MAJOR IN MINORS

If organizations want to tackle their big issues they shouldn't major on minors.

What color should the chairs  be and how office layout should look?

What summer staff events should look and to have this year?

What flowers and vases to choose from for the milestone celebration?

What pronouns to use in an airline where safety rules and attention to customer service are more paramount?

What venue and comforts can we provide at a planning retreat? 

So on and so forth.

They can contribute to a successful team spirit, positive work environment, and overall good hospitality and welcoming, but to put so much debate, consultation, and energy on picking the right color, theme, and decorations is an overkill and misguided.

As in many weddings, the bride and groom and families of both spend way more time with the wedding event, than the actual relationship-building elements such as building trust and loyalty, communication skills, handling conflict and disagreements, finances, decisions about children, and so on and so forth. The list by the way is not exhaustive.

Take the same way you treat virtual signalling these days. No amount of bust throwing of Queen Victoria or other queens could help disappear bigotry, discrimination, and racism, it could even fuel more hate from those fence-sitters and observers. Hatred has become a go-to feeling nowadays without a deep reason or justification for it.

Minor issues in the organization tend to attract those who wanted to get fame, popularity, a certain kind of reputation for sticking their noses out for anything, and other low performers. It's because they lack power to engage in serious but more important conversations about employee engagement, releasing recognition and employee freedom, right compensation and promotions, and getting heard. They have to be in control of the small things at their level to feel a certain kind of power. For example, the front liners who are mean to customers do so because they can't shout and scream at their bosses/supervisors for the lousy conditions they are under. They vent it out through their jobs by doing little sabotages, insubordination, and petty quarrels with their peers, etc. 

You can't focus on the major issues if you're constantly battling minor league problems in your turf. An event is an event, but most organizational vitality issues are processes. So then focus on the process or processes and then you won't ever feel that you have squandered your precious time, energy, and resources on a good-to-have rabbit holes.