{"id":30030,"date":"2017-10-10T21:36:23","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T04:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/?p=30030"},"modified":"2017-10-10T21:36:23","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T04:36:23","slug":"superstitions-become-traditions-organizations-become-timid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/superstitions-become-traditions-organizations-become-timid\/","title":{"rendered":"When Superstitions Become Traditions and Organizations Become Timid"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.0.76″ background_image=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/superstitions.jpg” custom_padding=”24.625px|0px|148px|0px”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.76″ text_font=”PT Sans||||” text_font_size=”72″ text_font_size_tablet=”52″ text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_line_height=”1.1em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”620px” custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n

When Superstitions Become Traditions and Organizations Become Timid<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”74px|0px|24.625px|0px”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”1200px” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_padding_tablet=”0px|||” column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” admin_label=”row” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” _i=”0″ _address=”1.0″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Stan_Headshot_Web_use_this_one.jpg” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ animation=”off” sticky=”on” _i=”0″ _address=”1.0.0.0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ text_font=”PT Sans|on|||” text_font_size=”20″ text_text_color=”#02b875″ text_line_height=”1.2em” header_text_color=”#000000″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”140px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20px||0px|” _i=”1″ _address=”1.0.0.1″] STAN SKIPWORTH<\/a><\/span> [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ text_font=”PT Serif||on||” text_font_size=”16″ text_text_color=”#363636″ text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”140px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”10px||60px|” _i=”2″ _address=”1.0.0.2″] Stan Skipworth is the Director of Safety at the Claremont Colleges and serves as a public policy\/public safety consultant and legislative advisor for national campus law enforcement professional organizations. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.76″ text_font=”PT Serif||||” text_font_size=”24″ text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” text_text_color=”#363636″ text_line_height=”1.5em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”720px” custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n

On a recent business trip to Philadelphia, I had the opportunity to speak at and attend a national conference hosting campus law enforcement professionals from around the world.\u00a0 After checking in and arriving at my room late the first evening, I hadn’t noticed an oddity that would immediately catch my attention the following morning.<\/p>\n

You see after I prepared myself the following morning, I walked to the awaiting elevator on my floor.\u00a0 And as I entered the car, turned and reached to choose the floor hosting the event, I was struck by the presence of a button I could not recall having seen before in a hotel:\u00a0 a Thirteenth<\/em><\/strong> floor.<\/p>\n

Now, I will readily defer to those who have traveled far more than me, though I have managed to stay in over forty of the United States to this point.\u00a0 Yet in all those experiences of various hotels that were sufficiently tall enough to exceed thirteen and many more floors, never had I actually seen listed a 13th floor on the elevator panel, nor anywhere else where I have stayed.\u00a0 In fact, in every case, it was the far more common and standard practice of jumping from the 12th to the 14th floor on every panel I’d ever seen.<\/p>\n

This highly unique scenario got me to thinking about the history and reasoning behind the practice of high rise buildings intentionally masking the thirteenth floor.\u00a0 While there are plenty of anecdotal references ranging from a building owner\u2019s own sense of triskaidekaphobia to the owner or landlord wanting to avoid issues that may arise with superstitious tenants, occupants, or customers, it just seemed odd that such a profound effect a superstition could have upon cultures, communities, and organizations.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ background_color=”#f7f7f4″ _builder_version=”3.0.76″ background_image=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/superstition3.jpg” custom_padding=”0px||0px|”][et_pb_row make_fullwidth=”on” custom_width_px=”680px” use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|” make_equal=”on” column_padding_mobile=”on” background_color_2=”#efefe9″ parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” _i=”0″ _address=”2.0″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ column_padding_mobile=”on” background_color=”#efefe9″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/superstition2.jpg” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.76″ animation=”off” sticky=”on” _i=”0″ _address=”2.0.1.0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text disabled_on=”off|off|” _builder_version=”3.0.76″ text_font=”PT Serif||||” text_font_size=”24″ text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” text_text_color=”#818178″ text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20%|10%||10%” custom_margin_tablet=”|10%||10%” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop”]<\/p>\n

Now, I’m not about to suggest that a practice or policy or function in a company or agency would rival a cultural phenomenon like the avoidance of the thirteenth floor.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.47″ text_font=”PT Sans|on|||” text_font_size=”12″ text_text_color=”#888888″ text_letter_spacing=”2px” text_line_height=”1.2em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20px||20%|” custom_margin_tablet=”20px|||” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” _i=”2″ _address=”2.0.1.2″] STAN SKIPWORTH [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”1200px” use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”4″ custom_padding=”20px||0px|” custom_padding_tablet=”0px|||” column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” parallax_method_3=”off” parallax_method_4=”off” admin_label=”row” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” _i=”0″ _address=”3.0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.76″ text_font=”PT Serif||||” text_font_size=”20″ text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” text_text_color=”#363636″ text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”60px||0px|” custom_margin_tablet=”40px||0px|” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet”]<\/p>\n

Which then got me to thinking about the various practices, standards and ultimately the traditions that are created among my own and other organizations, and where and why those become accepted.<\/p>\n

I realized that in all too many cases, traditions came about from long-ago held beliefs, perhaps driven by as little as a single occurrence in which the impact upon a group was so significant that they did all they could to avoid those same circumstances in the future.\u00a0 In several instances, it was clear that while very unique conditions may have existed on a fateful day (or night) when something tragic occurred, that very uniqueness of the overall situation was often lost among the perspective of that group.\u00a0 In turn, they came to equate that event as being the direct product of when certain surrounding elements all replicated themselves enough to set the stage for a similar disaster to occur.<\/p>\n

Now, I’m not about to suggest that a practice or policy or function in a company or agency would rival a cultural phenomenon like the avoidance of the thirteenth floor.\u00a0 But to even a smaller organization, a bad\/tragic\/catastrophic event could very well live on for decades through the collective fear of the leaders and followers who feel powerless to move beyond it\u2014and those fears are passed on to new generations of employees who in turn \u201cfollow the rules\u201d to avoid that crisis or calamity.<\/p>\n

There’s a very important point in that hypothesis.\u00a0 You see, if a leader can’t find the courage to move past a tough period or experience the organization has survived, surely the followers will remain influenced and ill-prepared to find the means or method to communicate their desire to do so-no matter how compelling their new information or proposal may be.<\/p>\n

I would like to suggest that we as leaders have a very different responsibility to tradition:\u00a0 That we must respectfully, but diligently, challenge it on a regular basis.\u00a0 We must find the source of the conventions that brought it to life, and to survive challenges of the past.\u00a0 And I believe we must be willing to demonstrate the purpose and value in ridding ourselves of these often limiting beliefs by finding our own traditions that simply need to go.<\/p>\n

When you think of it that way, you can see that there really is no need to \u2018skip\u2019 things anymore, and that by taking on our own openly, we will encourage others to remove their own inhibitors.<\/p>\n

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On a recent business trip to Philadelphia, I had the opportunity to speak at and attend a national conference hosting campus law enforcement professionals from around the world. 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