HBR Guide to Navigating the Toxic Workplace

CHAPTER 22

The Hazards of a “Nice” Company Culture

by Timothy R. Clark

Have you ever attended a meeting that wasn’t the meeting? Everyone was pleasant and agreeable in the room but then filed off to engage in back-channel conversations and hold kangaroo courts. This kind of charade is one of the many symptoms of a “nice” culture. But what’s touted as niceness is often nothing more than the veneer of civility, a cute nod to psychological safety, a hologram that falsely signals inclusion, collaboration, and high performance. In many of these cultures, leaders have simply spread a thin layer of politeness over a thick layer of fear. There is the appearance of harmony and alignment, but in reality there’s often dysfunction simmering beneath the surface ...