Building a Work Culture Beyond Forgiveness-Shame as Barrier for Growth and Knowledge-Management in Working Environments

Abstract

A company’s success is heavily dependent on the performance of its employees. To secure a smooth workflow, structures for quality management need to be established, especially concerning the company’s capital in form of the collective human expertise, in order to cover absence or leave of anyworking ormanaging staff. This requires an adequate knowledge management, including a well-structured management of failures and errors. The influence of shame and anxiety on people when expected to acknowledge their own mistakes or failures in a workplace environment is often overlooked. In this chapter, we present crucial aspects of a new approach on how to form an organizational culture where mistakes are not only perceived as forgivable, but are seen as a chance for collective growth and as a possibility to develop excellence. As a result, a successful failure management can not only enhance a company’s performance, but can be used as a management tool to inspire commitment as well as a strong identification of employees with the company. The presented approach uses insights from research in Positive Psychology, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and learning mechanisms as well as a systemic concept of leadership.