#42 Emotions and culture with Jeremy Dean

"Emotions drive behaviour & yet we never talk about them in the workplace.. "

Jeremy and I explore the place of emotions in the workplace and how we can make these conversations simpler and more accessible to create a different workplace environment. Daring to speak about emotions and having the vocabulary to do so is no simple feat. We delve into how to make the emotional layer of workplace culture explicit, and how to unlock the emotional potential of both individual leaders and of teams, through facing our own fears & assumptions, and those that are inherent to the system. 

Behaviours reinforce our emotions and shape our beliefs, and you cannot change behaviours until you change the way you think about them and the ensuing emotions. 

Jeremy shares his insights from working with globe organisations, communities and individuals on his ECD (Emotional Culture Deck) game and changing conversations on unlocking emotional potential in organisations and communities.

The main insights you’ll get from this episode are : 

-   Post-covid, people are struggling with how they feel, and how they feel about work, and it is important to help people express themselves in the workplace. 

-  The Emotional Culture Deck (ECD) is a card game using emotion labels - some pleasant, some unpleasant – designed to help leaders express how they want their people to feel at work and help people manage their emotions, which ultimately govern their behaviour.  

-       The ECD gave rise to the company name (from a metaphor from Jonathan Haidt) and the business was built around the success of the game, given away for free to encourage open discussion.

-  There is no ROI on conversations about emotions at work; the cognitive layer eclipses the emotional layer and so giving it away is easier than trying to change people’s minds; people can try it themselves to remove cynicism and spread the word.

-  A mindset of finite statements, such as ‘emotions don’t matter here’, is difficult to change but the game makes people realise change is possible. It was beta tested at individual level then at team level but still focused on leaders/individuals. 

-   The CX deck gave rise to the ECD focusing on ‘experience is the new brand’ (Brian Solis). What is an experience? What do we want our customers to feel? What do we need to do to achieve that? What do you want your people to feel and not feel at work?

-  There is a large body of work about the power of emotion on the culture of a team. How can we look at behaviour without addressing emotions? Behaviours reinforce our emotions and shape our beliefs.

-   The success of the ECD was daunting. It can be used to answer any questions the customer wants to ask and gathering feedback on the ways in which it has been used provides collective intelligence.

-  National cultures vary as to whether people are open to having such conversations, but the gaming element breaks down barriers and allows people to not have to say what is written on the cards, giving them autonomy to choose the cards that resonate. Individuals attribute definitions themselves and sharing stories in those moments offers true connection.

-  As a culture programme, the transformational element is that it works from the bottom up; each team can create their own culture, changing small parts for the collective good and working at a sub-cultural level of change (as opposed to top-down value setting).

-  The ECD is also being used in schools. The gatekeepers to schools are adults, with inherent scepticism and cynicism, demonstrating that leaders’ discomfort influences others. The game helps them lean in to that fear and nudges vulnerability.

-  One 16-year-old reported that it was great to have the opportunity to speak their truth, share emotions and vulnerabilities. People want to talk about these things but don’t know how. It is great for young people to be given that space to create trust and have permission to confront taboos. 

-   To unlock emotional potential (beyond the game) we must face our own fears and insecurities first. Leaders must manage their own emotions before they can manage their team’s.