The fact that Russian mentality differs from
that of the Сwesterner' is a truism. †Although
for some reason there is an implication that these features are typical only
for physical labor workers or representatives of the caste of Сred directorsТ
(a part of the ruling elite in the
Soviet system). Which of course
is a mistake.
The roots of mentality do not have any obvious connection with religion
and political or economic conditions they resulted from, and for this reason
they are much more die-hard.
People can change their political convictions but mentality will always be there.
†Moreover, children and grandchildren will
inherit it. Among todayТs office inhabitants one
can hardly find any ardent believers or Сfaithful soldiers of the party'; only
a few of them are in some way connected with agriculture but still the way they
think, without even noticing it, is exactly how our Уforefathers commanded us
to doФ.
Saltbush soup
The unpretentiousness of Russian people is probably the main thing that
amazed foreign travellers for centuries.††
Yet Russians get accustomed to comfort instantly as soon as there is an
opportunity. On the other hand the belief that people around are unpretentious
is still strong. Just because it is convenient to believe so.
In our childhood we have all watched numerous Soviet films where a
general or the First Secretary of the regional committee spoke with feeling, УitТs
alright, my soldiers (Leningraders, kolkhoz women, young communists) will
understand us, they will be able to sleep in the cold, eat saltbushФ and so on. And when a boy grows up and becomes a top
executive, in time of need his conscious gives a helpful hint to use that
pattern of behaviour. †It is a common situation that when a company is looking for an office
they want a cheaper but respectable option in the city centre. And they find the right one, however there is
one СminusТ Ц no parking places for the employees. And it is clear that offices with parking are way more expensive. Director General, our former boy, stops bewildered,
and suddenly something remotely familiar starts glimmering in
his mind. †He smiles blissfully - the solution is found. He sighs with relief saying, "thatТs all
right, our employees will figure something out with their cars. TheyТll manage
it.Ф After all, is it really so difficult to find a vacant place within half an
hour walking distance? And isn't a short walk good for the body? It is also
possible to park near the office if you arrive at 7 a.m. They can also take a
tram for a change.
Saltbush soup is quite alright! This approach extends to the customers
as well. Billions of decisions made to
organize business-processes are accompanied by a common phrase, 'It will not be
an inconvenience for the customers'. We'll be able to reduce the supermarket payroll
by reducing the number of cashiers in the evening to a minimum. People have to line up for half an hour, but
are they in a hurry after a day at work? And is it so difficult for a customer of an elite (!) beauty parlour to
spend half an hour at the parking lifting gate proving to that security baboon
that he or she is a real customer and even has the money to pay.
Would the clients (and employees) stay with such a company for a long
time? Of course not. †But the patterns of thinking
inherited since childhood do not allow management to see the root of the
problems. A dissatisfied employee might
explain that he quits being fed up with sitting in a room without windows, but
the director will only think, СHe is so
picky, itТs good he quitsТ and he starts looking for a normal employee. Clients leave saying nothing. Worried management give
whatever reasons for the drop in sales but the most obvious one Ц their company
is not convenient for customers.
I know that impossible is possible
Another (similar) scene from the same movie: the workers, young communists or soldiers are up against a tough
challenge. The resources allocated to overcome
it are Сnext to nothingТ.
But it must be done
they say, and so they do it. This is so
beautiful, touching and again heart-warming for any executive.
Bolshevism and Stalinism or, to be more precise, the myth that formed
around this ideology, poisoned the consciousness of Russian managers for
decades ahead. The myth as such is still alive
primarily because too many people want to believe in it the same way they
believe in healing qualities of herbs, Сit is simple,
efficient and there is no need to think!Т A peasant lad, komsomol activist from a remote part of the country, is
summoned to Moscow to become deputy People's Commissar
for Foreign Affairs. †Designers report to Stalin that it will take a year to build a new cannon, he replies, УYou have three monthsФ. IsnТt that
nice!
And yet again Directors get the report that resources to address a
business objective are insufficient but their eyes flare up in response, СDonТt you remember the words Сit has to be
doneТ. †No money to promote the website? It means youТll promote it without money! There are no specialists who could do that? Ok, lets dab out finger into the staff list,
see whose name we hit and appoint this person a search optimization specialist.
One should realize though, that СStalinТs methodsТ are inefficient in
their essence. †The result they give is just an illusion: a deeper insight into replicated
legends shows that there were 999 promoted idiots per one Gromyko (an
outstanding Soviet statesman), and the machines built in three months were
junk, with a rare exception. †Any way, these speculations today are purely
theoretical, since these methods of management are simply inapplicable. They work only when half of the country serves
time in labour camps and the other half dreams of getting there because
prisoners are given food.
Do you try doing it the
СStalinТ way setting unachievable goals? YouТll get nothing but fake reports. The same ones Stalin received, by the way.†
The land of dreamers
But why do we believe in these fairy tales so easily? Have we watched too many Soviet films in our
childhood?
There is a more profound reason. Experience shows that any nation that lives in the environment of
absolutism for centuries is prone to irrational thinking. People have to put up with a СbossТs
foolishnessТ from generation to generation, without being able to object. One can try to mock in a whisper, of course,
but a person will feel humiliated and small. Yes, I feel resentful about it and
I disagree, but does it change anything? It is much more convenient for self-esteem to be inspired by foolishness
imposed from above. Or learn not to notice it. Either way you have to be able to turn your common
sense off.
