‘Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education’ – Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi, circa 400BC.
The use of disciplinary action to deal with transgressions and under performance is an age-old practice. Judeo-Christian biblical texts state that the very first humans were banished into the wilderness as punishment for defying G-d. Similarly, Chinese legend tells us that Buddha banished the Monkey King from heaven and had him pinned underneath a mountain to reflect upon his disruptive behaviour. Greek mythology relates multiple tales of punishment for behaviour found offensive, disrespectful, or simply lacking. As one example: the selfish and sadistic behaviour of King Sisyphus saw him forever doomed to push a boulder up a steep mountain, only to have it fall down each time he neared the top. With tribal intermarriage strictly forbidden amongst early Indigenous Australians, many Dreamtime Stories relayed what ills would befall those who fraternised. And we all know what happened to the boy who cried wolf.
Mythology and religion aside, since the dawn of time, we have been conditioned to accept discipline as a fact of life through our fables, families, society, and media. Humankind has thus seen a long history of punishing one another for behaving contrary to expectations. From crucifixion, to hard labour, to stocks, caning, fines and imprisonment, discipline has been used to control, change, and deter behaviour in both individuals and the masses. It is no surprise then, that disciplinary action made its way into our work environments. Whilst perhaps natural, the question begs to be asked: is it necessary?
Without a doubt, rewards and punishments are powerful biological motivators. We are wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain, so at face value, it seems intuitive that the threat of punishment could control certain behaviour. In fact, parents try continuously: go brush your teeth or the tooth fairy won’t come! If you want dessert, eat your veggies! Go tidy your room right now, or you won’t be going to the carnival this Saturday!
Those parental threats may have worked to a degree when we were children; however, in the work place, they foster antagonism and increase poor performance. This is because disciplinary action triggers subconscious, negative emotions. When the boss is angry or upset; or we find ourselves on the receiving end of the stick, it puts us into a ‘threat state’. When our threat system ramps up, it shuts down positivity and productivity.
The stress of punishment, both on subordinate and superior (yep, it can be just as stressful to dish out punishment as it is to receive it) causes psychogenic pain, lowers the immune system, and inhibits the use of the brain’s pre-frontal cortex – the epicentre of our executive thinking skills (what we want to be using at work!). Moreover, if we’ve been in trouble before, or are constantly under threat of punishment, much of our thinking becomes focused on avoiding blame, and protecting the self, rather than the actual work at hand. Not only does this severely deplete psychological safety, it also means we are less likely to admit to errors. People often hide things and lie out of fear of getting into trouble. The threat of discipline can also cause sycophantic behaviour (what most of us call ‘ass kissing’), wherein information is manipulated to appear positive. This behaviour can be incredibly costly to an organisation! We want people to tell us the truth so we can plan and adjust as necessary.
Unfortunately, in attempts to have things work well, disciplinary action quite often has the opposite effect.
Join us in part 2 where we will discuss better ways to do business.
The Warrior-Womxn's Guild 