How Bridgegate Shines a Light on the Power of Organizational Culture

She lied; and now she’s out of a job.

When the contents of emails between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Assistant Chief of Staff and a highly-placed Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were exposed last week, heads quickly rolled.

Now Christie is embroiled in a scandal about political payback that threatens his supposed interest in running for President in 2016, and the success of any of the initiatives he plans to lay out on Tuesday for his second term as Governor.

Regardless of your political leanings, I’m sure that at least once in your life you have found yourself asking the very same question Christie has been asking for almost a week now: “How did this happen?”

There are several other related questions that are just as important to ask as well, such as:

• What is it about the culture of my organization allows people to believe that this behavior is acceptable?
• What changes can I make that clearly state and show that unethical behavior, disregard for others, political payback and dishonesty is unacceptable?
• Is it even possible to remove politics from any organization?

While I can’t answer the first two questions without a thorough analysis of his organization, the answer to the third is unfortunately a resounding NO.

Politics, like change, is a fact of life and business. Author Gareth Morgan notes that everyone has specific interests in their personal and professional lives, and works with/uses others to promote those issues and achieve their goals.

Perhaps the answer to the third question is in the first. In his remarks on the scandal last week Christie defended the culture of his administration multiple times, pointing out that he believes he has an open, collaborative culture where transparency, trust and honesty are cornerstones.

Perhaps; perhaps not.

As Christie pointed out, for the moment “BridgeGate” appears to be an anomaly. However, corporate culture starts at the top, and is fed to the rest of the organization through the actions (or inaction) of leadership.

For example, Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director for McKinsey & Company is fighting a similar battle for the culture and reputation of that well-respected consulting company. In his effort to rebuild the business community’s trust in the company, Barton sought and has obtained the support of its board and the rest of the leadership team. Without that support, his efforts are doomed.

In short, everyone plays politics in every phase of their life, and change is inevitable. However, without strong leadership, any changes in culture or organizational behavior achieved in the short-term will not survive in the long-term.

I wish both Christie and Barton luck in their efforts.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is also a published author on the topic of childfree living.