I was sitting in the right lane of a two-lane road waiting for the light to turn green. I knew the lane I was sitting in was a merge left lane. My experience at this light and in this lane was, there are those in the left lane that don’t like “us” right laner’s. Many refuse to yield to right laners. When the light turns green, I speed up only to see the person beside me speed up. They don’t want the right laner to “win” out and get in the lead. Why is this? I believe they don’t understand the vision or the mission of having two lanes. They engage their values of "Me first" and pride always. Companies need to share the vision and mission often.
Those in the left lane have conditioned their minds to stay in the left lane and wait patiently for the line of cars to move at the pace of a snail to get through the light. This has become the culture of the left lane people. You see this light sits at the busiest intersection in our small community. Sometimes the line of cars in the left lane is 30 or more cars deep. If I am the 20th car in line or beyond I will have to sit through the light for a second time in a row.
I have things to do, to get done. I am busy and in a hurry. I can’t sit there again and waste time or so I think. So, I move to the right lane where rarely do you see 3 cars waiting at the light. The city did a good thing here. They provided a way for people to cooperate and move more cars through this light quicker and more efficiently than they could if there was only one lane (Vision). But the culture of "this is the right way to do things" was so deeply entrenched in the minds of the left laners they couldn't see the city's vision.
If anyone defies the culture of the left laner's they must be cut off. Make sure the right laners don’t ever disrupt the left lane culture again. Culture can provide a comfort zone that makes the person feel good and safe but often it becomes hostile to change; even at the expense of something better or even greater. This is also true of many veterans in our workplaces. When new people (right laner's) enter the workforce the veterans (left laners) take a wait and see attitude and when the new hires try to merge onto the left lane the left laners often times refuse to yield.
So, the face off continues at the busiest intersection in our small community and in our workplaces. We still see the angry faces staring us down. The 1-finger wave is flown a little more often when a right laner appears. Yes, even the occasional bumper to bumper happens and they refuse yielding to those in the right lane. Perhaps pride gets in the mind of the left laner's.
The veterans in the workplace (Left Laner's) don't believe the new hires (Right Laner's) want to work. They believe the right laner's don't fit in. Only those who stick around long enough and fit into the culture of the left laner's will be accepted. So goes the way of the streets and the workplace. But, good leadership can change all of this. Leaders must model the way and have the courage to drive change and facilitate growth. Leaders aren't to direct traffic (people) but they are to connect them and align them so they can work well together.
This is a true story, but it parallels our workplaces and its leadership too. Our workplaces are like two lanes, one in the “correct” lane and one in the “incorrect lane”. Here are 4 things we must do to change the culture of our roadways and of our workplaces:
1. Make the Vision, and Mission the Main Thing
2. Focus on Your People and Your Purpose
3. Let Your Values Be Your Guide
4. Commit to Serving Others Rather Than Getting Your Own Way
Do these things long enough and you will see the left and right laner's cooperating to get more cars and people through the light.
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