If Russian mentality hadnТt have that ability,
the Soviet movies wouldnТt have been made because the Bolsheviks power wouldn't
have been able to enchant millions of people with their unrealistic program.† †But after they did it, the training of
irrational thinking went on and was strengthened ten-fold. †
That is why today we easily confuse a dream and reality. Inadequate perception of reality or a break
away from it is a normal state for Russian managers. No matter what office you look into, it is all the same: we are the best, the present is beautiful, the
future is even more so.
But realization of the
coming catastrophe is obvious and they try to use nothing but some crazy rescue
plans.
I am a boss; I am a fool
The irrationality of thinking clearly grows up from level to level of
the social pyramid.† The explanation here
is very simple. Beginning from the first grade at school each of us feels the
never-ending enslavement:† we are forced
to read and write not the way we like but according to grammar and rules. And
in reality the voice of logic is often not a pleasant one: there are only two
apples. No matter what we try to get from others we have to find numerous
reasons for it.
The only chance to gain freedom is to become a boss and reduce the
number of people who might dare to say that you are being illogical, irrational
and that you go against the rules.† If
you are the boss you can make spelling mistakes, make whatever decisions you
want and refuse to admit your own mistakes. ThereТs one detail, however, this
is only possible in an absolutist system, where subordinates have no right to
tell the boss that he is wrong.
It is quite natural that this zeal for freedom is typical for those who
have problems with logic and rules. They climb the career ladder with
persistence and obstinacy.† Idiotism
becomes a symbol of power, a thing to flaunt, as if it was an expensive watch
one can afford to buy thanks to his status. Moreover a person without this
'speck of idiotism' cannot be perceived as a boss at all.
A person might try to convince himself time and again that if he was a
boss he would be a clever boss.† But he
fails to notice that the image of Сthe bear in the provinceТ has been rooted in
his mind since childhood. Moreover he keeps convincing himself and happily
tells himself the what-idiots-those-guys-above-are kind of stories. Then when
he is appointed a director he involuntary follows the same scenario.† Being logical and being able to cope with emotions
is difficult, being able to admit oneТs own mistakes is unpleasant. The
internal resources run out quickly and there is a strong desire to say, УLeave
me alone Ц IТm a foolФ.
National hero
The chances for a knowledgeable person to become a boss in Russia are
quite slim.† The image of a dumbass boss
still controls the employers' minds. A parallel example is a girl from the
outskirts.† Do you think she dreams of
falling in love with an alcoholic? Of course not. But
why does she marry one? ItТs because she was taught from her childhood that all
men are like that. If she met a sober and intelligent person she would simply
ignore him.
It is the same with the employers who treat some bosses 'face' as a
fundamental truth.† He must be sort of
slow and expressly simple, having the service in a motorized rifle platoon, the
work in a regional party division or a ringleader experience behind his
shoulders.† Can you imagine a director
general who reads Milorad Pavich during his spare time? No. Well, they canТt
either.
These are the same Sharikovs who filled all executive positions in the
30s and 50s and whose images have been reproduced from generation to
generation.
CouldnТt care less
Fatalism as a national trait of character was formed in the period of
agriculture due to natural conditions. Even hard work was not a rescue from bad
harvest, but if the weather was generous there was enough food even for the
lazy ones; thus, a firm disbelief that there is a connection between work and
result. Russians have been amazingly passive even in situations when not only
their material well-being but their whole life was at stake. Military history
knows a lot of these examples, such as infuriated reports from inspectors
showing that gunners were reluctant to cut the grass in front of their firing
ports.
That is why material incentives in Russia donТt work very well. People
donТt believe that their well-being is directly connected with the level of
diligence. And when the company is in trouble a common picture is passive
behavior at every level including the top one. Everyone says that something
needs to be done but it is the same fatalism in everyoneТs heart.
СA photo hobby groupТ
Generally speaking Russians are bored with earning money and pursuing
material wealth, even when they set up a commercial venture as a tribute to
tradition. It can be called an involuntary copying of the Soviet period when
the companies didnТt think too much about being profitable, but the roots of
this phenomenon reach many centuries back into history.
This is why the companies (including managers and founders) in Russia
often turn into 'hobby groups', where people do what they like most and don't
strain themselves too much even if financial results are lamentable.† Another situation is Сour team Ц our family',
where people make friends, fall in love, make enemies, spend good time
together, pay salary to Сgood peopleТ, they do anything but create a required
cash flow.
Sometimes religious motives creep in. When a rational system faces a
problem or a failure the main thing is to find the right solution and work out
a plan. The most important thing for a religious person is the notion of sin.
And hence the main question: УWHO IS TO BLAME?Ф Evil must be punished and the
solution can wait.
Remember who you are
УYou can take the girl out of Russia, but you canТt take Russia out of
the girlТ, said Mel Gibson after he divorced his Russian wife. The patterns of
behavior described above are so deeply rooted in us that one shouldnТt cherish
illusions and hope to get rid of them through a single effort of will. The only
thing that can help is the knowledge of these patterns and continuous
self-control.
