It's Words Not Wishes That Create A Future

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't you're right."

                           Henry Ford

We are largely unaware of how powerfully what we think shapes our actions. But we can gain some insight into what we think by noticing what we say. After all, "In the beginning was The Word."

In the article, “How Language Shapes Your Organization” published in the Harvard Business Review Blog Network on July 24^th, 2012, Kevin Allen discusses how language shapes a corporate culture.

He uses Enron as an example of a culture where phrases like “We’re an aggressive culture,” “We’re guys with spikes,” and “Money is the only thing that motivates” produced a culture where it was permissible to shut off energy supplies to California and manipulate markets.

Contrasted with Enron is Horst Schulze who headed the Ritz-Carlton group for many years and is credited with introducing the principle "We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen."

Allen suggests that the words that become the “catch phrases” of any organization provide the “cultural permission” that creates the behavior and attitudes of an organization and its people.

“Cultural permission” is a great phrase and has implications well beyond the Corporate world. For example:

“We are better than (other countries, other people, other races)” has created the cultural permission for genocide.

“That’s a no brainer” provides the cultural permission to cut off dissent by suggesting that the person who disagrees with what everyone else thinks is obvious has no brains. To see the power of the “no brainer” phenomenon in action, consider how long it took to disprove the "no brainers" that if we travel far enough, we’ll fall off the end of the earth, bloodletting will cure almost any illness and the sun revolves around the earth.

“It’s every man for himself” will produce behavior very different from “We’re all in this together.”

“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” may give permission to act unethically in order to win. “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is” (the actual Vince Lombardi quote) may produce actions that are disciplined, committed and responsible.

“I’m too busy to think” may produce thoughtless people. Lives that are stressed and rushed follow naturally from the statement, “I haven’t got the time.”

In an article in the New York Times on August 10^th, 2012 (“Beware The Nocebo Effect”), the cardiologist Bernard Lowen is quoted as saying, “Words are the most powerful tool a doctor possesses, but words, like a two-edged sword, can maim as well as heal.”

Perhaps most worrisome of all are the words we use to describe ourselves. “I’m a shy person,” “I’m an angry person” or “I’m a forgetful person” generate people who behave in ways that conform to their self descriptions even though those adjectives represent a miniscule portion of their total behavior.

We use our self descriptions as proof of our limitations, leading to statements such as “I’d love to but I’m too shy” (ignoring the many times we were outspoken), or “If only I weren’t fearful, I’d tell people my opinion” (disregarding those times when we told others exactly what we thought) or “I’d have better relationships if only I weren’t so afraid of commitment” (discounting the many commitments we have made in our lives).

Perhaps “be careful what you wish for, you may get it” is on a par with “be careful what you say, you may create it.”