Here I want to speak to people in formal leadership positions in particular. Creativity and a fearless innovation mindset get tarnished in cultures in which employees must be weary of behind-the-scenes punishment amidst outward courtesy. This kind of culture harkens back to the leader, who can all too easily send discrete double signals, often unconsciously. Words of praise and having fostered an autonomous team, while simultaneously asking to review every email before it gets sent. So to you, dear readers, I say this:

Know thyself. Time spent in introspection is never time wasted. The stronger your awareness of your biases is, the more aware you become of accidental double signaling, the more trust and followership you will be rewarded with. Recall what Pippi said so poetically: I will make the world in such a way that pleases me. Like her, be sure that you too make your world in a conscious way.

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