Incest 0000i-xiv FM 1 - William L. White

Surviving Toxic Systems 207
to trigger defensiveness because of its implied indictment. In contrast,
the question, “Would there be any advantages to providing staff with
board minutes or a summary of board activity?” is much more likely to
elicit a nondefensive, positive response. “Why” questions nearly always
prompt defensiveness, whereas “what if” questions often stimulate a
reasoned discussion of alternative strategies. Learning how to frame
such questions in your organization and perfecting the timing and tone
of their presentation are essential activist skills.
The job of the activist is to make sure the right questions are being
raised. It is not the question we cannot answer that poses the greatest
threat to our organizations. It is the question no one sees. It is the question
in everyone’s mind that no one dares ask. Those are the questions
that can kill an organization! The well-timed, well-framed, and genuine
question can be a powerful intervention.
Building Activist Subcultures. My reference to Socrates suggests that
there are risks inherent in the activist role. The most dangerous position
in an organization is the isolated activist. If you are going to assume this
role and survive over time, it is crucial that you build systems of support
both inside and outside the organization. What you want to build
inside the organization is an activist subculture—a group of individuals
who are open to the potential for change and will support change even
in an indirect role. Those individuals may not themselves be activists,
but they are willing to be part of the activist subculture.
You begin building an activist subculture by seeking out others
who share your key values and who respect your ideas. Informal networks
nurture the most resilient activist subcultures, but there may
also be formal structures that one can positively infiltrate. There may
be key standing committees or ad hoc task forces in the organization
through which one can pursue an activist agenda. One of the most
overlooked sources of positive change in the workplace is labor unions.
Many unions have become as hierarchical and abusive as the companies
that spawned their births, but there are renewal movements underway
in many unions that constitute very positive forces for employees and
their work environments.
Whistle-Blowing. Whistle-blowing occurs when an employee, believing
that the interests of the public outweigh the interests of his or her
company, discloses to some outside party the company’s involvement in