The other morning I heard someone talking about college campus “micro-aggressions” and “safe spaces”.
Colleges are quite often very active in defending these events but what they are actually doing is hurting the students ability to not only cope with challenges but their ability to build good teams.
Good team work and good culture come from honesty and authenticity. When people live in fear of saying the “wrong” thing then there is no way they will feel part of the community at large.
“Good”, you may say. “We don’t want those kind of people at my company”. I will argue that in those cases you end up with a lack of diverse opinion. You end up with a firm dedicated to a method of “group think” that can hurt development.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with demanding that employees act with dignity and respect for their co workers. It is quite another to ask that they think a certain way.
The best teams take the risk to allow their members to communicate freely and honestly. To learn from each other, bond, and move forward.
Anything less is just a simulation. It will look nice but when the “you know what” hits the fan, the bonds won’t hold.