When Culture Bites Back

Culture happens, so decide who and how culture is shaped

One of my favorite songs growing up was a tune by David Bowie. It was from his 1971 album Hunky Dory and the chorus remains one of his most memorable, particularly the last two lines:

“Time may change me. But you can’t trace time.”

We cannot slow or stall the effect time has on our surroundings, relationships, and ourselves. It marches on, changing everything we know and touch. Therefore trying to claw back the past is a hopeless exercise. As Bowie says, you can’t trace time.

A few days ago, the past came back to haunt the present for one well-known tech company. Over a decade ago, a list of funny customer names was started in the support team. Having been in support as part of a job rotation program, I can sympathize with how challenging the job can be from a morale standpoint, so injecting a bit of humor into the day can help relieve the stress.

Over the years as the list grew and circulated, a quick way to blow off steam started to become a problem. The list was no longer funny. Some of the humor crossed the line into inappropriate, disrespectful, and racist. Employees were growing increasingly uncomfortable that this thing existed. Some took this as a sign that this was the right time and opportunity to raise awareness of diversity and inclusion in the company.