Just Work

1. Radical Respect: Optimize for collaboration, not coercion

"Collaboration is essential to any great human accomplishment."

Foster teamwork. Radical Respect is about creating an environment where people work together effectively, rather than using power to force compliance. This approach leads to better results and innovation, especially in the modern economy.

Prevent coercion. Leaders must proactively combat behaviors that hinder collaboration, such as biased decision-making, bullying, and harassment. This requires designing management systems with checks and balances on power, ensuring leaders are accountable for their behavior and results.

Empower employees. Rather than treating employees as lacking and needing empowerment, recognize their innate capacities and create systems that unleash their best efforts. This means giving employees a voice, soliciting their input, and rewarding candor when they speak up.

2. Honor individuality instead of demanding conformity

"None of us (except actors) can do their best work while pretending to be somebody they aren't."

Embrace diversity. Successful collaboration requires diverse perspectives and experiences. When teams challenge each other's ideas, they improve each other's work. This is why feedback at work is vital to individual and collective growth and success.

Avoid homogeneity. Too often, organizations look for "culture fit" rather than "culture add" when hiring, forcing employees to conform and making it difficult for the organization to evolve. This approach excludes people who could make important contributions.

Encourage authenticity. Create an environment where people feel comfortable being their true selves at work. This doesn't mean ignoring the impact of one's words on others, but rather adjusting communication styles while remaining authentic to oneself.

3. Understand and address bias, prejudice, and bullying

"We can fix problems only when we are willing to notice them."

Recognize the differences:

• Bias: Unconscious, "not meaning it"
• Prejudice: Conscious belief, "meaning it"
• Bullying: Intentionally harmful behavior, "being mean"

Address appropriately:

• For bias: Use "I" statements to invite perspective-sharing
• For prejudice: Use "It" statements to establish clear boundaries
• For bullying: Use "You" statements to confront the behavior directly

Understand dynamics. Be aware of how these issues can escalate:

• Bias + Power = Discrimination
• Bullying + Power = Harassment
• Power (positional or physical) = Conditions for physical violations

4. Leaders: Design systems for fairness and accountability

"If you don't design your management systems for justice, you're going to get systemic injustice—and hurt your ability to achieve results."

Apply design principles:

1. Checks and balances: Limit individual power and create collaborative decision-making processes
2. Measure what matters: Proactively quantify and address bias in management processes

Key areas to focus on:

• Compensation: Design principled systems, analyze pay data by demographics
• Performance management: Use 360 reviews, calibration processes, promotion committees
• Hiring: Rely on hiring committees, not individual managers
• Exiting: Analyze firing decisions for bias, conduct thorough exit interviews

Create accountability. Ensure no one person, including the CEO, has unchecked authority to hire, fire, promote, or pay another person without oversight.

5. Upstanders: Intervene to disrupt workplace injustice

"Your silence will not protect you." - Audre Lorde

Recognize your role. Upstanders are essential to a culture of Radical Respect. They help targets of bias, prejudice, and bullying feel less alone and provide clear feedback to those causing harm.

Use the 5 Ds of intervention:

1. Direct: Challenge the person causing harm
2. Distract: Create a diversion to defuse the situation
3. Delegate: Get help from someone in a better position to intervene
4. Delay: Check in with the person harmed later
5. Document: Record what happened to provide evidence if needed

Build solidarity. By intervening, upstanders create a virtuous cycle, encouraging others to do the same and making the workplace better for everyone.

6. People harmed: Choose your response strategically

"You may not have the full range of responses you wish you had. But you still get to make a choice in how or if you respond, what you think."

Assess your options:

1. Document the incidents
2. Build solidarity with colleagues
3. Locate the exit nearest you
4. Talk directly with the person who caused harm (if worth the risk)
5. Report to HR (if worth the risk)
6. Take legal action (if worth the risk)
7. Tell your story publicly (if worth the risk)

Calculate ROI. Consider the pros and cons of speaking up, recognizing that you'll likely feel the cons in your gut. Be aware of the benefits, such as affirming yourself, preventing internalization of bias, and improving the situation for others.

Maintain agency. Remember that choosing not to respond is different from being silenced. Make proactive choices based on your assessment of the situation and your personal circumstances.

7. People who cause harm: Acknowledge and make amends

"You can't do right if you don't know what you're doing wrong."

Follow the AAAAAC process:

1. Be Aware (educate yourself)
2. Acknowledge your mistake publicly
3. Accept consequences
4. Make Amends
5. Apologize
6. Change for good

Manage defensiveness. It's natural to feel defensive when told your actions were biased or harmful. However, remaining unaware of your biases is riskier than acknowledging them.

Focus on impact, not intent. Don't insist that others "assume good intent" after they tell you you've done something to harm them. Instead, look for the actual harm your attitude or behavior may have caused.

8. Create a culture of consent to prevent physical violations

"If you want to touch someone, even just to shake their hand, it's your responsibility to know if they are okay being touched."

Establish clear guidelines:

• If the other person doesn't want to be touched, don't touch
• If you aren't sure, don't touch
• If you're too drunk to know, don't touch
• If you can't control yourself when drunk, don't drink, especially at work

Address different types of touch:

1. Unwanted touch
2. Consensual touch between peers
3. Abuse of power relationships
4. Violence

Manage alcohol in the workplace. Consider not allowing alcohol at all, or implement strict policies to limit consumption and prevent alcohol-related incidents.

9. Speak truth to power without blowing up your career

"Fear comes from focusing on the costs of speaking up; courage comes from focusing on the costs of staying silent." - Ashley Judd

Strategies for speaking up:

• Document incidents thoroughly
• Build solidarity with colleagues
• Locate exit options before confronting issues
• Consider the risks and benefits of different approaches (direct conversation, HR reporting, legal action, public disclosure)

Know your rights. Familiarize yourself with laws protecting workers who report workplace issues. Consider consulting with an employment lawyer to understand your options.

Build a support network. Seek out mentors, allies, and professional organizations that can provide guidance and support as you navigate challenging situations.

10. Measure what matters to ensure equitable practices

"You get what you measure."

Analyze data by demographics:

• Compensation: Look for pay gaps between different groups
• Promotions: Track promotion rates for underrepresented groups
• Performance reviews: Conduct linguistic analysis to identify bias in feedback
• Hiring: Examine each stage of the recruitment process for potential bias

Set clear goals. Establish targets for improving diversity and inclusion metrics, but avoid quota systems that can lead to reverse discrimination.

Create transparency. Share progress on equity initiatives with employees to build trust and accountability.

Use technology wisely. Leverage tools like augmented writing software to identify potentially biased language in job descriptions, performance reviews, and other communications.

Last updated: February 27, 2025