Why untidy kitchens, overflowing bins and dirty bathrooms usually have nothing to do with cleaning.
One of the things I hear surprisingly often from business owners is:
“Why won’t people just clean up after themselves?”
It might be the kitchen.
It might be the toilets.
It might be the recycling bin.
It doesn’t really matter.
This week someone at networking told a brilliant story.
A recycling bin was already overflowing.
Someone squeezed a cardboard box into it anyway and walked off, leaving the lid open.
Later, the person who overfilled the bin was asked to sort it out.
Instead, they took the cardboard box back out, walked it to the main recycling bin, and left the original bin exactly as it was.
Most people hear that story and think,
“What an idiot.”
I don’t.
I think…
What culture has been created where somebody thinks that’s acceptable?
This is where many business owners look at the symptom instead of the cause.
They think they’ve got lazy staff.
They think people don’t care.
They think nobody takes responsibility.
Maybe.
But more often than not, they’ve simply allowed a culture to develop by accident.
Culture isn’t your values written on the wall.
It’s what people do every day.
It’s what gets challenged.
It’s what gets ignored.
It’s what becomes normal.
If nobody challenges the overflowing bin…
The overflowing bin becomes acceptable.
If nobody says anything about the dirty kitchen…
The dirty kitchen becomes normal.
If nobody takes responsibility…
Nobody expects to.
People don’t rise to written values.
They rise—or fall—to the standards leaders consistently reinforce.
That’s why I rarely see cleaning, tidiness or responsibility as facilities problems.
They’re usually leadership problems.
Not because the owner isn’t trying.
But because expectations haven’t been made clear, reinforced consistently or held people accountable.
The overflowing bin was never really about the bin.
It was simply the visible symptom of a culture that had been allowed to create itself.
One Question Before You Go
What behaviours have become normal in your business simply because nobody has challenged them?
The answer might tell you far more about your culture than any values statement ever will.
By Andy Walter
Business Adviser | Executive Coach | Leadership Coach
The problem you can see is rarely the problem holding your business back.
Discover the problem behind the problem.
Start with the Business Bottleneck Review.
#BusinessOwner #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #SME #ProblemBehindTheProblem
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